The Complete Air Fryer Cooking Guide — Times, Temps & Tips for Every Food
June 27, 2026
The air fryer has earned its spot on the counter for one simple reason: it makes crisp, golden food faster than an oven and with a fraction of the oil. But most recipes are still written for a conventional oven, and air fryers don’t come with a universal cheat sheet. This guide explains how the air fryer actually cooks, how to convert any oven recipe to it, and gives you a reference chart for the foods people make most often.
If you’d rather skip the maths, the air fryer converter turns any oven temperature and time into the right air fryer setting in a second.
How an air fryer actually works
An air fryer isn’t frying anything — it’s a compact convection oven. A heating element sits just above a powerful fan, and that fan blasts hot air around the food at high speed inside a small chamber. Because the space is tiny and the airflow is intense, food browns and crisps faster and more evenly than it would in a big oven where the heat has more room to dissipate.
Two practical consequences fall out of this:
- It cooks hotter than the dial suggests. The relentless airflow transfers heat more efficiently to the surface of the food, so the same temperature feels hotter than in a still oven.
- It cooks faster. Less air to heat, more direct contact — food reaches doneness sooner.
That’s why you can’t just copy oven settings across unchanged.
The conversion rule
For almost everything, two adjustments get you there:
- Lower the temperature by about 25 °F (15 °C).
- Cut the cooking time by roughly 20%.
So a tray of vegetables that roasts at 400 °F for 25 minutes in the oven becomes about 375 °F for 20 minutes in the air fryer — then you check and shake. The air fryer converter does this calculation for you and even tells you when to shake the basket.
| Oven setting | Air fryer setting |
|---|---|
| 350 °F / 180 °C | 325 °F / 165 °C |
| 375 °F / 190 °C | 350 °F / 175 °C |
| 400 °F / 200 °C | 375 °F / 190 °C |
| 425 °F / 220 °C | 400 °F / 205 °C |
That is the blanket rule, and it is close enough for most things. The drop is not actually the same for every food, though: delicate items give up 15 °C while dense ones only need 10, and the time factor ranges from 0.75 for fish to 0.85 for a thick roast. The printable air fryer conversion chart breaks both out by food type on a single sheet.
Air fryer times & temperatures chart
These are reliable starting points for cooking from raw at 380–400 °F (190–205 °C) in a preheated basket. Air fryers vary, so check a few minutes early the first time and note what works for your model.
| Food | Temp | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frozen fries | 400 °F / 205 °C | 15–18 min | Shake twice |
| Fresh-cut fries | 380 °F / 190 °C | 18–22 min | Soak, dry, light oil |
| Chicken wings | 380 °F / 190 °C | 22–26 min | Flip halfway, finish hot |
| Chicken breast | 375 °F / 190 °C | 16–20 min | To 165 °F / 74 °C |
| Chicken thighs (bone-in) | 380 °F / 190 °C | 22–26 min | Skin-side up |
| Salmon fillet | 390 °F / 200 °C | 8–11 min | Don’t overcook |
| Bacon | 350 °F / 175 °C | 8–10 min | Pour off fat |
| Broccoli / cauliflower | 375 °F / 190 °C | 10–14 min | Toss in oil first |
| Brussels sprouts | 380 °F / 190 °C | 14–18 min | Cut-side down |
| Frozen chicken nuggets | 400 °F / 205 °C | 8–10 min | Single layer |
| Reheating pizza | 350 °F / 175 °C | 3–4 min | Crisps the base |
| Bagel / toast | 350 °F / 175 °C | 3–5 min | Watch closely |
Always cook poultry to a safe internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C), checked with a thermometer — see our disclaimer.
Seven habits that make air fryer food better
Preheat for crisp food. Two to three minutes of preheating means the surface sears the moment food hits the basket. Skip it for delicate bakes.
Don’t overcrowd. This is the number-one mistake. Air needs to circulate around each piece; a heaped basket steams instead of crisping. Cook in batches and the results transform.
Shake or flip halfway. Food nearest the element browns first. A mid-cook shake evens everything out — the converter reminds you when.
Use a little oil, in the right place. A light spray or toss helps fresh food crisp and brown. Toss the food in oil rather than spraying the basket, which can damage non-stick coatings over time.
Dry food before it goes in. Surface moisture has to evaporate before browning starts. Patting chicken or potatoes dry is the difference between golden and pale.
Mind the fat. Bacon, sausages and fatty cuts render a lot of grease; a little water in the drawer stops it smoking. Pour it off between batches.
Check early, every time. Until you know your machine, treat times as a suggestion. Five minutes of vigilance beats a tray of overdone dinner.
Foods that don’t belong in an air fryer
- Wet batters drip through the basket before they set — use a dredge or breadcrumb coating instead.
- Light, loose foods like leafy greens or grated cheese get flung into the element by the fan.
- Large roasts that won’t fit with airflow around them are better in the oven.
- Lots of liquid — an air fryer browns, it doesn’t braise.
Converting your own recipes
Whenever you meet an oven recipe, reach for the air fryer converter: enter the oven temperature and time, and it gives you the air fryer equivalent plus a “check at” time. Pair it with the recipe scaler when you’re cooking for more or fewer people, and you can adapt almost anything to a quick, crisp air fryer dinner.
Once you’ve cooked a dish a couple of times, jot the setting that worked on the recipe. Build that personal cheat sheet and the air fryer stops being guesswork and becomes the fastest, most reliable tool in your kitchen.