The 5 Best Air Fryer Recipes for Beginners

Don’t let yours sit in the box!

By
Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn is a food editor and on-air host who wants to make cooking for your family a little more fun. She'll probably introduce you to your favorite sprinkles.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 02/9/23
eggs in an air fryer

The Spruce / Madhumita Sathishkumar

It seems like everyone and their mother is falling hard for air frying. While air fryers might feel like a new trendy gadget, they’ve actually been in home kitchens for over 10 years now. In that time the size, selection, and capabilities of the air fryer have improved making them a truly exciting product. Air fryers cook food using convection which means they can mimic the high heat of an oven and broiler and give food a fried-like texture with just a small bit of oil. Plus, an air fryer takes about a third of the time to preheat than a conventional oven. Your favorite frozen shortcuts, weeknight dinner staples, and sweet treats can be easily adapted to air frying. 

Ready to jump on the air frying bandwagon? Don’t be intimidated! These 5 recipes will take you from beginner to pro and help you learn how to use your new favorite gadget.

  • 01 of 05

    Baked Potatoes

    air-fryer-baked-potato-4777826-06

     The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

    A crispy-skinned baked potato with a fluffy interior is hard to beat, but it can take a really long time to cook in an oven. The air fryer cuts the cooking time down significantly, but more importantly it’s a low-stakes, high-reward recipe for getting to know how your air fryer works. Just as you would with oven-baked potatoes, be sure to pierce the skins of your potatoes with a fork and coat them well with oil and salt before setting them in the air fryer until they’re tender inside and crisp outside, about 40 minutes. You can also use the air fryer to bake sweet potatoes if that's more your thing.

  • 02 of 05

    Bacon

    air-fryer-bacon-4777796-06

    The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

    Ah, bacon. One of the finer things in life but also one of the messier things to cook on the stovetop. Oven-cooked bacon is a nice alternative, but then there's the delayed gratification (the agony!) of waiting for the oven to preheat and then slowly work its magic. Air fryer bacon is a whole different beast. Preheating a small air fryer instead of a big oven takes just minutes, and the cooking process is a snap (not to mention SO much easier so clean). While the air fryer can't hold as much as an oven, it's easy to do batches. Serve up your first batch while the second one is cooking to keep hungry brunchers satisfied.

  • 03 of 05

    Hard Cooked Eggs

    Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs

    The Spruce / Madhumita Sathishkumar

    Hear us out: even if you have a favorite method for hard cooking eggs, you’re going to want to know this method. Air fried eggs are incredibly easy to peel and can come in clutch when you’re meal prepping as they are much more “set-and-forget” than traditional methods. Keep in mind that the cooking time will vary depending on the size of your air fryer and the number of eggs you cook.

  • 04 of 05

    Air Fryer Asparagus

    asparagus with lemon, garlic, and parmesan cheese
    The Spruce / Diana Rattray

    One of the best things about using an air fryer is all the time you save not having to preheat your oven. While roasted asparagus is incredibly tasty, it can feel like overkill to spend 20 minutes preheating your oven to cook a vegetable that only needs 5 minutes of cooking time. This is where the air fryer really shines. Just toss the asparagus with a little oil and seasonings, then slap it in the air fryer for a vibrant side dish that comes together in mere minutes.

    Continue to 5 of 5 below.
  • 05 of 05

    Crispy Chicken Thighs

    chicken thighs on a plate with parmesan cheese on the side
    Diana Rattray

    Getting crispy chicken thighs used to require a hot splatter-y pan on the stovetop followed by a long slow finish in the oven, but thanks to the air fryer you can have this all-purpose staple any night of the week. One of the reasons we think this recipe is essential for beginners is that it will show you how easy the clean up with an air fryer can be. Once you’ve made these thighs—they take just 30 minutes—you can wipe out the air fryer’s basket to remove the chicken fat and then wipe clean with a damp soapy sponge.