I'm a chef who's obsessed with my air fryer. Here are my 13 favorite things to make in it.

There are tons of recipes out there for air-fried breaded shrimp. 

I prefer mine served with a hint of heat, like the "bang bang" shrimp recipe from the blog Stay Snatched. I also like the shrimp paired with lemon aioli. 

Setting up a three-bowl dipping station is the best way to bread the shrimp quickly and efficiently — one bowl for flour, one for egg (or egg and mustard or mayo), and one for panko. However, I've also made them by simply dipping lightly oiled shrimp in panko before tossing them in the air fryer. 

There's no end to the list of things you can pile on a portobello cap and pop in the air fryer.

A recipe from the blog Spend With Pennies pairs them with cheddar and bacon, but I know some people swear by spinach and cream cheese or garlic and Parmesan. Brit + Co also has some great variation inspiration, including crab-stuffed mushrooms with Gouda or a play on French onion soup. 

I make mine with whatever I have on hand, but I particularly liked the batch I made with feta, cheddar, spinach, artichokes, bread crumbs, and lemon.

I pop the caps in the air fryer for a few minutes, gill-side down, to let any water drain out before flipping them and adding toppings.

Air-fried, nut-crusted chicken comes out moist, delicious, and with a perfect crust in just 20 minutes. 

Depending on what kind of air fryer you have, it might take a little more or less — I've found my basket air fryer cooks faster and my convection-oven air fryer takes slightly longer.

The blog Where Is My Spoon has a delicious, easy recipe for panko-breaded chicken. I adapted it by using half crushed nuts and half panko and adding smoked paprika and Parmesan for extra flavor.

Crab cakes are one of the tastiest things I've cooked since getting an air fryer. 

I followed a Food Network recipe, substituting a can of fire-roasted green chiles and chipotle powder for the listed chipotle chiles and adobo sauce, just for convenience.

A creamy, lemony chipotle sauce is the perfect accompaniment. It's so tangy and delicious that I could drink it.

You can make corn ribs in the air fry like in the recipe I found from the blog Plant Based Folk, or you can add more of a Mexican-inspired flair with a Food Network Canada recipe.

I could also see them working with masala spice for an Indian-inspired take on the trend. 

Pro tip: Microwave the cobs for seven to nine minutes before cutting them to make quartering easier. Then, lower the air-fryer temperature during cooking. 

There's a simple recipe for cornstarch-free, garlic-and-soy sauce tofu on the blog Live Eat Learn. It reminded me how much better the texture is after pressing the moisture out of the tofu before cooking (I used a heavy Dutch oven to squash the block).

I've also made crispy fried tofu with a ginger, tamari, and garlic marinade, finished with sesame seeds for extra crunch. The resulting tangy saltiness makes it a good bacon substitute for vegetarians and a delicious addition to Buddha bowls. 

I've also had luck just adding sauce at the end, which I found in a recipe from the blog Nora Cooks.

Buffalo cauliflower "wings" are a top choice any night of the week — it takes just 15 minutes to make crispy, spicy florets.

Simply whisk hot sauce, oil, garlic powder, and salt, and use the mixture to coat the cauliflower before tossing it into a single layer in the air fryer. I found the recipe I follow on Live Eat Learn.

Serve with blue cheese or another creamy dip.

Air-fried grilled cheese makes a quick lunch. Larger air fryers easily fit a few sandwiches, or you can chop them into half-sized sandwiches to cram more in a smaller basket.

My favorite grilled cheese is a take on a recipe from Kitchn, but with added apple slices.

I also love rustling up any cheese and jam, jelly, or fruit combination, a current favorite is ham, cheddar, and banana. 

Pro tip: Cook at a lower temperature until the cheese melts (three to five minutes) and then turn the heat up to toast the bread for an extra few minutes.

Cooking garlic in the air fryer takes half the time as doing it in a regular oven.

Kristina from the blog Tasty Oven suggests slicing off the bottom of each head of garlic, cooking a big batch, and freezing the extras. 

I like cooking the heads alongside roasted vegetables such as honeyed parsnips or carrots and then crushing the cloves to make garlic bread.

I didn't believe you could bake cakes in an air fryer, but I was proven wrong.

I've made some excellent cheesecakes in my basket air fryer, but the one I keep going back to is a simple coffee cake. I like a recipe from the blog Fork to Spoon.

I'll be working my way through the other recipes on the site, too, especially the air-fryer banana-walnut pound cake and banana-nut bread.

Empanada-sized pies are a breeze to make if you have store-bought apple filling and pie dough. But making your own allows you to choose how much sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon you want to add.

The blog BellyFull has a great recipe, whether you're making a premade or homemade version. Both turn out crisp and delicious in a basket air fryer or an oven air fryer. I tried both and couldn't tell the difference.

According to the recipe, the pies last in the fridge for three days and in the freezer for up to two months.

I followed food writer Chelsea Davis's technique for making air-fried French toast with a delicious, crispy exterior. I also added ground cardamom pods to the cinnamon and nutmeg in the egg batter.

Cutting the bread into fingers is a great tip for fitting more toast into basket fryers with curved corners. Preheating is also a good idea, particularly with convection-oven air fryers.

Oozing with liquid chocolate, molten lava cakes are irresistible.

I liked a small-batch recipe I found on the blog Essential Omnivore, but I use orange-flavored chocolate for even more flavor.

Pro tip: Only fill your ramekins around ⅔ of the way or the gooey middles might bubble up all over the bottom of your air fryer.

This story was originally published in February 2023 and most recently updated on January 23, 2025.