Have you heard the buzz about air fryers yet? They make French fries better than those you bake in the oven, are dreamboats at crisping up Brussels sprouts, okra, and other vegetables, and don’t take up much counter space. Then there’s the obviously wonderful benefit: You can skip the muss, fuss and stink of frying—and all that oil.
The other hot health trend right now? Keto. The air fryer and the Keto diet are made for each other like a pea and a pod. Keto diets discourage carb consumption in favor of proteins and vegetables, and are the toast of Hollywood at the moment.
Here are eight great Keto-friendly air fryer recipes — from knockout chicken wings to cauliflower bites — to try now.
1. Harissa Chicken
A whole, crisp-skinned chicken in about an hour? Believe it. This harissa chicken recipe has a marvelously short ingredients list of just five items, and takes advantage of the air fryer’s ability to both brown a bird and keep it moist. (Neither your oven nor your pressure cooker can pull that off.) If you’ve never used harissa before, let today be the day you give it a whirl; you’ll soon be putting it on everything from roasted potatoes to vegetables.
2. Kale Crisps
People talk a big game about making kale chips in the oven, but it isn’t quite as easy as folks would suggest. You have to preheat the oven, get a sheet pan good and greasy, and they take 20 minutes or more. Thank goodness for air-fried kale crisps, then, which are crispy but not too slick, and ready in just five minutes. Set them out alongside air-fried wings on game day and watch them vanish.
3. Shrimp with Lemon and Chile
When you work on a stovetop or in the oven, bright flavors and hot ones can get muted over time, or as water from steam blanches them. Not so in the dry air fryer, which can make flavors like lemon and red chile really pop. This air-fried shrimp recipe comes together in an incredible 10 minutes. Set the finished dish out with toothpicks or little forks as a pretty party snack, or serve alongside a big green salad as a meal.
4. Cauliflower Bites
Experts know that vegetables are where the air fryer triumphs. Because it is a hot, dry environment, veggies emerge from it crisp, salty and succulent. If you’ve ever fried or baked cauliflower in a very hot oven, you know it’s divine—like vegetable candy. It can also take forever, or up to an hour in an oven so hot your kitchen will be that temperature. Let your air fryer shine, then, with this recipe requiring just 10 minutes of your time.
5. Salmon with Preserved Lemon Tapenade
It’s painfully easy to overcook fish. A sealed cooking system can help you avoid drying out high-quality fillets, and the right recipe—such as this one featuring a tapenade of preserved lemon, garlic, anchovies and green olives—can deliver restaurant-worthy food. Got extra tapenade? Slather it on toast rubbed with garlic, dollop it next to roast chicken, or serve it alongside cauliflower bites.
6. Mushroom-Chard Frittata with Goat Cheese
Those who love frittatas know they’re the cheap and cheerful hero of the breakfast or brunch spread. Although this recipe features buttery cremini mushrooms and fresh thyme, the dish can accommodate all sorts of tweaks depending on what veggies you have kicking around. Perhaps the most fun part of this “glam leftovers” dish is in inverting the finished concoction on to the serving plate, which results in slightly crisp edges that are a wonderful foil to the creamy interior of the frittata.
7. Chicken Wings
Oil-free chicken wings that can compete with the real, fried deal? Right this way. The air fryer is a champ when it comes to crisping up little nuggets of chicken goodness. (And remember that wings are right in the Keto wheelhouse!) Forget about heating up a huge pot of oil, and just turn to your air fryer. All you need is high-quality wing sauce—we particularly like this set, which includes ranch dipping sauce—and you’re ready to rumble.
8. Beef and Vegetable Skewers
You might not think of the air fryer for making kabobs, but it makes sense: Vegetables almost always emerge crisp from the air fryer, and it’s easy not to overcook the meat. You can make the skewers as you usually would and pop them right on the rack inside the fryer. It’s a whole lot easier than heating up the grill, and—bonus—you can conjure summer even when it’s snowing outside.
Head to our Air Fryer Shop to check out our wide variety of air fryers and accessories, perfect for all your keto needs.
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