From perfectly rested air fryer steak to sweet and sticky chicken wings and all the arancini balls and Tim Tam desserts in between – we have ALL of the most delicious and easy air fryer recipes bundled neatly here for you!
Are air fryers just a load of hype?
Are air fryers just a load of hype? It’s a firm no from me! If you’ve been sitting on the fence about buying an air fryer, telling yourself you don’t need another kitchen appliance, I hear you. But also, I think you might be wrong. An air fryer REALLY is a game-changer in the kitchen – it makes light and quick work of anything that usually requires an oven.
Of course, cramming casserole pots and the like into an air fryer isn’t a reality – but you CAN SAVE on electricity and cooking time by not heating a whole oven for those smaller jobs like heating pies and sausage rolls, roasting a chicken, roasting vegetables, cooking hot chips or even baking drumsticks and chicken wings. Air fryers are small but mightily efficient and once you have one, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.
Air fryers: Things you need to remember!
- Choose an air fryer size that’s big enough for your family. If you’re cooking for two, you can get away with a smaller air fryer but if you have a bigger family, look for a 6L+ capacity.
- A more expensive price tag doesn’t always mean a better machine. I’ve had both the top-of-the-range and a budget-buy Kmart air fryer and I can tell you, there isn’t that much difference between them when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of cooking.
- ALWAYS place your air fryer on a large heat-resistant chopping board if you have a stone benchtop. It’s important to remember an air fryer is a mini oven – they get HOT – and this heat can sometimes cause stone benchtops to crack.
13 Easy air fryer recipes for the family to love
We all know chips and nuggets are air fryer staples, but just to make sure you REALLY get the most out of your air fryer, here are some of our favourite easy air fryer recipes you can whip up any day of the week!
1. Air fryer salt and pepper calamari
Make your own salt and pepper calamari? YOU BET. At a fraction of the price of buying it pre-prepared at the supermarket, you can make it yourself and cook it in the air fryer. Don’t forget a squeeze of lemon, yum!
2. Air fryer popcorn chicken
If you’re a fan of the tasty, moist morsels of bite-sized chicken that we have come to know as popcorn chicken, you’re going to love this air fryer DIY popcorn chicken air fryer recipe. Move over KFC, mum’s kitchen rules!
3. Crispy honey chicken
Using delicious and tasty chicken thigh, the air fryer makes short work of delivering super tasty crispy honey chicken to the family table.
4. Quick and easy air fryer pork belly roast
The ONLY way I cook pork belly now, you can’t beat an air fryer pork belly roast! Perfect hot or cold in salads, that crackling is spot on every time.
5. Air fryer popcorn cauliflower
Perfect for a side dish, snack or a warm addition to a grazing platter, this popcorn cauliflower is a fantastic way to get some extra veggies into bellies.
6. Air fryer prawns with spicy dipping sauce
Do you love a panko-encrusted prawn? Try these seafood morsels in the air fryer for a delicious – and slightly indulgent – dinner idea, paired with a salad for added goodness.
7. Air fryer Turkish pizza subs
These air fryer Turkish pizza subs are a regular in our house and they’re easy enough for teenagers to make without too much complaining. Perfect for weekend lunches or even sliced cold for school lunch boxes.
8. Air fryer Tim Tam dessert
A super easy air fryer recipe, if you thought a Tim Tam biscuit was a flavour bomb in its original form, I highly recommend wrapping it in puff pastry and popping it in the air fryer to transform it into a Tim Tam dessert delight. You can thank us later.
9. Perfectly cooked air fryer steak
No more bringing a pan up to temperature and questioning do I turn the steak or not and when? Nope. None of that. Just plug in your air fryer and follow this handful of perfect steak cooking steps and you’ll never go back to cooking steak in a pan again.
10. Air-fried ice cream balls
It takes serious GUTS to throw ice cream in an air fryer, but my ice-cream-loving heart knows no bounds. A viral air fryer ice-cream ball recipe hack? You can bet we gave it a crack!
11. Marinated sticky chicken wings
Perfect for a footy lunch or party finger food, these marinated sticky chicken wings come up as an absolute treat in the air fryer.
12. Air fryer rotisserie-style chicken
Want to give your plain roast chicken all the flavour of a BBQ rotisserie chicken? You can – you’ll get succulent, tender roast chicken on the table in an easy-breezy 40 minutes. You don’t even need to preheat the air fryer, just pop it in and turn it on!
13. Air fryer arancini balls
Yesterday’s risotto becomes today’s arancini balls and we are totally here for it. An AMAZING and a super-easy air fryer recipe win!
There are 13 super easy air fryer recipes to add to your air frying repertoire! What’s a regular in your air fryer? We’d love to hear it, let us know in the comments below!
