# The air fryer can do a lot more than fries > A chef spent weeks cooking nothing but air fryer food and came back with nine recipes and a short list of things it still can't do. - Title: The air fryer can do a lot more than fries · Naturallydannyseo - Summary: A chef spent weeks cooking nothing but air fryer food and came back with nine recipes and a short list of things it still can't do. Preheat it, flip halfway… - Keywords: air fryer, plant-based, recipes, cooking tips, fall food, air, fryer, lot, more, fries, Naturallydannyseo - Source: Naturallydannyseo — https://naturallydannyseo.com/2025/08/fit-to-be-fried - Published: 2025-08-13T14:17:18+00:00 - Read time: 4 min - Topics: air fryer, plant-based, recipes, cooking tips, fall food ## The air fryer won Introduced to American kitchens about a decade ago, it now sits on roughly 40 percent of U.S. counters. Oprah has put it on her Favorite Things list five years running. > Sales of air fryers have quadrupled since 2015, and the cooker now has been welcomed into about 40 percent of U.S. kitchens. ## It's a small convection oven Super-heated air rushes around the food at speed. With under two tablespoons of oil, you get the same crisp shell a vat of hot oil would give you. > you place food inside and super-heated air rushes around to cook it ## Bigger than snack duty Most models hold about five servings, and they keep growing. Some new ranges have one built right in. It roasts vegetables and bakes cookies, not just mozzarella sticks. ## The chef became a convert Culinary editor Olivia Roszkowski barely touched one before this assignment. Now it lives on her counter, because it cooks small portions without heating the stove or filling the kitchen with smoke. > Now it's a staple in my kitchen ## Corn cut into ribs Snap two ears in half, stand them up, and split them lengthwise. Brushed with chipotle, garlic powder, and coconut sugar, they cook in ten minutes total. ## Sugar tames the chili A teaspoon of coconut sugar in the spice rub keeps the chipotle from turning bitter. Cut the corn into thirds instead of halves and the pieces curl like real ribs. > A small amount of sweetener such as coconut sugar balances out the bitterness of chili-based seasonings such as chipotle powder. ## Cook at two temperatures Five minutes at 350ºF gets the corn cooked through, then 400ºF crisps the outside. Changing the dial mid-cook is far faster here than in an oven. ## A squash bowl you can eat Split a butternut where the neck meets the bulb. The bulb becomes the serving bowl, the diced neck gets blended with yogurt and salsa into the sauce that fills it. ## Salsa does the heavy lifting Half a cup of salsa plus nutritional yeast turns roasted squash into a plant-based 'cheese' dip. It adds moisture and flavor in one move. > Salsa is a great way to add flavor and moisture to a plant-based 'cheese' sauce. ## Crudité, barely cooked Carrots, fennel, and radicchio get five minutes at 350ºF. Long enough to wake up the flavor, short enough that they still snap when you dip them. > Air frying the crudité vegetables for a few minutes brings out their flavors while still allowing them to retain enough firmness for dipping. ## Hasselback with marshmallows Chopsticks on either side of the sweet potato stop your knife before it cuts through. Coconut oil goes in the crevices, marshmallows and maple-candied pumpkin seeds go on top. ## Peel the yams, line the basket The air fryer toughens sweet potato skin, so take it off first. And parchment under the marshmallows saves you from scrubbing melted sugar out of the basket. > Peel the sweet potatoes as the air fryer can toughen and dry out the skins. ## Puree instead of water The pumpkin flatbread dough uses puree, lemon oil, and thyme with no water at all. Gluten stays underdeveloped, so the bread comes out tender in five minutes. > Add vegetable purees such as squash or potato to flatbread dough instead of water. ## Cauliflower stands in for gyro Florets and purple pearl onions with oregano, cumin, and garlic powder cook twenty minutes, tossed halfway. Pile them on flatbread over mint tzatziki. ## Fried rice, pressed into cakes Jasmine rice binds well because it holds moisture. Frozen peas dropped into the hot rice thaw themselves and cool the rice at the same time, which is the whole trick. ## Raid the jam jar Apricot jam blended with fresh ginger, cider vinegar, and salt becomes the dipping sauce. Any preserve works if you hit it with acid and something sharp. > Fruit jams or preserves can be a great alternative for making quick and savory dipping sauces ## Brownie cakes in ramekins Oat flour, cocoa, pumpkin puree, and coconut milk bake in three-inch ramekins. Ten minutes at 350ºF, then fifteen at 320ºF so the outside doesn't run ahead. > It's okay to leave the cake a little molten in the center since the base is edible, even in its raw form. ## Freeze avocado before frying Twenty minutes in the freezer, then cornstarch, egg, and a black and white sesame crust. The chill keeps the flesh from fully cooking, so it turns creamy rather than mushy. > freeze the avocado slices so that the actual avocado does not fully cook in the air fryer but becomes slightly creamy ## Lasagna inside a mushroom Squeezed spinach, crumbled tofu, sun-dried tomatoes, and yogurt fill a portobello. Cook the cap alone for five minutes first or the filling sits in a puddle. > Cooking the mushrooms for a few minutes before you fill them ensures more flavor, a better texture, and a less watery composition. ## Where it still loses Wet batter needs real oil. Bread and pizza want temperatures above 400ºF. Big batches do better spread on a sheet pan, and nothing beats cast iron for a sear. > Wet batters will do better in a deep fryer or pan; they need the addition of the oil to cook properly. ## Key takeaway Preheat it, flip halfway, and treat 400ºF as your broiler and 350ºF as your oven. Everything else follows from that.