Best Overall: The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook: The Only Book You Need For Your Small Medium Or Large Air Fryer
We love this book and chose it as our overall winner because of its broad appeal according to the publisher, this comprehensive air fryer bible, 300+ recipes designed for every size, brand, and model. This exhaustive collection goes beyond the “usual” air fryer recipes , expanding your horizons to more possibilities than you probably realized when you bought the appliance.
Each of the 300+ recipes provides ingredients and times for both small and large models, so no guesswork is involved. Mouthwatering recipes like Roasted Cauliflower Soup, Tandoori Chicken Legs, and Donut Holes offer plenty of variety to keep you and your family satisfied as you try this healthier cooking method.
Americas Test Kitchens trustworthy testing process and foolproof recipes are just what you need when you get a new appliance that involves an entirely new way of cooking. Determined to make the perfect crispy fries, they tested over 70 pounds of potatoes, so you can rest assured the recipes will work. For those in a time crunch, most of the recipes can be made in under 45 minutes, and for those watching their diet, each recipe has complete nutrition information provided.
Other Air Fryers We Tested
Instant Vortex Mini
Although its controls took a bit longer to get the hang of than most other models the combination of a knob and push-button controls isnt the most intuitive this Instant fryer is still a fine option. Its basket and tray both featured a non-stick finish which was easy to clean in the sink, although they are not meant to be used in a dishwasher, the only one of our basket-style fryers to lack this option.
Our food items were cooked fairly evenly, and the Brussels sprouts especially came out with a nice, even crisp. A Turn Food reminder halfway through cooking was a nice touch, and ensured we wouldnt unevenly cook food. The four cooking modes air fry, bake, roast and reheat should offer a good variety to most users, although the 2-quart basket might not be large enough for some users.
We did find the Instant Vortex Mini to be a bit less sturdy than other options, which usually required us to steady the unit with one hand while using the other to remove and insert the frying basket. This isnt a dealbreaker by any means, but something to consider. Overall, this was an effective air fryer at a reasonable price, and could be well-suited for those who dont need to cook large amounts of food at once.
Chefman 2-Quart
Philips Premium
Cosori Fryer
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
KitchenAid Digital
Instant Vortex Plus
Note: The prices above reflect the retailers’ listed price at the time of publication.
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Tefal Yv970840 Actifry Genius Xl 2in1
Best air fryer for homemade chips
Image credit: Tefal
Size: 48.9 x 38 x 29.5 centimetresCapacity: 1.7kgPrograms: Chips, breaded items, desserts, nachos, fish and meat, chicken legs, stir fry, world foods, pieReasons to buy:
Paddle included to stir your food Pair with an app Great for cooking entire meals
Reasons to avoid:
Not the best for low-fat
This machine has a huge footprint, so if youre after a compact air fryer you can pop in a cupboard when youre not using it then you might want to think again. That said, its so technologically advanced, we probably wouldnt hide its considerable light under a bushel.
It has several things that separate it out from the rest of the air fryer crowd, including nine intelligent cooking modes and a My ActiFry app that features around 300 recipes. However, its the integral paddle with dual-motion technology, which stirs the food giving it an even, crisp coating that we think is the game-changer. Not only does it mean you can just leave the ActiFry alone to do its magic, it also allows you to cook dishes such as stir-fries and curries in it, too, using one of the two 1-meal-in-1-go programmes.
It hands-down produced the best chips we tried, with just half a teaspoon of oil and the chicken was well-cooked and juicy inside, although still dryer on the outside than normal frying would produce. Its a generous size, too, producing main meals for up to five and starter portions for eight.
Ideal Home rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Don’t Miss: Instant Pot Air Fryer Dehydrator
Air Fryer Butternut Squash Soup
The high heat of an air fryer quickly caramelizes vegetables, giving this creamy soup deep flavor. The addition of a few dried spices adds warmth and seasoning. Drizzle the finished soup with crème fraîche or plain yogurt and sprinkle with pepitas and chopped chives for a delicious vegetarian meal thats particularly weeknight-friendly.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Butternut Squash Soup
Best Air Fryers To Buy In 2021
- Laurie Davidson
AIR fryers can truly revolutionise your kitchen – and liven up your meal plans.
These nifty gadgets are small enough to sit on your kitchen counter but they are capable of turning out the crispiest of fried chicken and chips.
Even better, they can do this in a fraction of the time it takes in the oven and without using nearly as much oil as deep fat fryers, which could mean healthier and faster dinners.
The food goes in a tray or basket, ideally in a single layer, and then the machine gets to work.
A heating element provides the heat needed while a fan distributes this around the food, helping it to cook quickly and evenly.
Between the heat and the drying effect of the fan, the food will become crispy like its been fried – even though youve only used a tiny bit of oil in the cooking process.
Recommended Reading: Instant Pot Air Fryer Dehydrator
What Are The Best Foods To Cook In An Air Fryer
The best part of having an air fryer is its convenience. After purchasing a high-quality air fryer, you will never have to stand in front of a hot stove to cook a large variety of foods. While most consider them great for heating frozen food in, the air fryers are also great for cooking some recipes from scratch.
Since air fryers are bought as an alternative to deep-frying, you can replace your deep-fried, unhealthy food with ease.
These can range from simple foods like French fries, mozzarella sticks, and chips, to more extensive items like fried chicken, calzones, and other battered and fried food.
However, other unconventional foods can also be made using an air fryer. These include ravioli, boiled eggs, pork chops, and even fish like salmon. As long as the recipe you find is primarily for an air fryer, your food is bound to turn out great.
Surprisingly, air fryers are great for some desserts as well, not just savory foods as most people associate air fryers with. Many sweet foods like chocolate chip cookies, churro bites, apple chips, sugar cookies, and even different types of donuts can be made using an air fryer.
Though, cooking in an air fryer largely depends on the recipe you use, a wide variety of items can be made using the air fryer. Not only does it get the job done faster, but the clean-up is a breeze too.
Best Splurge: Philips Premium Digital Airfryer With Fat Removal Technology
Philips’ Premium Digital Air Fryer is a worthwhile splurge. You’ll find that it’s super easy to make crispy chicken wings, fries, and more by following its accompanying recipe book. Simply plug in the air fryer, turn its incredibly sleek knob to the correct temperature and time, and press to begin frying. The machine is so silent, you might forget it’s there, and its large basket fits everything from a whole bag of frozen fries to a small chicken for four. You can even grab Philips’ baking kit to make a cake and the grill kit for barbecue salmon, steak, and vegetables. One reviewer used their air fryer to make “the crispiest, tastiest nuggets The same was true with my experiment with grilled cheese sandwiches. Wow, perfect toasting and no greasiness. Roasted vegetables, also a hit. I am using this fryer more than I initially imagined.”
To buy: $250
Recommended Reading: Instant Pot Air Fryer Dehydrator
Features To Look For When Purchasing An Air Fryer
Ease of Cleaning – Cleaning can be a hassle on its own talk less of when it is made difficult. Fryers with detachable parts are the best options to go for because taking the fryer apart simplifies everything. Equally going for an option that is dishwasher safe makes a big difference.
Capacity – This is very dependent on the size of a household. There’s no use going for a 4 person capacity fryer as 1 person. Equally, a 2 person capacity fryer is not the right fit for 5 people. To avoid wasting money and time, this should be well coordinated.
Size – Ideally, everyone is out to conserve space these days. Anything that is more compact or portable wins the cup. Nevertheless, when it comes to air fryers, users should simply gauge the amount of space they have to store it. Then picking the right size will be a walk in the park.
Preset Programs – As much as manual controls out users completely in the driver’s seat, sometimes, being a passenger is more advisable. Air fryers with preset programs for cooking different types of food can come in handy. This allows users to step back and watch the magic happen.
Price – Although prices are often synonymous with quality, not everyone has deep pockets. The good news is that getting an air fryer is not synonymous with breaking the bank. So, consumers need to first know their budget then every other thing will fall in place.
Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bake right on your countertop! Your air fryer can make more than just French fries. These chocolate chip cookies are small, sweet and cakey. Make the dough, roll into balls and freezethen thaw and air-fry a few as needed for easy after-dinner treats.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies
Read Also: Nuwave Bravo Xl Air Fryer Toaster Oven Reviews
Best Air Fryers Review
We dug into every element of the air fryers on the market and found the 7 best air fryers based on budget, functionality, look, and buyer reviews :
- Accessories: not included
Size: Philips has a small air fryer as well as an XXL version . In both versions, buyers loved the roomy basket, which could fit two layers of food.
Look: The Philips AirFryer comes in black. Its compact design makes it easy to store, though it makes a slick addition to your countertop appliances.
Function: This air fryer produces some of the crispiest results due to the way air can flow through the basket. Its intuitive controls are easy to use, and there are many presets to make cooking even quicker.
People say: Most buyers love the Philips AirFryer, with the biggest complaints being the smaller capacity and the premium price.
Types Of Food For Air Frying
If youve made it this far in our Cosori Air Fryer review, then you already know that you have access to over 100 preset meals on Cosori via the free VeSync app. This by itself takes the stress off of cooking.
Nevertheless, while youre deciding to get your Cosori air fryer, here are some of the different types of food we found can be quickly made in the air fryer:
- French Fries
- Avocado Fries With Lime Dipping Sauce
- Healthy Veggies
While these foods are great options to try, this list is by no means comprehensive. You can put practically anything in an air fryer. For best results, consult your user manual and recipe book to find out if your favorite food can be air fried.
When comparing the cooking result of the three Cosori Air Fryers, we found that the food came out the same for each . Our foods came out crisp, evenly cooked, and didnt have any greasy residue on the food.
The Cosori air fryer is an intelligent investment that helps save time and money without compromising the quality of your meals. We were impressed with the results given the variety of foods we tried.
Also Check: Instant Pot Air Fryer Dehydrator
Air Fryer Spinach Pepper And Havarti Frittata
You may not have thought to make a frittata in your air fryer, but you can! You’ll get a gorgeous brown crust with a creamy interiorand clever use of a cake pan makes it a cinch to unmold. We used Havarti for its mild flavor and superior melting qualities, but substitute another good melting cheese such as Cheddar, jack or fontina if you like. Serve the frittata warm or at room temperature.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Spinach, Pepper and Havarti Frittata
Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Making fried chicken in an air fryer is a revelation. You can achieve a crispy crust and juicy interior without all the steps of deep-frying. A soak in seasoned buttermilk adds extra flavoras little as 1 hour will make a difference, but overnight is even better. Because of the capacity of a standard air fryer, we cook the chicken in batches. You can rewarm the first batch in a 250-degree oven for 10 minutes if you’d like to serve it all hot at once.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Also Check: Instant Pot Air Fryer Dehydrator
What About Using A Full
For the record, you can get similar air fried results when cooking food in a full-size oven with convection. But because a full-size oven is so much larger than a toaster oven or an air fryer, it takes much longer to preheat and can take longer to cook food. The Cuisinart TOB-260N1 toaster oven preheats almost immediately, making it the better choice if speed is part of what appeals to you about an air fryer.
What We Think Of The Dash Dmaf360gbaq02 Aircrisp Pro Air Fryer + Oven Cooker
The Dash DMAF360GBAQ02 Aircrisp Pro Air Fryer + Oven Cooker has a 3 quart capacity, making it a much smaller and more compact choice than many of the other air fryers on this list. It only has a weight of around 10 pounds as well.
The appearance is pretty striking. It has a completely round body and comes in four color choices. This appearance looks fresh and ensures that the air fryer fits into any kitchen, no matter what the kitchen may look like.
Although the air fryer is small, it retains functional and efficient performance. It comes with a digital display and eight preset options. These presets make it easy to cook all of your favorite snacks in this nifty little device.
More so, the Dash DMAF360GBAQ02 Aircrisp Pro Air Fryer + Oven Cooker comes with safety features. For example, it comes with an auto shutoff function to ensure nothing burns or causes a fire.
Price wise, the air fryer is pretty affordable. It isnt quite as cheap as our budget pick, but it is close. People on a budget will be happy with the price tag on this product.
The biggest issue with the Dash DMAF360GBAQ02 Aircrisp Pro Air Fryer + Oven Cooker is its size. Because it only has a capacity of 3 quarts, large families probably wont be able to make food for the whole family using this device.
Easy to operate. Good time and temperature. The capacity is great for its price.
michelle
You May Like: Instant Pot Vortex Pro Accessories
How To Choose The Best Air Fryer
Air fryers differ in size and versatility so the choosing the best one for you will depend on a few key elements. For example, consider what youll most likely be cooking in it, how many youre cooking for and how much space you have in the kitchen.
If its simply a healthier, more efficient method of cooking chips that youre after, you can narrow your search down to one without bells and whistles and save some pennies on a machine that does the core function well.
Top tip: Watch out for those that will require you to part-boil the cut potatoes prior to crisping air fryers worth having should be able to fully-cook chips on their own.
More sophisticated models will offer multiple functions like the ability to bake, roast, dehydrate, grill and reheat food.
The circulated hot air from inside these fryers gets released from fans often at the back of the air fryer, which means they can require a lot of room around them for safe use. Style and aesthetics on a countertop are also important.
Best Air Fryer Consumer Reviews: Instant Vortex 4
Founded in 2009, Instant Pot is a Canadian Appliance company specializing in the production of a wide range of kitchen machines. With their headquarters in Ottawa, their Instant Vortex 4-in-1 Air Fryer is truly the best value for the money.
Features
The air fryer is a perfect combination of durable construction, large cooking capacity, and easy-to-use control features.
It has a six-quart air frying basket that can cook food for about two to eight people with ease. Since the basket has a square-shape, you can make the most out of the space and even fit a whole chicken or two-pounds of fries inside.
Besides this, the Instant 4-in-1 Air Fryer is suitable for four different functions like air frying, baking, reheating, and roasting your meal. All these features are accessible on the LED one-touch control panel.
As such, you simply have to press on the desired setting once to start cooking in no time. Moreover, you can set your temperature and cooking time for different recipes too. You simply have to turn the control knob to change the settings until the digital display shows your desired temperature.
Apart from all this, the vortex fryer circulates extremely hot air inside the chamber to give you the same crunchy result by using 95% less oil than usual. When it comes to efficiency, the Instant Vortex Air Fryer is a sure winner.
Furthermore, the air fryer requires minimum time to preheat. Thus, you can get right onto cooking without wasting any of your time.
Pros
Also Check: Dehydrating In Instant Pot Air Fryer
