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Air fryers have gotten the reputation for being the latest trendy kitchen appliance the last few years, perhaps the latest in a line of items like multi-cookers or sous vides, that often get a lot of attention but ultimately may end up left in the basement in a box once the novelty wears off.
But for me, the air fryer was nothing like those other flash-in-the-pan (so to speak) trendy appliances. It’s changed how I cook and eat, and in a big way, how I live my life. I am a single woman who lives alone in New York City. I work from home, as a freelance food and travel writer, and often am recipe-developing or testing in a tiny kitchen with limited storage space and only one counter to work upon.
I live on a budget and try to avoid takeout or delivery whenever possible, and that means I’m spending a whole lot of time cooking, eating, and working in that tiny kitchen with limited options. And as my social media feed will illustrate, a whole lot of that time cooking and eating, my air fryer plays a very integral role.
Early in the pandemic, as I spent a whole lot of time alone cooking in that kitchen, I started to experiment with cooking my dinner on Instagram so I could share recipes but also have a sort of community. We would cook together, eat together and feel less lonely – physical distancing didn’t have to also be social distancing. This included sharing recipes for air fryer dishes such as harissa wings, a roast chicken, eggplant parm, crispy tofu and lobster tails
While I used my air fryer as a vehicle to cook easy and delicious meals and also to connect with others, I began to realize more and more that it is, simply, so much more than that. I think the air fryer is also an incredible asset in that it’s so accessible. I don’t have space for all those fancy gadgets, and my cooking reflects that.
How An Air Fryer Saves You Money and Time
Using an air fryer can make cooking and eating more streamlined and healthier. I think a lot of people already know that, but it can also save a lot of money in some pretty unexpected ways.
It keeps things healthy but tasty: You can have things that taste fried but aren’t. Air fryers use little to no oil and yet you will have crispy wings, breaded chicken nuggets, anything you want, minus the fat from oil or butter. That way, you can focus on flavor enhancement from items like fresh herbs and keep things healthy, while still having that golden crisp texture we all crave.
Batch cooking and meal planning is easier: When things are easier and more streamlined, you are more likely to actually do it. You won’t waste money on takeout or delivery and you’ll cook healthy and budget-friendly meals at home, largely because it’s more accessible.
It saves energy and lowers your electric bill: Sometimes over the years, my ConEd bills would blow my mind because I barely even turn TVs on and don’t own an air conditioner. How can my energy bills get so high? Turns out, ovens can use a lot of energy, and air fryers use less. They are smaller and heat up faster. They also keep things cool in a small apartment for the same reason – so if you are using the oven and then turning on fans or air conditioner to cool things back down, you can avoid those energy costs as well.
Air fryers can do several jobs: This is very useful for me in my own kitchen, as I don’t have room for a bunch of appliances. But thanks to my air fryer, I don’t need to own things like microwaves or toasters. I reheat that leftover pizza in my air fryer – it tastes a whole lot better that way, too.
It lowers food waste: We’ve all tossed leftovers because they just feel less appetizing on day 2. But the air fryer can return that golden crunch to yesterday’s fried chicken or mozzarella sticks or fries, you just may want to keep eating them.
Currently, I have the Instant Vortex Plus 6 QT Air Fryer with Odor Erase Technology in my own kitchen. I like it because it comes with built-in replaceable air filters, which helps avoid those cooking odors from lingering around. But it also is the perfect size for some of my go-to recipes (like the roast chicken recipe I share below), and has a bunch of features, from air frying to roasting to broiling, reheating, baking and more. It’s also incredibly easy to clean, which is something that someone without a dishwasher in their kitchen extra-appreciates. I just rinse out the basket each time I’m done using it.
Affordable Air Fryer Recipes
Aly’s Air Fryer Roast Chicken
Roasting a chicken is pretty much my go-to form of not only meal prep, but batch cooking and eating well on a budget. I will make this meal just about every Sunday, total ingredient cost is around $10, and I’ll eat from it for the better part of a week.
Tip: The leftover carcass is not garbage, it can be used to make an awesome stock that itself can be batched and frozen for future meals.
Ingredients:
- One whole chicken, cleaned
- Seasoning mix for chicken: Olive oil, fresh rosemary, garlic, blended
- Cut up russet potatoes, onions, garlic and root vegetables (optional)
Directions:
- Clean chicken, and rub down with seasoning mix.
- Place in an air fryer basket on a bed of root vegetables, potatoes, onions, and garlic (or on its own) – I also sometimes add some stuffing!
- Put it in air fryer for one hour at 400 degrees (you’ll want to flip it at the midway part to make sure you are cooked through and have nice crispy skin on both sides)
- Reserve those bones after you are done eating this chicken, or dividing for future portions. You can make stock!
This chicken is perfect on its own night one, and then I use the shredded chicken left for salads and sandwiches or wraps for lunch all week long.
Aly’s Spicy Ginger Sesame Wings
Air fryer wings are so much fun because you really can make them your own. I usually have two distinct air fryer wing recipe go-to’s – an Asian spin and a southwestern spin, but really, use any flavors you like in your wings. If you love lemon garlic rosemary wings, that’s your flavor mix. It’ll all result in flavorful crispy juicy wings.
Ingredients – Aly’s Spicy Ginger Sesame Wings
- (These recipe proportions were done with one pound of wings in mind – adjust accordingly for smaller or larger portions.)
- 1 pound whole chicken wings, cleaned and thawed
- ½ tablespoon of cornstarch or baking powder (you don’t have to use both, but you should use one)
- 1 tablespoon Sesame oil (I actually use chili sesame oil if I can find it)
- 1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar or black vinegar (you’ll want to have umami notes, so this way you have sweet, spicy, and also savory and a bit of acid)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger or equivalent (I usually use the frozen ginger cubes or the paste, but fresh is great too – use powdered if you have no other option)
- 1 tbsp of light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (fresh is best here!)
- Gochujang to taste, depending on how spicy you like it (sambal is fine too if you have that – or any hot sauce/paste you prefer)
- 1 tablespoon Light soy sauce
- For garnish: Fresh lime, chopped green onions, cilantro, sesame seeds
Directions
- If the wings are frozen, that’s fine. But toss them in the fridge to defrost the night before you want to prepare them.
- When ready to prepare, grab them from the fridge – I usually keep them in either a Ziploc or a Tupperware while defrosting – and take a second to pat each one with a paper towel. You want them to be dry before marinating.
- OK, now you are going to place those wings back in the Ziploc or Tupperware and add your marinade blend. I always add a bit of baking powder or cornstarch to the spices in the marinade because this helps with crisping (remember, baking powder not soda – they are commonly confused and this is an important distinction!)
- Take your ingredients – the cornstarch or baking powder, sesame oil or chili sesame oil, ginger, brown sugar, garlic, Gochujang, rice vinegar, and soy sauce, and add it all to a bowl. Toss your wings in there and coat well.
- Now let those wings marinate in the marinade. You can do this for as long as you have time. I usually try to marinate for about an hour, but if you want, you can even set it up the night before. The longer you marinade, the better it is!
- Place the wings in a single layer in the air fryer – ideally have them not touch if possible. Set the air fryer to 400 degrees for 23 minutes.
- To flip or not to flip? You can midway through, I did at the halfway mark. But if you are not able to or get distracted – that’s fine. It’ll still be crispy and delish.
- When done, remove wings, and set in a bowl. At this point, I like to garnish with a squeeze of fresh lime, and then add some chopped cilantro, sesame seeds, or chopped green onion. You can do any mix of these, or all of the above!
Modification: If you want to try a southwestern spin on these wings, it’ll be exactly the same steps and cooking time/temp. However, your ingredients will be switched up a bit!
At the point you marinate the wings before air frying, you’re going to toss them in a bowl with a small amount of oil (avocado oil works great here rather than the sesame oil you use in the Asian wings recipe) and your favorite taco seasoning blend. I love the one at Trader Joe’s, it comes in easy meal-sized packets. But if you don’t have that, you can easily make your own by mixing some sea salt with cayenne, smoked paprika, mexican oregano, chile powder, cumin, garlic and black pepper. When done, you can garnish that with cilantro and lime as well!
As for dipping sauces, you probably won’t want one with the Asian wings – but I love to dip the southwestern ones in fresh salsa or guacamole. Perfect for entertaining, too.
Aly’s Air Fryer Tofu Bites
This recipe is simple, fast, and vegetarian (and vegan friendly). And it’s just so darn snackable, you can have a nice crispy big bowl with dipping sauce. I enjoy it as finger food but also sometimes on a bed of white rice or rice noodles or even as a bit of crunchy texture on top of an Asian-inspired lunch salad – and you can dial the spice level to your liking.
First step before doing anything is you need to make sure you buy extra-firm tofu and you press it. You can pres s for as little as a few minutes but the longer you press, the better. The easiest method of pressing, I think, is to wrap the tofu in a paper towel and then put it on a dish with something heavy on top – perhaps a cast-iron pan or a cookbook. This helps to get rid of a bunch of that excess water and will lead to crispier tofu bites.
Ingredients:
One package of extra-firm tofu (SUPER important not to get the silken stuff)
1 tsp Crushed Korean chili pepper (or any spicy crushed pepper would be fine here, you can use paprika if you want less heat)
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Ginger Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder (or 1 clove minced)
1 tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tbsp Sesame Oil (I used Chili sesame Oil)
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
Directions:
1. Press the tofu as I explained above. Do it for at least 10 minutes, but more is better.
2. You don’t get much easier than this. Toss ALL the above ingredients into two side-by-side bowls – one for wet ingredients, one for dry. Measurements are not super important here because you’re basically just using it as a coating to toss the tofu in. But make sure you mix those ingredients well so they are tossed evenly.
3. Take your pressed tofu and cut it into even cubes, then dip in the sesame oil/soy sauce mixture to coat, and then the seasoning mixture.
4. Now just place it in your air fryer in a single layer. These are little cubes, so you’ll be able to fit a LOT in one round of the air fryer.
5. Cook at 400 for 8 minutes. You can shake the basket midway through if you want, but it’s not necessary for crispy and delicious results!
Dipping sauce: For my dipping sauce, I used the chili oil/sesame oil and soy sauce again, but you can switch it up with whatever you enjoy. Even a jar of Thai sweet chili sauce or Chinese garlic chili sauce would be delightful here.
Aly’s Air Fryer Mini Garlic Naan Pizzas
These pizzas are so fun because they are incredibly easy but also so versatile. Switch out mozzarella for plant-based cheese if you want to go non-dairy, and pile on veggies or meat toppings depending on your preference. I make these for lunch a few times a week because it takes just a few minutes and it’s so satisfying.
Ingredients:
Mini Garlic Naans – one per pizza (I pick these up in a multi-pack at the grocery store, because they are easier for a single serving than the full-sized naan breads – but if sharing, feel free to go for the full-sized. If you can’t find garlic naan, you can always buy regular and just brush with some garlic and olive oil. Or, if you prefer not using garlic, just use regular and proceed!)
Sauce – If you are feeling industrious, you can make a homemade marinara to put on your pizzas, but a jar of good sauce is just fine too. Feel free to shake things up, too. I sometimes use pesto as my sauce instead of a red sauce and it’s so good.
Cheese. Usually, I go with a classic – mozzarella – fresh mozz, shredded mozz, whatever you like is fine. I prefer not using pre-shredded because it tends to clump and cake, so if you buy a block of cheese and shred yourself, that’s going to taste better. But if you love, say, a goat cheese and spinach pizza, that’s your naan, do what you want!
Toppings: Have so much fun here! I usually go with black olives on mine, but use any meat/veggie mix you like.
Fresh basil – I just think this is delicious and better for presentation. But if you can’t find or don’t have, sprinkling some dried Italian seasoning is fine too.
Directions:
The reason for using the naan bread instead of pizza dough (aside from it cooking more evenly and having that delicious woodfired taste), is that it will come together in just a few minutes! You basically just are warming the toppings and melting the cheese.
- Place the mini garlic naan breads in a single layer in your air fryer. I like to spray each one with a bit of cooking oil spray (olive oil or garlic olive oil is ideal) just to sort of “wake it up”
- Spoon on your sauce, cheese and then your toppings.
- Air fry for 6-7 minutes (depending on how well done you like your pizza) at 400-degrees until your naan bread looks golden and crispy and your cheese is melty with little brown bubbles (that’s how you know it’s nice and melty and gooey!).
- Sprinkle a bit of crushed red chili flakes and you are done. This makes a great appetizer but also could be a delicious dinner entree, perhaps paired with a nice salad and a bottle of wine!
Leftover “Egg Rolls”
I’m ALL about stretching ingredients as much as I can, and that means getting better at using leftovers in fun and creative ways. For example, egg rolls. These can be made with any leftovers you have (be it chicken, roast beef, anything you have around).
Ingredients:
- Spring roll or egg roll wrappers.
- Grab any leftovers at all you have available. I’ve done this with everything from last night’s turkey or brisket to leftover enchilada skillet or mac and cheese.
Directions:
1. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
2. Spoon your leftovers into the wrapper and wrap.
3. Put in air fryer for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
4. Make a fun dipping sauce that works with what you are wrapping. For example, enchilada skillet egg rolls would probably be good with a salsa or guacamole dipping sauce.
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