How long to air fry just about anything

Frozen food is what air fryers are genuinely best at, because the fan drives off surface water before it has a chance to steam the coating. Nothing here needs defrosting first — going straight from freezer to basket is the point. Where the bag gives its own air fryer instructions, follow the bag: the manufacturer tested that specific coating.

Frozen Breaded Fish Fillets 400°F · 8–16 min · 145°F internal Frozen Frozen Breaded Shrimp 390°F · 7–12 min Frozen Frozen Burrito 320°F · 14–20 min Frozen Frozen Chicken Nuggets 385°F · 7–12 min · 165°F internal Frozen Frozen Chicken Tenders 385°F · 8–12 min · 165°F internal Frozen Frozen Dumplings 385°F · 6–12 min Frozen Frozen Fish Sticks 395°F · 6–14 min · 145°F internal Frozen Frozen French Fries 395°F · 14–18 min Frozen Frozen Mozzarella Sticks 395°F · 6–9 min Frozen Frozen Onion Rings 390°F · 10–16 min Frozen Frozen Spring Rolls 400°F · 6–10 min Frozen Frozen Sweet Potato Fries 395°F · 14–18 min Frozen Frozen Taquitos 375°F · 6–12 min Frozen Frozen Tater Tots 400°F · 16–24 min Frozen

Chicken is the one category where the timer is advice and the thermometer is the answer. Every cut of poultry — breast, thigh, wing, ground — is safe at the same 165 °F, and no cook time on this page or anywhere else changes that. Air fryers also brown chicken skin faster than the inside cooks, so colour is a particularly bad doneness test here.

Bone-In Chicken Breast 395°F · 24–34 min · 165°F internal Raw Bone-In Chicken Thighs 390°F · 18–24 min · 165°F internal Raw Boneless Chicken Thighs 390°F · 8–14 min · 165°F internal Raw Chicken Breast 390°F · 15–22 min · 165°F internal Raw Chicken Drumsticks 395°F · 18–24 min · 165°F internal Raw Chicken Tenders 395°F · 8–12 min · 165°F internal Raw Chicken Wings 400°F · 20–25 min · 165°F internal Raw Whole Chicken 355°F · 55–60 min · 165°F internal Raw

Two different safety numbers live in this category and people mix them up constantly: a whole cut — steak, chop, roast — is safe at 145 °F with a three-minute rest, while anything minced is safe at 160 °F. Grinding spreads surface bacteria through the meat, which is the whole reason for the gap. Fat is also the variable that makes air fryer meat times unreliable, because rendering fat smokes.

Bacon 425°F · 6–8 min Raw Burgers 375°F · 10–18 min · 160°F internal Raw Flank Steak 450°F · 8–14 min · 145°F internal Raw Meatballs 390°F · 10–14 min · 160°F internal Raw Pork Chops 450°F · 6–16 min · 145°F internal Raw Pork Tenderloin 385°F · 18–25 min · 145°F internal Raw Ribeye Steak 450°F · 6–14 min · 145°F internal Raw Sausages 390°F · 8–15 min · 160°F internal Raw Steak (New York Strip) 450°F · 6–12 min · 145°F internal Raw

Seafood has the narrowest margin of anything in the index — the gap between right and ruined is often two minutes. Fish is safe at 145 °F, but shrimp, lobster, crab and scallops have no temperature target at all: the official test is visual. These are the cook times worth setting an actual timer for rather than trusting the machine.

Calamari 450°F · 5–9 min Raw Lobster Tail 380°F · 8–10 min Raw Salmon Fillet 380°F · 6–12 min · 145°F internal Raw Scallops 450°F · 3–7 min Raw Shrimp 450°F · 3–5 min Raw White Fish Fillet 380°F · 8–12 min · 145°F internal Raw

Vegetables run hotter in an air fryer than most people expect — manufacturer charts sit in the 415–425 °F range, well above the 350–375 °F habit people bring from the oven. There is no food safety floor here, so the only question is browning versus burning. Water content decides everything: a dry surface chars, a wet one steams.

Asparagus 365°F · 5–8 min Fresh Bell Peppers 385°F · 6–12 min Fresh Broccoli 425°F · 5–9 min Fresh Brussels Sprouts 415°F · 8–16 min Fresh Carrots 425°F · 10–16 min Fresh Cauliflower 425°F · 8–14 min Fresh Corn on the Cob 380°F · 10–18 min Fresh Eggplant 435°F · 10–18 min Fresh Green Beans 415°F · 4–8 min Fresh Mushrooms 380°F · 8–14 min Fresh Zucchini 385°F · 8–14 min Fresh

Baking is the category where air fryer instructions diverge furthest from the oven recipe you are holding. Cosori runs cookies and cupcakes at 300 °F against the 350–375 °F a recipe normally calls for, because the fan sets and browns the top of a batter long before the middle has risen. Everything here also needs parchment, and loose parchment in an empty basket is a genuine fire risk rather than a fussy warning.

Biscuits and Scones 330°F · 11–15 min Prepared Cinnamon Rolls 330°F · 10–15 min Prepared Cookies 300°F · 10–14 min Prepared Cupcakes and Muffins 300°F · 10–15 min Prepared

Potatoes span the widest time range in the index, from fifteen minutes for cut roasties to forty for a whole jacket, and the reason is simple geometry: heat has to reach the middle. Starch is the other variable — a floury potato collapses into fluff, a waxy one stays dense and never goes fluffy however long you give it.

Baked Potato 390°F · 30–40 min Fresh Baked Sweet Potato 385°F · 45–60 min Fresh Potato Cubes 390°F · 8–16 min Fresh Roast Potatoes 390°F · 15–26 min Fresh