Foods that don’t work well in the air fryer

Some foods don’t work well without the right accessories in your air fryer. They dry out, burn or end up on the heating element. With a few tricks, you can still cook lots of them brilliantly

Leafy greens

Light leafy greens like spinach or rocket get blown around by the circulating air and burn quickly. They dry out and lose their flavour. Here’s how to make it work:

• You can still make dishes like salmon with gnocchi and spinach in the air fryer – just mix the greens into a sauce so they’re covered while they cook.

Foods with a high water content

Foods with a lot of water, like cucumbers, watermelon or tomatoes, quickly fall apart in the air fryer and turn mushy. Go for firmer veg like potatoes or carrots instead – they get lovely and crispy.

Runny or very soft batters (pancakes, waffles, cake mix)

Runny batters drip through the holes in the basket or burn. To make tasty pancakes in the air fryer anyway, use a heatproof silicone mould or special air fryer paper liners.

Very fatty meat

When you cook fatty meat like air fryer steak, the fat can spit, smoke or even reach the heating element.
Here’s how to make it work:

• Use a wire rack and a drip tray so the fat can drain away safely. A splatter guard helps too. Baking paper also works, as long as the air can still circulate well.
   
• Keep an eye out for smoke while cooking. It’s a sign to turn the temperature down and clear out any fat that’s collected. 

Cooked pasta or rice

Cooked pasta dries out quickly in the air fryer. Rice goes hard or gets blown around the basket.
Here’s how to make it work:

• Just mix yesterday’s leftover pasta with a bit of sauce and veg in a heatproof dish – and you’ve got Pasta alla Mamma in no time. 

Unbreaded cheese

Put unbreaded cheese straight into the basket and it’ll melt and burn quickly. The result: a mess and a burnt taste.
Here’s how to make it work:

• Make sure your cheese is breaded – then things like breaded camembert or mozzarella sticks turn out perfectly.
   

• Otherwise, you can use any kind of cheese in the air fryer, as long as it’s combined with other ingredients. How about a 20-minute pizza?

Without the right air fryer accessories, runny, very light or really fatty foods aren’t a great fit. With moulds, dishes, mats or baking paper though, almost anything works!