In recent years, the air fryer has established itself as a mainstay kitchen appliance. They’re widely available, they're small enough to fit in tight kitchens (like the one in my Brooklyn apartment), and there are models to fit a range of budgets without sacrificing efficacy.
In short, air fryers work great, and their popularity was secured, in part, by claims they help you cook food in a healthier way—after all, you’re not deep frying, you’re air frying. So is cooking with an air fryer actually healthier? Well, like most things that seem too good to be true, it all depends.
How an air fryer works
In case this is all news to you, an air fryer is essentially a countertop convection oven. They’re effective kitchen appliances that can make cooking faster and easier, and they come in snazzy colors and different styles.
Here’s more on how how air fryers actually work—but long story short, they use a fan to circulate hot air around your food. This rapid cooking replicates the effects of frying, but with air instead of oil. (If you're looking for your first—or next—air fryer, here are my top three picks.)
Are air fryers healthier?
“Healthy” is a vague word, so let’s be more specific.
Deep fried food absorbs oil. Deep frying (completely immersing), or even shallow frying food (in a half-inch of oil) requires that food to sit submerged in hot fat. The frying and cooling process leads to oil absorption in the food, increasing the overall caloric value of the fried food. This might not be something you want if you're thinking about eating healthy.
An air fryer doesn’t require pools of oil. Since convection cooking isn’t frying, let alone deep frying (it’s closer to baking), oil isn’t the primary heat delivery agent, hot whipping winds are. You can cook food in an air fryer with little to no additional oil and pull out a delicious snack with a crispy, crunchy exterior. An air fryer allows for less added oil with desirable results.
If you want to know whether an air fryer can cook crispy foods containing fewer calories from added oil, the answer is yes.
Healthy eating is about what you’re cooking
Does a breaded chicken nugget tossed in the air fryer contain fewer calories than if it were submerged in a deep fryer? Yes. Is that air fried chicken nugget more nutritionally dense than a kale salad? Nope.
So, is an air fryer the answer to healthy eating? Not really—it's an appliance. But cooking in an air fryer might be your ticket to enjoying nutrient-packed vegetables and lean meats more often. You could use it solely as a french fry reheater, and though an honorable usage, that wouldn’t be delivering a ton of nutrients to your system. On the other hand, this speedy cooking appliance might encourage you to order take-out or fast food less because you can make a well-rounded meal in 15 minutes.
Healthy eating is more about what you’re cooking; it’s respective to your dietary needs and accessible choices. (And remember, healthy eating is not the same as dieting.)
How to eat healthier with an air fryer
You don't need to change much to make potentially healthier choices.
Use an oil sprayer. To apply a small amount of oil that covers more area on your food, use an oil sprayer or a pastry brush. I prefer an oil sprayer because it's less messy and I use it for my waffle iron too. You can often find pre-filled oil spritzers in the oil aisle of your grocery store and just keep refilling it when the oil runs out. You can also buy refillable ones online, like this one. Be sure that it's pure oil in a simple atomizer, not PAM in an aerosol can. Aerosol canned oil can include lecithin (an emulsifier) and damage the non-stick coating on your appliances and cookware.
Choose whole ingredients. This is generally a good idea no matter the cooking method, but the benefit is that you can get incredible results with the simplest ingredients in the air fryer. Things you could never achieve with steaming, boiling, or baking. Lightly spritz oil onto nearly any vegetable and transform it into a gorgeously roasted snack. Do the same with a lean meats and add a rub of spices. You'll experience a crisp, charred, or roasted exterior with the most tender and juicy center. I've never enjoyed roasted pork tenderloin and broccoli more than with the air fryer.
Cook without oil
Here are some of my favorite air fryer recipes that require very few ingredients and little to no oil.
If you’re interested in eating healthy, there are some other important factors to take into consideration. Certainly it's possible to eat healthier without counting the calories and lose weight without buying into diet culture. Consider the air fryer a useful gadget in your cooking toolkit, but it isn't a magic wand—you decide what goes in it.
