-
I’m a chef from the UK, and after years of resisting the appliance, I now love my air fryer.
-
You can’t go wrong with an easy meal of air-fried nut-crusted chicken or panko shrimp.
-
I even make desserts, like molten lava cakes and apple hand pies, in my air fryer.
The air fryer can cook an incredible array of things.
When everyone else was buying air fryers, I held out. I still hauled out my deep-fat fryer and gallons of oil or wrestled with an array of frying pans and griddles.
When I finally gave in and bought a Gourmia 7-quart digital air fryer, I was astounded and delighted by how easy it was to use, how little oil was needed, and how few cooking smells lingered in the kitchen.
Now I love cooking with the appliance, and I’ve even bought a second air fryer (a Kalorik Maxx 26-quart digital fryer oven).
Here are some of my favorite things to make in my air fryer.
Breaded or panko-crusted shrimp turns out incredibly well in an air fryer.
There are tons of recipes out there for air-fried breaded shrimp.
I prefer mine served with a hint of heat, like the “bang bang” shrimp recipe from the blog Stay Snatched. I also like the shrimp paired with lemon aioli.
Setting up a three-bowl dipping station is the bread shrimp quickly and efficiently — one bowl for flour, one for egg (or egg and mustard or mayo), and one for panko. But I’ve also made them by simply dipping lightly oiled shrimp in panko before tossing them in the air fryer.
Stuffed portobello mushrooms make for a quick, tasty dinner.
There’s no end to the list of things you can pile on a portobello cap and pop in the air fryer.
A recipe from the blog Spend With Pennies pairs them with cheddar and bacon. But I know some people swear by spinach and cream cheese or garlic and Parmesan.
Brit + Co has some great variation inspiration, including crab-stuffed mushrooms with Gouda or even a play on French-onion soup.
I make mine with whatever I have on hand, but I particularly liked the batch I made with feta, cheddar, spinach, artichokes, bread crumbs, and lemon.
I pop the caps in the air fryer for a few minutes gill-side down to let any water drain out before flipping and adding toppings.
I put nut-crusted chicken on the menu again and again.
Air-fried nut-crusted chicken comes out moist, delicious, and with a perfect crust in just 20 minutes.
Depending on what kind of air fryer you have, it might take a little more or less — I’ve found my basket air fryer cooks faster and my convection-oven air fryer takes slightly longer.
The blog Where Is My Spoon has a delicious, easy recipe for panko-breaded chicken. I adapted it by using half crushed nuts and half panko and adding smoked paprika and Parmesan to the breading for extra flavor.
Crab cakes with fire-roasted green chiles are my new favorite appetizer.
Crab cakes are one of the tastiest things I’ve cooked since getting an air fryer.
I followed a Food Network recipe, substituting a can of fire-roasted green chiles and chipotle powder for the chipotle chiles and adobo sauce, just for convenience.
The creamy, lemony chipotle sauce is the perfect accompaniment. It’s so tangy and delicious that I could drink it.
Corn ribs are an excellent air-fried option for vegetarians.
You can air-fry quartered corn cobs like in the recipe I found from the blog Plant Based Folk, or you can add more of a Mexican-inspired flair with a Food Network Canada recipe.
I could also see them working with masala spice for an Indian-inspired take on the trend.
Pro tip: Microwave the cobs for seven to nine minutes before cutting them to make…
Read More: I’m a chef who’s obsessed with my air fryer. Here are my 13 favorite things to make in it.