Onion rings!

Check the YT vids for Instant Pot recipes. That will save time and give you added flavor.

• Most oven ready frozen foods have as much or more oil/fat in them as properly deep fried foods. Actually deep frying at the proper temps can be healthier. People who are using air fryers for meats aren't frying, they are convection baking/roasting them.

Obviously it's not frying, but the end result provided in taste & texture is similar. It's a noticeable difference from a standard convection oven.

Perhaps deep frying my own made from scratch nuggets could be healthier but it's not happening.

We have one as well as a conventional deep fryer. I've found it's not really "oil free", you still have to spray the food with oil, like pam. Honestly, it's easier to take a little frying pan and pour a little oil and fry food rather than lug the fryers onto the counter. I prefer to either bake or roast a lot of traditionally fried foods anyway (like fries or chicken) so I don't use them. Now they're BOTH collecting dust in the closet.

I'd never heard of an Air Fryer until this thread (that's what I get for not watching any TV......). I think the healthiest thing for me is to limit my fried foods to outside purchases, which limits how many fried foods I eat, LOL. And they get the oil temperature right, which is harder for me at home.

We have a 6 qt Nuwave and love it. My favorite thing to make in it are steaks, believe it or not. They are like they are grilled on a gas grill (nothing as good as charcoal) and easy to have done to your perfect inside temp. As our grill season is very short here, I love being able to have steak the other 9 months out of the year without having to clean splatters all over the stove.

My kids love fried ravioli and you can do homemade easily in the air fryer. Thaw frozen ravioli and bread with egg and breadcrumbs/parm and spritz with oil and cook in the AF until crispy. Wings are great in the AF too without the mess and babysitting of deep frying.

I have a large Breville toaster oven with convection and a range with convection and the way an air fryer works is much different. The air speed is much greater which crisps things faster without over cooking. In fact, if you make burgers in one and toss on a slice of cheese without something on top to hold it down, the cheese will fly off the burger before it melts.

Thanks all! So on nights where my kids have sports practices and I get home from work late, I'm hoping that I can pop in some sweet potato fries and wings (for example) that are pre-made/frozen from the grocery and have a decent tasting meal. Right now, i put that stuff on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and bake in the oven, which is not the same 'fresh fried' taste. I also saw you could put a whole chicken roaster in there and it makes the skin crispy and meat juicy/tender.

Anyone have experience with that?

DrB477 - egg rolls! YUM! I never thought of that! Do you buy them premade, and just drop them in? Egg rolls with some wonton soup could be an easy weeknight meal!

Frozen sweet potato fries turn out good. Tater tots or regular fries too. Definitely better than a convection oven. I don't spray or use any oil myself.

Fitting a chicken would be tight. I have the XL Phillips version. I've done a turkey breast roast, it turned out good.

I buy egg rolls and spring rolls pre-made... usually from trader Joes. TJ also has this frozen calamari which turns out really good. Costco had something similar.

This past weekend I made "fried" avacados and lobster/cheese bites for football snacks.