28 Vegan Air Fryer Recipes You Need To Try (2024)

FAQs

What 5 foods should you not put in an air fryer? ›

Air fryers can also make it easier to follow a vegan diet, offering a failsafe way to cook staples like tofu, cauliflower, and potatoes to perfection. Below, we've rounded up 10 mouth-watering recipes that prove plant-based cooking needn't be complicated or boring.

Some of the popular things to make in the air fryer are potatoes (chips, roasted, baked), muffins, scones, and cakes. It's also great for getting dinner on the table fast – we love to use our air fryer to make fritters, rissoles, nuggets, and pork belly (yes, you can cook raw meat in an air fryer).

Air fryers give you the ability to prep a larger volume of food at once, and use minimal pieces of equipment while doing so. Alongside that, they're a dream for prepping vegan protein sources like tofu, tempeh, or your favourite plant-based meat alternative.

Air-frying equipment is not known to cause cancer, but the process of air frying does result in the formation of certain compounds, like acrylamide, that are linked to cancer development. Acrylamide is classified as a probable human carcinogen.

People getting rid of air fryers in favour of kitchen appliance that's cheaper to run. Households are shelving their air fryers in favour of another kitchen appliance that is cheaper to run, and just as healthy.

Not compliant with certain vegan diets

The rationale used by these diets for avoiding oils is that oil is high in calories (since it's pure fat) and doesn't include the fiber or as many antioxidants as you would get from eating the whole, unprocessed food instead (in this case, the whole olive).

Brussels sprouts are the best place to start your air-fried vegetable journey. They crisp up beautifully and take no time at all. If you're making these for a crowd, we suggest frying them up in batches as overcrowding the basket can lead to soggy results.

Foil is safe to use in an air fryer so long as you follow three basic rules: never let foil touch the heating element; make sure the foil is weighted so it doesn't blow around the basket; and avoid contact with acidic ingredients, which can cause the foil to leach onto your food.

Among frozen foods, there are many options that cook perfectly in the air fryer. For example, anything pre-cooked, breaded, wrapped, or bite-sized is a great choice. These include snacks and foods like dumplings, fish sticks, fries, and mini meatballs.

What foods should not be air fried? ›

Before you even consider putting any dish, plate, or bowl in your air fryer, verify the dish is oven-safe. This will either be marked on the bottom of the dish or on the original packaging for the dishes. Plastic and certain types of glass should never be placed in an air fryer.

“The worst foods for air frying have sauces or batters," the chef says. The problem isn't the cooking so much as the cleanup. Air fryer baskets have holes in the bottom or wire mesh for air circulation. Sauces fall through the openings and cause a messy disaster to have to clean up,” Klein explains.

Putting a damp basket back into the air fryer can cause damage, such as affecting the time it takes for your air fryer to heat up or damaging the internal components. It is no secret that water and electricity do not go hand-in-hand.

Hamburgers. Air fryers aren't really designed to grill red meat, especially if you like your burgers medium-rare. Though it takes a fairly short amount of time for an air fryer to cook the inside of meat to medium-rare, the outside of the burger won't brown as quickly.