Recipe Roundup

17 Air Fryer Recipes to Add to Your Weeknight Rotation

Got a new air fryer? We’ve got recipe ideas—and they don’t involve tater tots.

By Joe Sevier and The Editors of Epicurious

December 19, 2023

A plate of rice topped with shallots sliced cucumbers and glazed airfryer salmon with a fork and a glass of white wine.

We probably don’t need to tell you what an air fryer is or why it’s good for more than just reheating frozen sweet potato fries. But if you’ve recently acquired the appliance or dug yours out from some closet, we can help with really good air fryer recipes, including some brand-new ones from our food editor, Jesse Szewczyk. The air fryer’s greatest strength may be helping vegetables shine, creating super-crispy edges without overcooking the center of each bite. But yes, you can also make really good chicken wings in an air fryer. Find the best air fryer recipes we’ve tried below.

Don’t have an air fryer yet and considering getting one or giving one to a loved one? Read through our product test to find the best air fryer for every cook.

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Drew Aichele
1/17
Air-Fryer Brussels Sprouts Salad With Spiced Maple Vinaigrette
If you’re looking for new air fryer recipes and trying to eat a few more vegetables, you’ve come to the right recipe collection. This staff-favorite grain bowl from Nik Sharma is hearty, crispy, crunchy, tangy, sweet, and well-spiced. Our recipe tester called it “obnoxiously delicious”—and if that isn’t a recommendation, we don’t know what is.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
2/17
Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower
All of the beloved flavors of buffalo wings show up in this shatteringly crunchy snack, best served with celery sticks, carrots, and blue cheese dressing for dunking. Peek into our office chat: “I made these last week and can confirm they HIT,” notes associate editor Zoe Denenberg.
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Photo by Danny Culbert
3/17
Caramelized Eggplant With Harissa Yogurt
You often have to use a ton of oil to cook eggplant in the oven, but an air fryer can do it well with a minimal spritz. The interior of each bite here is remarkably creamy, and the exterior caramelizes to a golden brown after a quick 15-minute cook time. This makes a great vegetarian main dish or could be served alongside juicy pork meatballs or your favorite shrimp recipe.
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Photo by Eric Medsker
4/17
Air-Fried Chicken Thighs
When testing easy air fryer recipes for The Look and Cook Air Fryer Bible, authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough realized that dunking chicken right in a wet batter and popping it in the air fryer wasn’t going to get them great air fryer chicken thighs. (The air current blow the batter right off!) But using a buttermilk marinade for chicken thighs, then coating them in seasoned flour yields batches of crispy, juicy fried chicken with way less oil and none of the cleanup involved in using a fryer.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Drew Aichele
5/17
Air Fryer Salmon With Sweet Tamarind Glaze
Air-frying is a great way to cook fish—it comes out evenly cooked with a perfectly crisp exterior. For this weeknight dinner, it’s treated to a tamarind glaze and a shower of crispy shallots on top.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
6/17
Air Fryer Green Beans
This side dish recipe comes in handy if you’re hosting a big dinner party and the oven’s occupied with a main course. But it’s also a great way to get your veggies any night of the week. The green beans get gently browned, but still taste fresh and snappy.
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Photo by Eric Medsker
7/17
Air Fryer Crispy Fish Fillet Sandwiches
Battered or crumbed? That’s always the question when you’re considering making fried fish sandwiches. With our favorite air fryer fish sandwich method, you can have both.
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Photo by Eric Medsker
8/17
Air Fryer Bagel Chips
Nobody likes spending money on a bag of broken bagel chip bits. Making these at home means crunchy whole chips that are great for dunking. Spinach-artichoke dip, anyone?
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Photo by Eric Medsker
9/17
Air Fryer Crispy Turkey Cutlets
It turns out that leftover stuffing mix can do a lot. These air fryer turkey cutlets are breaded in the stuff, but you can swap in Italian-seasoned dried breadcrumbs, slightly smashed corn flakes, or crushed crackers. Serve with a cranberry dipping sauce for Thanksgiving vibes, or place on a pile of arugula lightly dressed with lemon and olive oil and Parmesan shavings if you lean toward Italian-inspired dinner ideas.
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Photo by Denny Culbert
10/17
Air Fryer Crispy Herbed Chickpeas
When you’re craving a crispy snack, the air fryer is your ally. The high heat of an air fryer, which circulates quickly, dries out the chickpeas so they get nice and crunchy. These are flavored with dried herbs, mustard powder, paprika, and a touch of cayenne pepper. Eat by the handful or use as a topping for salad or soup.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
11/17
Air Fryer Cauliflower
Consider this your guide for air-fried cauliflower that’s tender in the center and crisp on the edges after only 30 minutes total time.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Sean Dooley
12/17
Oven-Fried Crispy Shiitake Imperial Rolls
If you have an air fryer, you have the power to make shatteringly crispy imperial rolls at home, no deep-frying required.
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Photo by Kate Whitaker
13/17
Air Fryer Ham, Cheese, and Leek Bake
Transform any leftover ham from the holidays into this cheesy, savory casserole, baked in your countertop air fryer.
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Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
14/17
Air Fryer Sesame-Coconut Chicken Tenders
Bump up the flavor of air fryer chicken tenders by making your own, starting with high-quality chicken and incorporating sesame seeds and shredded coconut in the coating.
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Photo by Denny Culbert
15/17
Air Fryer Memphis-Style BBQ Pork Ribs
Beginners might not realize how many different easy dinner recipes you can make in an air fryer. Case in point: tender pork ribs in a fraction of the time thanks to your new favorite cooking device.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua
16/17
Extra-Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Looking for new recipes to star in your Super Bowl appetizers spread? These spiced chicken wings are ready to take the stage.
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Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Cyd McDowell, Prop Styling by Paige Hicks
17/17
Air Fryer Spiced Potato Wedge Fries With Yogurt-Tahini Sauce
After checking out all the air fryer recipes above, you know that the machine isn’t just about reheating mozzarella sticks and frozen fries. But homemade air-fried potato wedges? These are something special, whether you serve with grilled cheese or one of your favorite chicken recipes, or just settle into the couch and call ’em a meal.
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Following stints at StarChefs and Saveur, Joe joined Epicurious in 2016 where he’s written about how to make the very best biscuits, the singularity of third-culture cooking, and the ultimate cream cheese frosting. Currently, he works across both BA and Epi as the senior SEO editor for cooking stories, which... Read more

Senior SEO Editor, Cooking

The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here.