7 Easy Air-Fryer Recipes to Try This Week

If you’ve been trying to eat healthier, it might be time to invest in an air fryer. These handy, innovative appliances are all the rage right now, and for good reason. They can cook many of your favorite dishes, from falafel to fries, with considerably less oil and fat, and often in a fraction of the time, too.

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How do air fryers work?

Despite their name, air fryers don’t actually fry food. In fact, they’re actually more similar to ovens. However, there are key differences in their size and their efficiency. Air fryers are small, compact, and easy to place on the countertop and then put away after use. Plus, they also heat up far quicker than ovens.

Black & Decker

“A heating element near the top of the fryer emits heat into the air in the cooking chamber (radiation), while a fan circulates the heated air rapidly around it (convection),” explains BBC Science Focus. “This combination creates a very intense heat transfer, resulting in a cooking method that’s closer to frying than baking.”

Is using an air fryer healthy?

Air fryers are considered far healthier than the alternative, which is, of course, deep-frying. This is because, unlike the latter, air fryers don’t require foods to be completely submerged in oil, which results in a lower fat content. In fact, research suggests that deep-fat fryers use up to 50 times more oil than air fryers.

That said, how healthy your meal is still depends on the foods you cook. Air fryers are a healthier alternative for cooking products like French fries or hash browns, but they won’t make these foods healthy, as such. It can’t reduce salt content, for example!

RELATED: These Falafel Recipes Make the Case for Taking It Out of the Pita Bread

Vegan air-fryer recipes

From tofu to cauliflower to wontons, you can make several different ingredients taste delicious using an air fryer. If you’ve just bought yours, or you’re looking to try something new, here are some of our favorite vegan recipes.

Jeff Wysocarski

1 Crispy Air-Fried Mushrooms With Sriracha Pea-Panko Crust

These crispy, savory air-fried mushrooms, coated in a blend of sriracha pea-panko crust, are seriously addictive. Serve them with garlic mayonnaise as an appetizer, finger food, or snack.
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Danielle Keith

2 Spicy Vegan Air-Fried Buffalo Tofu Poppers

If you’re not sure about tofu, this recipe, which features crumbled extra-firm tofu coated in chickpea batter and breadcrumbs, is guaranteed to change your mind. The air fryer makes it really easy to pull together, too. It’s a deliciously crispy and crowd-pleasing appetizer.
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HealthyGirl Kitchen

3 Crispy Vegan Air-Fryer Wontons With Sesame Dipping Sauce

These plant-based wontons, filled with shredded cabbage, carrots, and tofu, are at their best when air-fried to golden perfection and served with a super flavorful sesame dipping sauce.
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Micah Siva

4 Vegan Copycat Starbucks Chickpea Protein Bites

Perfect for wraps and salads, these chickpea protein bites are just like the ones you can buy from Starbucks, but they’re arguably even tastier. They’re also easy and quick to make, especially with a little help from a food processor and an air fryer.
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Bri Beaudoin

5 Vegan Falafel Bowls With Quick-Pickled Cabbage and Tzatziki

Make your own delicious and nutritious falafel bowls by mixing ground-dried chickpeas, parsley, onion, garlic, and spices into patties and baking (or air-frying) until golden. After that, pair it with quick-pickled red cabbage, creamy tzatziki, fresh cucumber, and warm pitas.
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Ashley Madden

6 Thai Chili Cauliflower Bites

A creamy peanut sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds take these Thai chili cauliflower bites (which can be baked or air-fried) to the next level. It’s an irresistible fusion of sweet and spicy.
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Hannah Kaminsky

7 Furikake Avocado Fries

If you’ve never tried furikake avocado wedges, this is your sign to give them a go. In this recipe, they’re baked to golden perfection without added oil, but you can also pop them in an air fryer with similar results.
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