310 foods · per-brand calibration
How long to cook anything in an air fryer
Exact time, temperature, flip moment and doneness check for every food — built for the phone-in-the-kitchen moment. No ad-stuffed scroll, no fluff.
Popular foods right now
The foods home cooks ask about most. Each card opens a full per-food cooking page.
Chicken Breast
protein
- Time
- 18 min
- Temp
- 380 °F / 193 °C
Boneless, skinless chicken breast cooks evenly in the air fryer when set to 380 °F (193 °C) for about 18 minutes total, flipping once halfway through. Pat the breasts dry, season liberally, and leave space between them so the convection air can reach all sides.
Chicken Wings
protein
- Time
- 22 min
- Temp
- 400 °F / 204 °C
Wings are one of the highest-impact things an air fryer can do — at 400 °F (204 °C) for 22 minutes with one flip, the rendered fat crisps the skin to a deep golden brown without the splatter of deep frying. Sauce only after they come out.
Salmon Fillet
protein
- Time
- 9 min
- Temp
- 400 °F / 204 °C
Salmon fillets cook beautifully in the air fryer at 400 °F (204 °C) for 9 minutes without flipping. The convection air keeps the surface dry enough to brown lightly while the inside stays moist. Aim for an internal temperature of 145 °F (63 °C) for fully cooked, or 125 °F for medium-rare.
Chicken Tenders
protein
- Time
- 10 min
- Temp
- 400 °F / 204 °C
Fresh chicken tenders cook in just 10 minutes at 400 °F (204 °C) with a flip at the 5-minute mark. They are the fastest weeknight protein in the air fryer and take to either dry rubs or a classic breadcrumb-and-egg coating equally well.
Bacon
breakfast
- Time
- 9 min
- Temp
- 400 °F / 204 °C
Air fryer bacon at 400 °F (204 °C) for about 9 minutes is the cleanest way to cook bacon at home — no stovetop splatter, no oven sheet pan to scrub. Flip at the 5-minute mark. Drain the drip tray between batches so the rendered fat does not start smoking.
Shrimp
protein
- Time
- 6 min
- Temp
- 400 °F / 204 °C
Shrimp are the fastest protein in the air fryer — 6 minutes at 400 °F (204 °C) with a shake at the halfway mark and they are done. The visual tell is the curl: loose C-shape is right, tight O-shape means you went too long.
Broccoli Florets
veggie
- Time
- 8 min
- Temp
- 380 °F / 193 °C
Broccoli florets crisp up at 380 °F (193 °C) in 8 minutes with a single shake at the 4-minute mark. The trick is one tablespoon of oil tossed evenly through the florets before they go in — broccoli has too little natural fat to crisp without it.
Brussels Sprouts
veggie
- Time
- 12 min
- Temp
- 380 °F / 193 °C
Halved Brussels sprouts roast at 380 °F (193 °C) for 12 minutes with one shake at the midpoint. The cut sides caramelise hard while the loose outer leaves crisp into chips — both are the prize.
Ribeye Steak
protein
- Time
- 10 min
- Temp
- 400 °F / 204 °C
A 1-inch ribeye cooks to medium-rare in just 10 minutes at 400 °F (204 °C) with a single flip — pull at 130 °F (54 °C) internal for medium-rare, 135 °F for medium. The convection air builds a crust comparable to a cast-iron sear without the smoke.
Chicken Thighs
protein
- Time
- 20 min
- Temp
- 380 °F / 193 °C
Boneless chicken thighs are the most forgiving cut for the air fryer — naturally fatty meat stays juicy at 380 °F (193 °C) for around 20 minutes with a single flip. Aim for an internal temperature of 175 °F (79 °C) rather than the usual 165 °F so the dark meat is properly tender.
Sweet Potato Fries
veggie
- Time
- 14 min
- Temp
- 380 °F / 193 °C
Hand-cut sweet potato fries crisp at 380 °F (193 °C) in 14 minutes with one shake. The lower temperature compared to regular fries is deliberate — sweet potatoes have enough sugar to burn before crisping at 400 °F.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
breakfast
- Time
- 16 min
- Temp
- 270 °F / 132 °C
Air fryer hard-boiled eggs at 270 °F (132 °C) for 16 minutes give you a fully-set yolk with no green ring, and crucially they peel cleaner than boiled eggs. The shells get a faint toasted speckle from the dry heat — harmless and a useful visual cue that they are done.
In peak season · June
What’s best to air-fry this month
Produce at peak ripeness needs nothing more than the air fryer and a pinch of salt to taste like the best version of itself.
Zucchini
Summer squashes begin — pick small for best texture.
Open the cooking page →
Cherries
Both sweet and sour cherries in peak two-week window — halve, pit, toss with sugar and lemon, roast 7 min at 380 °F for a jammy spoon-over-ice-cream sauce.
Open the cooking page →
Strawberries
Peak field season — turn the glut into 3-hour 200 °F dehydrated crisps that store for weeks.
Open the cooking page →
Green beans
First wave of fresh green beans.
Open the cooking page →
Bell peppers
Sweet peppers start coming in colour.
Open the cooking page →
Browse by category
Pick a section to see every food we have times for.
Proteins
Chicken, fish, pork, beef and other meats.
Vegetables
Fresh vegetables — leafy, cruciferous, root and squash.
Frozen Foods
Anything that goes straight from the freezer into the basket.
Appetizers
Small bites, fried snacks, party food.
Breakfast
Eggs, bacon, sausage and morning starters.
Leftovers
Reheating fried, roasted and breaded foods without sogginess.
Desserts
Cookies, baked apples and sweet baked goods.
Under 10 minutes
Every food in the catalog that cooks in under 10 minutes — for fast weeknights.
Oven → air fryer
Convert any oven recipe to air fryer temperature and time.
Beginner’s guide
First-week air fryer tips: what to cook first, mistakes to avoid, basic timing.
By brand
Cosori, Ninja, Instant Vortex, Philips XXL — per-brand temperature and time calibration.
Doneness checks
Safe internal temperatures for every air-fryer protein — chicken, pork, fish.
Why this exists
Per-brand calibration
Cosori, Ninja, Instant Vortex, Philips XXL, PowerXL, Breville, Cuisinart, Chefman and GoWise each have their own temperature offset and time multiplier. Every food page shows the brand-by-brand adjustment so you don't have to guess for your model.
Mobile-first cards
Designed for the phone-on-the-counter moment. Big readable numbers, no ad-bloated scrolls, no recipe-blog backstory.
Real doneness checks
Every food lists the visual cue and (where it matters) the internal temperature target — not just "until done".
Air fryer questions, answered
The questions home cooks ask before they trust the air fryer with a real dinner. For per-food cook times, open the food page from the catalog above.
- How does an air fryer actually work?
- An air fryer is a small convection oven — a heating element at the top of a tightly-enclosed chamber plus a fan that moves the hot air at five to ten times the food-to-surface velocity of a full oven. That high air-to-food contact ratio is what crisps food fast without immersing it in oil. There is no "frying" happening physically: the chemistry is the same Maillard browning a deep-fryer produces, but driven by hot air alone instead of hot fat.
- Are air fryers really healthier than deep frying?
- Yes, by a measurable margin — but the gap is in oil quantity, not in some unique cooking chemistry. A deep-fryer immerses food in 1-2 cups of hot oil; an air fryer needs at most a 1-2 teaspoon mist on the surface, and many cooks (frozen fries, bacon, pre-breaded foods) need none at all. That is roughly an 80% calorie reduction on the oil side of the dish. Browning, salt, sugar and the food itself are unchanged — air-fried food is healthier because it absorbs less added fat, not because the air fryer has any magic.
- Can I put aluminum foil in an air fryer?
- Yes, but weighted by food and never alone. A bare sheet of foil in the basket can lift off the floor in the airstream, contact the heating element, and arc — that is the failure mode behind most "air fryer caught fire" reports. Foil is fine when food sits on top of it (a foil cradle for messy ribs, a foil tent over a brown-too-fast crust). Avoid foil in the bottom of the basket on rising-crust pizza or anything that releases steam — the steam pocket lifts the foil. Parchment paper rated for air-fryer use is a safer default for line-the-basket jobs.
- What's the difference between an air fryer and a convection oven?
- Chamber size and fan-to-food ratio. A countertop convection oven holds ten to twenty litres and the fan sits behind a wall or above the food at moderate speed. An air fryer holds three to six litres and the fan is directly above an empty-bottomed basket at much higher RPM. Physically it is the same convection cooking — the air fryer just has a denser, faster, hotter airflow around the food because the chamber is smaller. Recipes written for an oven need about 25 °F off the temperature and 20% off the time to behave correctly in an air fryer.
- Do air fryers really use less oil?
- Substantially less — typically a 1-2 teaspoon mist for foods that need help crisping (fresh chicken wings, sliced sweet potato, scratch breaded items) versus 1-2 cups for the equivalent deep-fry. Many air-fryer cooks need zero added oil: anything frozen-and-pre-fried (frozen french fries, mozzarella sticks, breaded chicken) already contains oil in the breading, and naturally fatty foods (bacon, sausage, chicken thighs with skin) self-baste. Reserve oil for foods that genuinely look pale or feel dry on the surface mid-cook — not as a default.
- Do I need to preheat an air fryer?
- For most foods, yes — 2 to 3 minutes at the cooking temperature with the basket empty. A cold chamber spends the first third of any short cook climbing through 250-350 °F instead of cooking, which leaves the surface pale and the breading damp. The exceptions are bacon (cold start renders the fat slowly and reduces splattering), long cooks over 15 minutes where the ramp-up is a small share of the total, and large dense frozen cuts where the centre needs the gradual warm-up. Oven-style air fryers need a longer preheat (4 minutes) than basket-style.
- What can't you cook in an air fryer?
- Four categories. Wet batter (tempura, beer-battered fish, scratch corn-dog batter) drips through the basket onto the heating element before it can set — use only dry coatings or pre-breaded items. Leafy herbs (loose basil, parsley, cilantro) blow into the heating element and char in seconds. Popcorn kernels pop free of the basket holes and contact the element. Bare shredded cheese melts through the basket holes. Pre-breaded fillets, frozen pre-fried items, and any solid-surfaced food are fine.
- How do I clean my air fryer after cooking?
- Cool the chamber for 10 minutes, then pull the basket and grate and wash both in warm soapy water with a soft sponge — the non-stick coating scratches under any abrasive and scratches mean coating flakes ending up in the next cook. Wipe the heating element and chamber interior with a damp cloth wrung nearly dry; never spray water directly into the housing. Once a week, smear a 3:1 baking-soda-to-water paste onto any baked-on grease and leave for 15 minutes before wiping off. Once a quarter, brush the heating element with a soft pastry brush — most "smoky cook" complaints come from carbonised grease on the element, not the food.