Air Fryer Cooking Times and Temperatures, Recipe by Recipe
Air fryer cooking times and temperatures from 18 Savour recipes, 180°C (350°F) to 200°C (400°F), with preheat, flip, frozen and reheat settings.
Published · Updated · 10 min read
Quick answer
The 18 Savour air fryer recipes in this guide use three temperatures: 200°C (400°F) for 12 of them, 190°C (375°F) for sausages, burgers, Brussels sprouts and pigs in a blanket, and 180°C (350°F) for empanadas and samosas. Times run from 6 to 8 minutes for asparagus to 35 to 40 minutes for whole potatoes. Chicken is done at 74°C (165°F) and burgers at 71°C (160°F).
- Recipes featured
- 18
- Quickest
- Air Fryer Asparagus (13 mins)
- Average total time
- 44 mins
- Average calories
- 295 per serving
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Section
- Cooking guides
These air fryer cooking times and temperatures come from the steps of 18 Savour recipes, and they use only three settings: 200°C (400°F) for 12 of them, 190°C (375°F) for 4 and 180°C (350°F) for 2. Cooking times run from 6 to 8 minutes for asparagus spears to 35 to 40 minutes for whole russet potatoes. Chicken cooks until it reads 74°C (165°F) in the centre and burgers until 71°C (160°F).
Below, each recipe's temperature and time sit side by side, grouped by food, with its preheat, shake or flip step, doneness cue, frozen time and reheat setting. As the burger recipe notes, air fryers vary in power, so check the first batch a minute or two early.
What temperature do you air fry at?
The steps of these 18 recipes from the air fryer recipes category group the foods like this:
- 200°C (400°F): asparagus, green beans, roasted potatoes, whole potatoes for potato skins, chickpeas, tofu, paneer tikka, chicken bites, chicken malai tikka, chicken satay skewers, onion rings and taquitos.
- 190°C (375°F): Brussels sprouts, raw pork sausages, burgers and puff pastry pigs in a blanket.
- 180°C (350°F): beef empanadas and samosas, the two recipes with a folded, filled pastry shell.
The setting is not fixed per food: three recipes lower it for frozen food, and 13 reheat leftovers at 180°C (350°F).
Air fryer cooking times and temperatures by food
One row per recipe: the time as its air fry step gives it, the size it cuts or shapes the food to, and how it moves the food. Total includes any pressing, marinating, cooling or resting time.
Vegetables and potatoes
The potato skins finish with 3 to 4 minutes to melt the cheese; the steps after the first do not restate the temperature.
Chickpeas, tofu and paneer
Chicken, beef and sausages
Breaded, wrapped and pastry
By total time, the six quickest are the asparagus (13 minutes), green beans (15), sausages and onions (20), Brussels sprouts and chicken bites (22 each) and burgers (25). The burgers are also Thursday's dinner in the 30-minute dinner meal plan with one shopping list.
Does the size of the food change the time?
Yes, and several recipes give the other sizes in their FAQs and tips, at the same temperature:
- Asparagus, 200°C (400°F): thin spears under 1 cm take 4 to 5 minutes, medium spears 6 to 8 minutes and spears of 1.5 cm or more 8 to 10 minutes.
- Potatoes, 200°C (400°F): 1.5 cm cubes take 12 to 15 minutes and halved baby potatoes 20 to 25 minutes.
- Tofu, 200°C (400°F): 1.5 cm cubes are ready in 12 to 14 minutes.
- Brussels sprouts, 190°C (375°F): small sprouts can be ready in about 10 minutes; large quartered ones can take up to 18.
- Sausages, 190°C (375°F): thick ones take up to 18 minutes and thin ones as little as 10.
- Satay skewers, 200°C (400°F): chicken breast instead of thigh takes 8 to 10 minutes, with the temperature checked early.
Do you need to preheat an air fryer?
Savour's recipes do: 17 of the 18 include a preheat step. Six give 3 minutes (asparagus, green beans, sausages, Brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes and tofu), the burgers and chicken malai tikka 3 to 5 minutes, and the other nine say only to preheat to the cooking temperature. The green beans, Brussels sprouts and tofu are trimmed or cut in the same step, while the air fryer heats.
The exception is the loaded potato skins: the whole potatoes go in at 200°C (400°F) for 35 to 40 minutes with no preheat step.
The burger recipe's FAQ gives its reason: preheating for 3 to 5 minutes "helps the patties start browning as soon as they go in and makes the cooking time more predictable". For a model with no preheat setting, that recipe adds 1 to 2 minutes to the cooking time.
Should you shake or flip food in the air fryer?
The recipes split three ways. Small loose pieces are shaken, single pieces are turned with tongs, and two pastry recipes are not moved at all:
- Shake the basket (7 recipes): asparagus, green beans, Brussels sprouts and chicken bites halfway; chickpeas once in the plain round, then every 3 to 4 minutes; potatoes every 6 minutes; tofu every 5 minutes.
- Turn or flip (9 recipes): burgers, sausages, onion rings, malai tikka, paneer tikka and satay skewers halfway; taquitos once after 5 minutes; samosas after 10 minutes, brushing any pale spots with oil; the potato skins once as whole potatoes, then after 4 minutes as skins.
- No turning (2 recipes): pigs in a blanket go in seam side down, and the empanadas in a single layer without touching.
The burger FAQ explains the flip: "The underside sits on the basket and browns less than the top, so turning them gives an even colour and even cooking." For breaded food, the chicken bites FAQ says not to move the bites for the first 5 minutes so the coating stays on.
How do you know air-fried meat is done?
Use a thermometer. Government food safety guidance puts chicken pieces at 74°C (165°F) and ground beef at 71°C (160°F), and the recipes' steps use the same numbers:
- Chicken bites: golden and 74°C (165°F) inside.
- Chicken malai tikka and satay skewers: the thickest piece reads 74°C (165°F).
- Chicken taquitos: the filling is steaming hot, 74°C (165°F) in the centre.
- Burgers: the centre reaches 71°C (160°F) on an instant-read thermometer.
- Sausages: the centre of the thickest one reads 71°C (160°F) for pork, or 74°C (165°F) for chicken or turkey sausages, with no pink in the middle.
Push the thermometer into the thickest part, all the way to the middle and away from any bone; for a burger, the same guidance says to go in through the side of the patty. The sausage recipe adds that browning alone is not a reliable sign.
How do you know vegetables, tofu and pastry are done?
The steps give a cue for each. A knife slides into the thickest end of the asparagus and the centre of a sprout, and a fork into the largest potato chunk. Bite a chickpea: it should be crisp right to the centre. Tofu is deep golden, puffed and crisp on every side; paneer tikka is done when the edges char and the peppers are tender-crisp. Onion rings and empanadas cook until deep golden and crisp, samosas until golden and crisp, and pigs in a blanket until puffed and deep golden.
What are common air fryer mistakes?
Each fix below is a tip or FAQ answer from one of the recipes:
- A crowded basket. Piled sprouts steam instead of browning, and overlapping onion rings and touching sausages stay pale. The burger recipe says air needs to circulate around each patty. Cook in a single layer, in batches.
- Wet food. Wet green beans steam and turn dull, and the chickpea recipe calls drying "the most important step". The tofu is pressed for at least 15 minutes.
- Dry patches. Without a spray of oil the chicken bites' panko stays pale, and so do unoiled patches of tortilla or samosa pastry.
- Sugar or acid too early. The Brussels sprouts get their balsamic after cooking because its sugars burn quickly, and the asparagus gets its lemon after cooking because acid turns it olive-drab.
- Smoke. Fat dripping into the drawer burns. The sausage recipe pours 2 to 3 tbsp of water into the drawer, and the burgers use 85/15 beef.
- Small or loose pieces. Garlic is sliced, not minced, because tiny pieces burn and blow around. A thin wet batter drips through the basket, so the onion rings use flour, egg and panko.
How to cook frozen food in the air fryer
Five recipes freeze their food uncooked and air fry it straight from frozen, and four more give frozen times in a variation or FAQ:
Every frozen time is longer than the fresh one, and the taquitos, pigs in a blanket and sausages also drop the temperature. The sausage FAQ explains its own: "The lower temperature lets the middle cook through before the outside overbrowns." The empanadas get their egg wash just before they go in from frozen.
Not everything goes in frozen. Raw chicken frozen in its marinade for the malai tikka or the satay skewers thaws overnight in the fridge before cooking, and so do cooked sausages. Cooked tofu goes back in straight from frozen: its reheat note gives 6 to 8 minutes at 190°C (375°F).
How to reheat leftovers in the air fryer
Government food safety guidance is to reheat leftovers to 74°C (165°F), and six of these recipes name that target in their reheat notes. Nine of the recipes' fridge notes say to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
Every other row is a fridge time. The chickpeas stay out in a loosely covered jar because a sealed container traps moisture; only in a hot, humid kitchen do they go in the fridge, for up to 5 days. With their 4-day fridge note, the roasted potatoes are the side in the Sunday meal prep plan of recipes that keep 4 days or more.
Sources
- Safe cooking temperatures canada.ca
- Food safety tips for leftovers canada.ca
Recipes in this post (18)
Frequently Asked Questions
What temperature do you air fry vegetables at?
Savour's asparagus, green beans and roasted potatoes air fry at 200°C (400°F), and the Brussels sprouts at 190°C (375°F). Times run from 6 to 8 minutes for medium asparagus spears to 18 to 22 minutes for 2.5 cm potato chunks, with the basket shaken during cooking.
How long does chicken take in the air fryer?
At 200°C (400°F), Savour's breaded 2.5 cm chicken bites take 10 to 12 minutes, the 4 cm malai tikka pieces 12 to 15 minutes and the chicken thigh satay skewers 10 to 12 minutes. Each is done when the thickest piece reads 74°C (165°F).
How long should you preheat an air fryer?
Of the 18 Savour air fryer recipes in this guide, six preheat for 3 minutes and two (the burgers and the chicken malai tikka) for 3 to 5 minutes. Nine more say to preheat to the cooking temperature without giving a time, and the loaded potato skins have no preheat step.
Can you cook frozen food straight in the air fryer?
Savour's taquitos, onion rings, pigs in a blanket, empanadas and samosas are frozen uncooked and air fried straight from frozen, for example taquitos at 190°C (375°F) for 12 to 14 minutes. Raw chicken frozen in its marinade for the malai tikka or satay is thawed overnight in the fridge first.
What temperature do you reheat leftovers at in an air fryer?
Of the 18 Savour air fryer recipes in this guide, 13 reheat at 180°C (350°F), for 2 to 5 minutes depending on the dish. Government food safety guidance is to reheat leftovers to 74°C (165°F), so check meat and fillings with a thermometer.
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