Invented by Dutch product and business developer Fred van der Weij, the humble air fryer came into being almost by accident.
Back in 2005, Weij was on a mission to figure out how to make restaurant-grade, perfectly crispy French Fries at home without a deep fryer when he stumbled into creating the now immensely trendy kitchen gadget.
Instead of submerging food in boiling hot oil, an air fryer works with the help of convection heat. It certainly makes sense that a native to the Netherlands created the other kind of Dutch oven.
A heating element at the top of the air fryer produces heat through radiation, while a fan circulates the heated air rapidly around the cooking chamber. The resulting heat transfer is so powerful that it’s more akin to frying than baking.
According to BBC’s Science Focus, the technical term for this process is RUSH (Radiant UpSteam Heating), though if your air fryer is made by Philips, it’ll be called Rapid Air Technology.
Inner workings aside, the air fryer has become a staple in suburban homes across the globe for a myriad of reasons. First and foremost, with the cost-of-living crisis looming, air fryers have emerged as a far more economical cooking tool.
They use around half the energy that a gas hob does per hour; according to Uswitch, an air fryer costs around 56p a week to operate (based on an hour and a half usage), while a gas hob costs £2.76 to run for a week for 2.5 hours. Cheap as extra crispy chips.
Paired with the ultra-speedy heat-up time, lack of added oil, and the sheer convenience of a removable and easy-to-clean cooking chamber, it’s no wonder that the air fryer has emerged as a cooking saviour for busy, budgeting households.
However, the transition between a gas hob and an air fryer isn’t entirely seamless. Recipes that you may have previously sworn by for decades often have to be adapted to suit your new kitchen gadget, and it might take a few tries to get your favourite meals perfect.
Whether you’ve got so many gourmet ideas that you don’t know where to start or you’re cooking with a clean slate, we’ve curated a selection of the best air fryer cookbooks to elevate your at-home, lightening-speed and uber-healthy culinary game.
Keep scrolling to discover a wide range of brilliant, easy-to-follow recipe books.
Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book
No matter how literate we believe ourselves to be, there’s nothing more disappointing than happening on a recipe and finding that there’s no demonstrative picture. Sure, the dish may sound delicious, but what are we supposed to think until we see the finished product? And how are we supposed to know that we’ve cooked the meal correctly?
Nathan Anthony’s Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book contains 80 quick and easy recipes with a lovely photo next to each one. Each recipe also has a calorie-per-serving badge for the diet-conscious. One of our personal favourites has to be the ‘Nduja stuffed arancini balls.
Buy now £10.00, Amazon
Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook
Professional chef and TikTok maestro Poppy O’Toole has finally put all those reels and videos that you’ve saved and never gone back to into a handy cookbook. With a whopping 100 total recipes, Poppy teaches us how to create delicious honey soy salmon and asparagus, addictive fakeaways, roast chicken, mac and cheese, brownies and so much more.
Buy now £10.00, Amazon
The Vegan Air Fryer
All the recipes within Niki Webster’s The Vegan Airfryer can be completed in 30 minutes or less. Now that’s speedy, healthy cooking at its finest. The cookbook contains everything from easy breakfasts, simple lunches and light bites to 15-minute meals, bread, cakes, cookies and desserts. If you were looking for a sign to try your hand at Veganism, this is it.
Buy now £16.93, Amazon
The Ultimate Air Fryer Cookbook
Another best-selling air fryer cookbook for the masses, this fantastic recipe guide contains a unique selection of delicious culinary feats beyond the classic baked potato and roast chicken. Try the Celeriac Rosti served with a perfectly poached egg (also made in the air fryer, believe it or not).
Buy now £22.00, Waterstones
Cook Smart: Air Fryer
We’ve all seen the air fryer trend take off, and if you’re wise enough to have one of these handy appliances grace your kitchen, this book should be on your shelf. From recipes covering everything from family favourites to sweet treats, there’s something for dietary requirements.
Buy now £14.96, Amazon
Budget Air-Fryer Cookbook: Money-Saving Meals for All Occasions
Jenny Tschiesche’s collection of money-saving meals makes easy work of the all-too-relatable ‘what’s in the cupboard’ dilemma. The book focuses on affordable ingredients and guides readers on how to make the most of their time and money, whilst, of course, ensuring a delicious and healthy meal at the end of it.
Buy now £13.99, Waterstones
Air Fryer Baking Magic
Who knew that you could bake in an air fryer? Not us. Juliet Sear makes it make sense in Air Fryer Baking Magic, with over 100 recipes from classic favourites to savoury snacks, and so much more.
Buy now £20.02, Waterstones
The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook
With a whopping 140 recipes, you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to picking your next family-friendly air fryer meal. Duo Sam and Dom Milner have been experimenting with air fryer cooking for the last 10 years via their wildly successful website RecipeThis.com, so you’re certainly in safe hands.
Buy now £10.00, Amazon
