Cooking with an Air Fryer- Guest Post

Air fryers have recently become all the rage, and rightfully so! The air fryer can provide a quick cooking method that can also give you the feeling of having that tasty “fried food” without the extra oil and saturated fat. The one question you may have after you purchase an air fryer is, “what do I want to make and how do I make it?”

This week, our intern Jessica has done a fantastic cooking demo to get you started with your air fryer and prepare some tasty, quick prepare meals! Check out her cooking demo video below along with the provided recipes used in the video to prepare some tasty and easy recipes using your air fryer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPdZ-FBLQPc

Air Fry Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 block tofu
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (tamari for gluten free)
• minced garlic

Directions

1. Drain and halve tofu
2. Press tofu for at least 15 minutes using a tofu press or cast-iron skillet
3. Cut tofu into cubes
4. Combine remaining ingredients into bowl, add tofu and marinate for 15 min.
5. Preheat air fryer to 375, cook 15 min, shake occasionally

Recipe: https://www.liveeatlearn.com/crispy-air-fried-tofu/

Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

• Sweet potato
• 1/2 teaspoon course sea salt (or more, to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons avocado oil (or oil of choice)

Directions

1. Preheat your air fryer to 380 degrees.
2. Slice up your sweet potato into pinkie finger sized sticks (mine are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch). I don't measure, and they don't have to be perfect, but try to keep the size fairly consistent.
3. Place the potato slices in a mixing bowl, along with the oil, salt, pepper and paprika, and toss to coat.
4. Transfer fry mixture to the air fryer, and cook until tender and crispy (about 20 minutes). Shake the basket a few times to rearrange the fries, and use a flipper to flip them. Use your own judgement, cooking longer or shorter, if needed, keeping an eye on the fries to make sure they don't burn.
5. Taste test, and add more salt if needed.

Recipe: https://www.apinchofhealthy.com/air-fryer-sweet-potato-fries/

Air Fryer Chicken Breast

Ingredients

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Place boneless chicken breasts on a cutting board.
2. Melt butter in the microwave and add in garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine.
3. Coat chicken with butter mixture on both sides.
4. Place chicken in the air fryer in one single layer.
5. Cook chicken at 380 degrees for 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway. The chicken is done once the chicken reads 165 degrees at its thickest part.
6. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes.
7. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate and enjoy cold or using reheated directions above.

**While there are a few different versions of air fryers out there, these recipes above should work great in all air fryers; for those that don’t have a temperature setting, you may have to experiment with the timing which may slightly vary!**

I hope you enjoyed this awesome cooking demo along with these tasty and easy air fryer recipes. I would love to hear what your favorite air fryer recipes are and any feedback you have on these recipes!

Thank you again to Jessica for providing us with this fantastic cooking demo and healthy, tasty air fryer recipes.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend!

–Ricci-Lee Hotz, MS, RDN

Denver’s Dancing Dietitian

A Taste of Health, LLC

“Improving Quality of life one bite at a time”

denversdancingdietitian.com