How To Convert Any Recipe To The Air Fryer
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How to convert any recipe to the air fryer. If you are looking to convert your regular oven recipes to the air fryer then this air fryer cooking times guide is perfect for you.
Convert ANY Recipe To The Air Fryer
This is perfect for bookmarking whenever you are thinking about a recipe that you want to convert to the Air fryer.
If you’re anything like me then you will have an air fryer and you will want to cook everything and anything in it.
You will dream of air fryer steak, air fryer rotisserie chicken, air fryer meatloaf and so many more classics. After all, air fryer cooking is so simple and why shouldn’t we?
But in a way when you start with the air fryer, it is like learning to cook from scratch all over again.
You have an understanding that it works differently than what an oven does or a fat fryer, but once you get into it, you will realise that it is so much fun and well worth doing.
How To Convert ANY Recipe To An Air Fryer Recipe?
There is no straight forward rule as all air fryer recipes are different. Cooking steak is going to be different compared to cooking French Fries and of course meatloaf is a totally different story.
I would say that you should start with these principles:
#1 – Air Frying Is Just Like Baked + Grilled + Deep Fried (IN ONE)
If you imagine that you’re cooking a roast dinner for Sunday lunch. You have planned to make roast chicken with roast potatoes and vegetables.
You would normally steam the vegetables in a pan and then cook the chicken and the potatoes together in the oven. You would then finish roast chicken on the grill to crisp up the chicken and potatoes.
But now you have an air fryer and then only downside is that it is smaller than the space you have in the oven but everything else is very similar.
You would cook the chicken and potatoes together but because the air fryer acts as the baked, grilled and deep fried all in one means that there is less work and less oil involved.
You can place your chicken and potatoes in the same way, then you would add the oil (but a lot less) and then it would cook evenly and then you can serve it.
That chicken and potatoes that would usually take 90 minutes in the oven, will take just 45 minutes in the air fryer.
Add to this that instead of having to splash the potatoes with a lot of oil to make them crispy you just need a tablespoon of olive oil for each person that you are cooking for.
Expect air fryer cooking to be simple and not as difficult as the way you cook now, so it is a nice cooking experience.
#2 – Air Frying Uses Less Oil/No Oil
You end up experimenting a lot to get things right. For example, some recipes you will find don’t require any oil at all, yet some if you take them to an oil free recipe, they can taste horrible.
But as a rule, you should expect to reduce the oil by about 85%.
If you’re a fan of KFC Chicken, Chicken Cordon Bleu or Chicken Schnitzel then you will love the oil free versions for the air fryer.
They taste like something that has been crisped and deep fried when in fact it has been breaded and made in a much healthier way.
Though I do recommend you read our air fryer oil usage guide as it goes into much greater detail.
Expect trial and error though and have fun recipe testing. Our air fryer French Fries for example took us 3 years to perfect them and now our dinners wouldn’t be the same without them!
#3 – Air Frying Cooks Fast
Because the air fryer uses air instead of lots of oil it cooks things really fast.
Expect to cook at 180c/360f for recipes that you would normally cook at 200c/400f in the conventional oven.
#4 – Air Frying On 80% Full
Never fill your air fryer more than 80% capacity. This is because when it gets too full everything sticks together and comes out like glue.
Fries when they are overcooked will come out stuck together and incredibly dry. You will then need a lot of mayonnaise to make them taste good.
I find this applies especially to if you overload your air fryer when cooking sweet potato fries.
#5 – Air Frying Halfway Rule
Another rule of the thumb is to make sure that you check and shake halfway through cooking when cooking air fryer fries.
This gives you chance to make sure that the fries is not stuck together and to make sure they don’t end up dry.
I find that a lot of my air fryer French fries recipes end up needing to cook for 15 minutes at 180c/360f.
I will then give them a shake at the 7.5 minutes mark. If you’re likely to forget, just put them on for half the time and then cook again after shaking.
#6 – Air Frying From Frozen
There are a lot of delicious frozen foods that you can cook in the air fryer instead of the deep fat fryer. This includes classic air fryer frozen French fries, air fryer frozen chicken wings and of course air fryer frozen jalapeno poppers.
What I have learnt from the numerous frozen food that I have cooked in the air fryer is that a medium temperature of 180c/360f and a high temperature of 200c/400f work best together to ensure the food is cooked and that it is crispy.
We also have a popular air fryer frozen foods cookbook that you can download here or click on the banner below:
It features all of our favourite frozen foods converted to the air fryer and perfect for finding your feet.
#7 – Air Frying Needs Accessories
You need a few things in order to make air frying work for you. I can’t live without my air fryer Grill, air fryer Baking Pan and of course my baking mats.
They all slot into the air fryer to make cooking so much easier and have had a lot of use yet still look brand new.
When you invest in them once (just like the air fryer) they will last you years and save you a huge amount of calories.
Quick Air Fryer Conversion Chart
I have also put together a quick Air Fryer conversion chart. That way if you want something quick for dinner and you want to air fry it then you can quickly turn to this list.
It features a lot of my favourite Air Fryer foods and it is great for referencing later.
It includes meat, fish, vegetables, desserts (I cook plenty of those), pastries, breakfast ideas and so much more:
As you can see most recipes will cook on 180c/360f. It’s an easy temperature to remember and then if you want things more crispy then use 200c/400f.
I also find that a lower temperature also comes in handy if you want to thaw food in your air fryer.
You can also decrease the cooking time by preheating it while you are preparing your food for the air fryer.
Dominic being the trained chef, will always do this and sometimes I have things going on that I naturally forget.
101 Air Fryer Recipes For Beginners PDF Cookbook
If you would like to get all the recipes mentioned above, along with all the extra air fryer beginners tutorials, then click on the image above or click here.
Many of our readers call this their air fryer bible. As they turn to it whenever they want to cook something new in the air fryer or use it to refer back to for their favourites.
Can’t Read it now? Then pin it for later!
How can the conversion chart be printed?
Hi Diane,
If you right click on the image to open it in a new tab then just go to print it like a normal webpage then that will work. Though if you download the image and open it in paint it will print it much bigger and it will then be easier to read.
Kind regards
Sam
X
I printed from the link, it is the length of a sheet of paper and about 1-1/2″ wide, you can’t read any of it
Hi Donna,
Sorry that it did not work for you. I have tried it on mine and the size was fine and i could read it ok. As an alternative try saving the image to your desktop or mobile device then you can still get the conversions when you need them.
Kind Regards
Sam
tried all suggested methods to print the chart but I still get it about an inch wide with the entire length fitting on the length of the paper (11 in). The printer doesn’t seem to want to split it onto multible pages
Hi Betty,
Did you try printing from the pdf version?
If not here is the url and try and print this one and let me know how it turned out:
http://recipethis.com/downloads/QuickAirfryerConversionChartwithAirfryerCookingTimes.pdf
Many thanks.
I tried your suggestion to print but it did not work.
Hi Sharon,
If you right click the image and save it to your desktop. Then open it in paint then you can print from there.
Kind regards
Sam
X
Please please we need nutrition.
how would i cook breaded chicken fingers ?
Hi Leeann,
I would use this recipe:
http://recipethis.com/whole-30-best-of-the-mediterranean-airfryer-breaded-chicken/
Kind Regards
Sam
I really like your chart. I have not had any luck with cornbread. It does not rise.
Hi Bill,
I think it’s a case of practice makes perfect.
I have never personally made it myself, but we use the Airfryer a lot for bread and the airfryer is perfect for proving it in.
Kind regards
Sam
X
Cornbread?
Try a pressure cooker, it is moist and the best way we cook it. Totally unbelievable, also cheese cakes.
We use a small bundt pan.
As for cornbread, mix the dry, mix the liquids, separately, then combine the two and don’t over work it, it should be majorly lumpy. Seriously, you will think it still needs mixing, but stop, the lumps will bake out.
As soon as you start mixing you will cause bubbles to start, the rise, you don’t want to beat the gas out, there is just so much that will get generated, you need to start cooking as soon as you do that finally mix of dry and wet. Do not wait 1, 5, 10 minutes. Start baking immediately. This is also true of pancakes.
What do you use the bake sheet for, do you lay it on the bottom
Hi Jean,
It works as a cheaper option to attaching a grill pan or a baking pan to your air fryer. You simply cut one to the shape of your air fryer basket and then you can use it on any recipe that would make the basket messy. For example its good for making burgers with, cookies etc.
When you compliled the conversion charts, what was the wattage? Also,which fryer were you using at the time of creating them? Thank you!
Hi Judy,
The wattage of the Philips air fryer we were using at the time was 2100 watt. This is the european version so i do not know if it differs from the us specifications. The one were using and still are is this Philips Airfryer XXL just here:
http://amzn.to/2tQbcX5 (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Philips have upgraded all there air fryers so results i would have thought will be different for example cooking times will be reduced and they should more cost efficient with them been the newer models. The one we have which you can see on the link is a few years old now, so it is also a good time for us to upgrade 😉
If you need anymore info please feel free to get in touch.
Thanks.
Do these instructions apply to a toaster oven air fryer?
Hi Julie
No they apply to the standard air fryer with a basket 🙂
Any recipes for an Air Fryer oven? Not only am I new to air frying but my new range’s oven is also an air fryer! HELP
Hello Jan,
Yes we have about 38 recipes using the air fryer oven, you can take a look here:
http://recipethis.com/category/kitchen-gadget-recipes/air-fryer-oven/ 🙂
Since convection ovens can be used as air fryers with your gadgets are the charts the same? mine is a combo mcro/covection.
Hi Sharon,
The charts are made using a basket Philips air fryer, so you could try them but the size of the oven could be a problem as it will take longer to heat and then cook the food 🙂
Is there a way to convert a stir fry recipe to AF and do you have to use a special pan? I bought a silicone red pot on a whim and don’t know what to do with it. My parchment liners seem to so the same job.
Hi Becky,
Here is our latest stir fry recipe in the air fryer:
https://recipethis.com/air-fryer-stir-fry/
We do not use silicone or parchment paper when doing the stir fry, we use just the basket 🙂
Hi, thank you for this wonderful help on air fry cooking. The big problem I have is that my air fryer is the oven type not the pot type and the recipes out there are mostly for the type you have and I wonder if you know how to adjust our heat and time to work with your recipes. I have tried and can not do it. they do not cook the same.
Hello Debra,
We have a podcast episode especially for the air fryer oven, you can find it here:
https://recipethis.com/air-fryer-oven-101/
We try and cover most things to do with the air fryer oven in this episode. You can download it on your podcasts app or listen to it through the website.
Thank you for your comment 🙂
All air fryer recipes use a basket air fryer, I have an oven air fryer is everything recipes,etc. the same?
Hi Julie,
I would say no as they typically take longer in an air fryer oven rather than a basket air fryer! Here is a list of our air fryer oven recipes:
https://recipethis.com/category/kitchen-gadget-recipes/air-fryer-oven/
I hope find these recipes helpful 🙂