3 strange foods I always cook in an air fryer, and 1 I always avoid
I’ve been experimenting, and found some strange foods you should always cook in an air fryer
Despite testing many kitchen appliances during my time as T3’s Home Editor, I’ve only recently converted to an air fryer. It took me a while to come over to the ‘dark side’, mainly because my house came with two ovens when I bought it, so it seemed silly to not use them.
But after testing the Tower AirX, this gadget has become a firm favourite in my kitchen, and it’s something I use multiple times a week. It’s my go-to appliance for cooking chicken, chips and vegetables, but I’ve been experimenting recently, and found three foods I think taste better when air fried – but they’re probably not foods you’d immediately think to put in an air fryer.
Here are three ‘strange’ foods that I always cook in my air fryer, and one that I avoid like the plague.
Foods I Always Make In My Air Fryer
1. Gnocchi
At the moment, my favourite way to cook gnocchi is to put it in the air fryer. This might sound strange, as gnocchi is quick and easy to cook when you add it to boiling water, but I haven’t been loving the gummy texture of it recently.
Instead, I add a small swirl of oil to my air fryer, and a packet of gnocchi. I give the basket a quick shake to break up the gnocchi and coat it in oil, before lightly seasoning and cooking at 200-degrees for 15-20 minutes. By cooking it in the air fryer, it might take a bit longer, but the gnocchi gets a crispy exterior and a soft interior that doesn’t feel like Playdoh.
2. Tofu
Similar to gnocchi, I’ve been loving frying up tofu in my air fryer instead of in a pan or oven. I’m trying to eat more tofu, but have always found the texture and flavour to be a bit of a problem. To fix this, I press the tofu to remove excess moisture before cutting it into chunks and lightly tossing it in flour or cornstarch. I then add it to my air fryer with minimal oil and cook it at 200-degrees for 15 minutes.
When it comes out, the cooked tofu is extremely crispy but still has a bit of ‘bounce’. I then toss it in a sauce to enhance its flavour. I’d recommend doing this instead of cooking tofu with the sauce, as it tends to make the tofu stick to the air fryer basket and doesn’t cling to the food properly.
3. Kale
Kale and salad-like leaves are typically something I would never cook in an air fryer. The rapid air circulation tends to make light leaves like these fly around the basket which results in uneven cooking, but after much experimentation, I have perfected my recipe for crispy air fried kale.
After trimming and massaging the kale in oil and seasonings, I add it to my air fryer basket. If I have a lot of kale, I tend to do it in batches rather than as a large quantity as I found that it cooks unevenly like this. With my crisper plate, I position it on top of the kale to stop it from flying around, and I cook it at 180-degrees for five minutes.
The Food I Never Make In My Air Fryer
Bacon
My air fryer has become my go-to way to cook meats like chicken, meatballs and sausages, but the one food I never cook in my air fryer is bacon. This might sound odd, as bacon is the most popular thing that Brits cook in their air fryer, but I’d much rather cook it in an oven or pan.
Even without oil, bacon releases a lot of fat while cooking, so when I open the basket to check its progress, I’m often hit with splatters of hot grease. Due to air fryers being much smaller than ovens, this feels a lot more intense and hard to avoid – oh, and it hurts! So, bacon will remain the food I will never cook in my air fryer.
