When air fryers first burst into the culinary scene, they became an instant hit. Not only did the tool promise healthy cooking but it became a quick and easy way to cook because you didn’t use a lot of pots and pans.
These days, air fryers are now a popular appliance thanks to some 7 million Americans who use it regularly for making crispy French fries or crunchy and tasty chicken. But there’s more to this appliance than frying chicken and potatoes.
It can sear a rib-eye steak more quickly than grilling it, roast veggies perfectly, make some tasty breakfasts, and even give the microwave oven a run for its money in heating leftovers. In fact, with the right recipes, you can plan a buffet on this practical appliance.
Enter the air fryer cookbook. At first glance, these cookbooks may seem thinly disguised attempts at marketing air fryer brands but there are some good cookbooks out there worthy for your home kitchen.
Some of them are basically recipe collections; the good ones are those come with gorgeous photos and really delicious and reliable recipes. Others come with useful info on how to use these machines; they tend to be more comprehensive than the cookbook manuals that come with the air fryer.
The best ones, though, are those that show you how to maximize the use of an air fryer so that you can do all sorts of inventive, culinary projects that are delicious and easy to do. Whether you’re baking moist cakes, roasting caramelized vegetables or just hankering for some crispy homemade fried chicken, these cookbooks have it all for you.
Here are my picks for the top ten air fryer cookbooks on Amazon. They're the perfect complement to cookbooks for beginners or for men.
Best Air Fryer Cookbooks
- The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook: The Only Book You Need for Your Small, Medium, or Large Air Fryer Paperback
- Air Fryer Perfection: From Crispy Fries and Juicy Steaks to Perfect Vegetables, What to Cook & How to Get the Best Results Paperback
- Party in an Air Fryer: 75+ Air Fryer Recipes from the Editors at Delish Spiral-bound
- Air Fry Everything: Foolproof Recipes for Fried Favorites and Easy Fresh Ideas by Blue Jean Chef, Meredith Laurence (The Blue Jean Chef) Paperback
- The Vegan Air Fryer: The Healthier Way to Enjoy Deep-Fried Flavors Paperback – Illustrated
- Air Fry Every Day: 75 Recipes to Fry, Roast, and Bake Using Your Air Fryer: A Cookbook Hardcover – Illustrated
- Epic Air Fryer Cookbook: 100 Inspired Recipes That Take Air-Frying in Deliciously Exciting New Directions Paperback – Illustrated
- The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook: The 75 Best Healthy Recipes for Your Air Fryer Hardcover – Illustrated
- Taste of Home Everyday Air Fryer: 112 Recipes for Weeknight Ease Paperback
- Good Housekeeping Air Fryer Cookbook: 70 Delicious Recipes (Good Food Guaranteed) Hardcover – Illustrated
1. The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook: The Only Book You Need for Your Small, Medium, or Large Air Fryer Paperback
This cookbook features more than 300 recipes that provide ingredients and timing for every air fryer size. From small 2-quart models to family-sized 10-quart versions, this is a cookbook designed to make air frying convenient and easy for the newbie cook.
Recipes are varied, ranging from the usual roasted chicken and other favorite comfort food mainstays to desserts and snacks. There are minimal pictures to go along with the easy-to-follow directions but the book does offer some extra recipes for sides and sauces to make a complete meal.
Samples of the recipes include Kale Chips, Better-Than-Chinese-Take-Out Orange Chicken, Hearty Roasted Vegetable Soup, Cauliflower-Crust Pizza, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Jalapeño Poppers.
Readers found its Head Notes and What to Serve With sections of the recipes useful. Another liked the suggestions for the drink pairings at the end of each recipe. Recommended for casual cooks and air fryer newbies everywhere.
2. Air Fryer Perfection: From Crispy Fries and Juicy Steaks to Perfect Vegetables, What to Cook & How to Get the Best Results Paperback
This is another user-friendly cookbook from the editors at America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) which features 75 fool-proof recipes for the air fryer. It includes a review of all the air fryer models currently out in the market to help you make the best choice, as well tips and trick to make the most out of this appliance.
Recipes are easy to follow and yield both a main and a side dish. Most are doable in about 45 minutes or less and feature complete nutritional information. A sample of the selection includes Spice-Rubbed Steak with Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad, Sweet and Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Butternut Squash, and Tandoori Chicken Thighs.
This book continues the ATK format of teaching you the science behind the product/food which readers find interesting. One reviewer pleasantly found that the recipes even work when using air fryers that are not featured in the book. Another liked its selection of healthy kid-friendly meals and snacks.
Recommended for those looking for a reliable, user-friendly selection of air fryer recipes.
3. Party in an Air Fryer: 75+ Air Fryer Recipes from the Editors at Delish Spiral-bound
This is a collection of party recipes that people can make using the air fryer. It has everything from appetizers to entrees to dessert. Samples of featured dishes include egg rolls, tots, empanadas, mozzarella sticks, churro chips, taquitos, chicken wings, and cinnamon rolls.
Recipes are very easy to follow and use ingredients that are pantry staples. There are also color photos of each featured dish.
Recommended for anyone looking for easy, air fried party food recipes.
4. Air Fry Everything: Foolproof Recipes for Fried Favorites and Easy Fresh Ideas by Blue Jean Chef, Meredith Laurence (The Blue Jean Chef) Paperback
Another fairly entry-level air fryer cookbook that includes lots of information on how to air fry as well as comparison charts for heating and time control.
There are 130 recipes here that include restaurant mockups and old-time comfort favorites. There’s no nutritional info but because one is using an air fryer, most of the recipes are healthier versions of normally fried foods.
Samples of the selection include Beer Battered Onion Rings, Chicken Wings, Shrimp Egg Rolls, Skinny Fries, Marinated Rib-Eye Steak with Herb Roasted Mushrooms, Inside Out Cheeseburgers, Honey Mesquite Pork Chops, and Maple Balsamic Salmon.
Recipes are user-friendly with color photos of each dish. Most of them use pantry staples. There are also handy tips for making crispy bacon, roasting garlic, and frying crispy tortilla chips using the appliance.
Recommended for newbie and casual cooks.
5. The Vegan Air Fryer: The Healthier Way to Enjoy Deep-Fried Flavors Paperback – Illustrated
This is one of the original air frying cookbooks aimed at plant-based diet practitioners. It has 80 recipes that have been kitchen-tested so that making your favorite vegan comfort food like vegetable tempura or fried onion rings is easy and quick without any oil-based deep frying.
This is not a diet book, however, but a resource book for vegan cooks or for people transitioning to a whole-food, plant-based diet. It includes useful info on common vegetable oils, their cooking temperatures, and their uses in a vegan diet. There’s also a chart of whole food staples and their cooking times and temperatures in the air fryer.
Readers found its “hack” section on alternate uses of the air fryer (like melting butter, or cooking frozen food) very useful. Another liked that the author can be easily reached on Facebook for questions on the recipes or for additional advice and recommendations.
Recommended for casual vegan home cooks or for those looking for basic vegan recipes to cook with an air fryer.
6. Air Fry Every Day: 75 Recipes to Fry, Roast, and Bake Using Your Air Fryer: A Cookbook Hardcover – Illustrated
This cookbook features a variety of recipes, ranging from breakfast, mains, meat, and vegetables to appetizers. It also teaches you how to make breads and desserts using the air fryer.
It includes an Air Fryer 101 section that provides a newbie with a lot of useful information like how to choose an air fryer, how to use preset or how to use pans to maximize the use of the air fryer. There’s also a chart that shows the cooking times of common vegetables.
The recipe selection is a mix of both basic and creative recipes. Recipes are good for 1-2 servings.
Stand-outs include Triple-Coconut Shrimp, Memphis-Style BBQ Pork Ribs, French Onion Potato Skins, Crispy Herbed Chickpeas, Sweet-and-Sour Brussels Sprouts, Gooey “Spoon” Brownies, and Lemon–Poppy Seed Drizzle Cake.
Recommended for those looking for newbies and experienced home cooks.
7. Epic Air Fryer Cookbook: 100 Inspired Recipes That Take Air-Frying in Deliciously Exciting New Directions Paperback – Illustrated
This isn’t your usual basic Americana cookbook. The recipe selection is a mixture of globally inspired recipes and restaurant fusion favorites. Samples of the recipes include Monte Cristo Sandwich, Glazed Chicken Salad with Mangoes and Candied Pecans, Sicilian Stuffed Peppers, Teriyaki Glazed Ribs, Sicilian Stuffed Peppers, and General Tso’s Chicken.
Recipes are easy to follow and use ingredients that are available in most stores. They have short prep times and fast cooking times. There is also a lot of troubleshooting information and explanations on how and why the recipes work.
Readers like the variety of options – from meat-based to vegetarian dishes – that this cookbook offers. Another found it a useful reference for making creative meals. Recommended for those looking for restaurant-quality recipes for an air fryer.
8. The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook: The 75 Best Healthy Recipes for Your Air Fryer Hardcover – Illustrated
This cookbook features the best of the recipes from the Skinnytaste Food blog which is known for making dishes that are calorie-light but flavor heavy.
The recipes here will work on every type of air fryer technology, from basket models to countertop ovens with air frying settings. The recipe selection includes a mix of appetizers, main dishes, and baked desserts. These include Chicken-Vegetable Spring Rolls, Crispy Coconut Shrimp, Za’atar Chickpeas, Korean Pork Lettuce Wraps, Roasted Fish with Lemon-Almond Crumbs, Very Berry Mini Pie, and Baked Apples with Streusel Topping.
There’s nutritional information provided per recipe and many in the selection are vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto-friendly. There’s also a temperature conversion chart at the back of the book in case one has a traditional oven to cook with instead of an air fryer.
Readers loved the delicious recipes. One credited the cookbook for helping her lose a significant amount of weight. Another liked that the recipes were made for smaller batches so that there were fewer leftovers. Recommended for fans of the Skinnytaste blog and those looking for healthy air frying recipes.
9. Taste of Home Everyday Air Fryer: 112 Recipes for Weeknight Ease Paperback
This is a collection of Taste of Home air fryer recipes that are very easy to make for a busy weeknight. There are lots of photos that accompany the recipes which should make this a reading pleasure for anyone looking for a picture-heavy cookbook.
Recipes are simple to follow with ingredients that are easy to obtain from local stores. The selection is varied, from crispy fried chicken and taquitos to wontons. There are also kid-friendly side dishes and baked treats.
Recommended for casual cooks looking for more variety in air frying recipes.
10. Good Housekeeping Air Fryer Cookbook: 70 Delicious Recipes (Good Food Guaranteed) Hardcover – Illustrated
This cookbook features healthy versions of popular foods that are normally cooked with lots of oil. Samples include Chicken Caprese, Rye-Crusted Pork Chops with Apple Slaw, Finger Lickin’ Fish Tacos, Jalapeño Poppers, and even French Fries.
The recipes have been triple tested in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen so they are reliable and delicious. There are also full color photographs accompanying some recipes.
There’s not much info on the general use of air fryers for cooking but the book does offer useful tips for the newbie cook, such as air frying food within minutes of putting in the oil, converting a regular recipe for an air fryer, and cleaning and maintenance.
Recommended for anyone looking for additional air frying recipes to add to their repertoire.
Top Pick
THE ESSENTIAL AIR FRYER COOKBOOK: THE ONLY BOOK YOU NEED FOR YOUR SMALL, MEDIUM, OR LARGE AIR FRYER by Bruce Weinstein
Get this for the number of its recipes and the fact that it provides ingredient lists that are customized for air fryer sizes. This book features recipes that can be made in a 2-quart, 3.5 quart, 5.25 quart, and even a 10-quart air fryer.
The recipes are also very accessible for newbie cooks. They can be made simple or complex, depending on one’s preferences. They are also tagged with fast, easy, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and gluten-free labels. Also useful is its section on suggested pairing from drinks to sauces to other recipes within the book.
Comprehensive and practical, this is a cookbook that works for whatever kind of air fryer you have in your home kitchen.
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