Gonna fry now: The Takeout’s best air fryer recipes

Cooking with frozen Brussels sprouts often results in mush. That’s because they’re waterlogged from the process of being steamed, blanched, flash-frozen, and thawed. But if you cook them with the fast, intense heat of an air fryer, you’ll get sprouts with a nice crispy shell and tender interior. Add some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and these sprouts will be the best thing you eat all year. Get the recipe for Air Fried Brussels Sprouts here.

Putting vegetables in an air fryer will make you want to eat them all the time. It will put an end to your struggles of figuring out what to do with vegetables at dinnertime. Even when they’re simply prepared, the air fryer makes them into something worth eating. This recipe, which takes its cues from cumin beef, is so simple that once you gather your ingredients, it takes less than 90 seconds to prepare. Get the recipe for Sichuan Cumin Asparagus here.

Anyone who’s been to Red Lobster understands that the Cheddar Bay Biscuits are the best part of the meal. So we’ve taken that winning appetizer and turned it into the main event. These croquettes are golden, crispy, and buttery on the outside, and they’re creamy, oozy, and irresistible on the inside. Best of all, the recipe has a high yield so you can store extra in the freezer to be quickly air fried for future meals. Read more about Cheddar Bay Shrimp Croquettes here.

Here’s something you probably hadn’t thought to air fry: pasta. The convection heat does something wonderful to gnocchi, which is to say, it transforms each piece into crispy little potato nuggets.” These crunchy bits can be combined with fresh vegetables for a unique textural contrast that no one typically expects from a pasta dish. Get the recipe for Crispy Gnocchi and Raw Tomato Sauce here.

Coddies are something of a budget crab cake. Locals associate the Baltimore Coddie with memories of yesteryear, when you could grab yourself a fresh fried coddie with yellow mustard on a saltine cracker at any corner drugstore, or gorge on big platters of them at weekly church suppers. This version cooks up the cakes in the air fryer, which not only prevents the splattering of hot oil but will also keep your kitchen from smelling like fried fish, if that’s something you’re looking to avoid. Get the recipe for Baltimore Coddies here.

This recipe is technically two recipes: one for homemade focaccia and one for air fried focaccia. You’re welcome! Focaccia is the bread for bakers who would rather curl up into a ball than tend to a sourdough starter. It’s simple, delicious, and transforms into “fries” when you slice it up and air fry it with oil and spices. It’s a dunkable appetizer that goes great with tomato sauce. Get the recipe for Homemade Focaccia and Garlic Bread Fries here.

An air fryer is a great way to make meatless dishes more delectable, and eating less meat is a great way we can all do our part to protect the planet. So, this recipe swaps out chicken for tofu in order to satisfy a craving for wings. How could tofu possibly accomplish this? By starting with the microwave to lend the tofu a meatier, McNugget-y texture and then dredging it in a flavorful breading. Once the tofu’s been fried, it’s covered in melted butter, because we said this recipe was vegetarian, not boring. Get the recipe for Lemon Pepper Tofu here.

City Chicken is the most delicious lie we’ll ever tell you. This “chicken” is, in fact, fried breaded pork nuggets. The name comes from the Great Depression, when immigrants living in the Rust Belt could more easily afford pork than chicken and so cooked the former to resemble the latter. It’s typically made on long skewers, but to fit inside the air fryer, individual portions are doled out on toothpicks and served alongside a sweet dipping sauce. Once you drop these into the air fryer, they’re done in under 15 minutes. Get the recipe for City Chicken Nuggets here.

It’s rare that our craving for doughnuts overlaps with our desire to haul a bunch of frying oil onto the stove and hover over its hot surface with a metal spider. So here’s a recipe for air fryer bomboloni, tiny yeast-risen doughnut holes that come out of the convection heat after 5 minutes all sweet and puffy, ready to be slathered in cinnamon sugar, cocoa powder, and Nutella. Learn how to make Air Fryer Bomboloni Doughnuts here.

This is one of those recipes designed for you to whip up a batch at the start of the week, freeze it, and then drop a portion into the air fryer each morning for a quick breakfast. It’s a play on rellenitos de plátano (stuffed plantain balls) filled with cream cheese and encrusted with sweet, cinnamon-y cornflake crumbs. Traditionally, rellenitos de plátano are fried, but this version lets high convection heat do all the work, leaving you free to enjoy your morning. Get the recipe for Cream-Cheese-Stuffed “Fried” Plantains here.

Frying pickled red onions is one of those “Why the hell didn’t I think of this before?” revelations, and an air fryer makes it simple enough that you’ll want to cook them again and again. It’s a snack or party appetizer you can serve speared on a toothpick, along with some cilantro ranch dressing on the side. And for those who pride themselves on being thrifty and/or resourceful in the kitchen, the pickling brine can be saved and repurposed, either to make more pickles or to use in salad dressings and marinades. Get the recipe for Fried Pickled Red Onions here.