Airfryers – are they really a healthier way to cook?

Air fryers are the latest big trend in cooking, with air fryer recipes popular on social media and Tik Tok and being promotedas a ‘healthier way of cooking’. But like all new trends there are upsides and downsides.

If you like cooking healthy meals at home, using an air fryer can offer a healthier alternative to other cooking methods, such as pan-frying or deep-frying. This is because they don’t require as much cooking oil.  Food just needs to be sprayed or brushed with oil, so air fryers can cut the energy and fat content of foods that are usually fried — like fries and crumbed food.

Airfryers can make it easier and quicker to get meals on the table, due to the small size of the cooking chamber, which comes in very handy if you struggle to cook healthy meals due to lack of time.  However the downside is that the size o the chamber limits how much you can cook in the airfryer at one time.

Another important consideration to make is if you’re using your air fryer to cook pastries, chocolate brownies and pasta chips, then an airfryer isn’t going to make these foods any healthier. However, if you are cooking lots of vegetables, legumes, wholegrains and lean meats then an airfryer can help you enjoy those crunchy foods that usually need lots of oil to achieve.

Which brings us to the million dollar question – do you need to succumb to the airfrying trend?  No, you really don’t need one to eat healthily. Baking in the oven or pan frying with a small amount of good quality oil like olive oil can achieve a similar result.

Try these healthy recipes either in an air fryer or the oven: