7 Air Fryer Recipes — Better Than Deep-Fried

Seven dishes, one machine, and no pot of oil to deal with afterwards. We cooked and filmed this whole set in a single video, and it plays like a tour of what an air fryer does best. Three are chicken in different forms: bite-sized popcorn pieces, BBQ nuggets, and sticky wings, with a crispy schnitzel alongside. The other three handle the sides: onion rings and phyllo sticks with melted cheese inside, plus homemade fries.

Start with the fries if the machine is new to you. Potatoes cost little, so a test batch tells you how your model runs before you trust it with chicken. The popcorn chicken and nuggets suit a weeknight, small pieces that please picky eaters. Save the two cheese-filled snacks for a weekend tray, and bring out the wings when friends come over.

None of this is diet food, and it does not pretend to be. The point is crunch without the cleanup: no splatter, no used oil to strain and store, and no kitchen that smells of frying for days. Work through the set one Friday at a time.

Recipes in this video

The set opens with it for a reason: small pieces, familiar flavor, and the fastest way to convince a skeptic that an air fryer can handle fried chicken.

Onion rings usually go soggy without a vat of oil, which is why these earned their spot: the cheese filling raises the stakes, and the crunch still has to hold.

The most dinner-like dish of the seven. Where its siblings lean toward snacks and party food, this one anchors a proper plate, and the fries next in the lineup make an obvious partner.

Fries are the benchmark every air fryer gets judged by, so this set had to include a serious version. If yours have been pale and leathery, start here.

The wildcard of the set: phyllo wraps the cheese instead of a breadcrumb coat, so the crust shatters rather than crunches. Party tray material.

A homemade answer to the freezer bag. Of all seven, this is the one to make with grandchildren in mind: familiar shape, BBQ flavor, and no hot oil nearby.

Saved for last in the video for good reason. When you want one dish from this set to hand around at a gathering, sticky wings beat everything before them.

Watch the full video