10 Superb Low Calorie Air Fryer Recipes Everyone Will Love!
Ah, the air fryer. Quite possibly one of the most popular and widely used kitchen implements in recent years, the surge in popularity in these kinds of fryers is no joke.
And how could they not be? With the ability to make amazing fried food at a fraction of the oil and calories count of a typical fryer or deep fryer, they’re the perfect way to make meals that both taste great like traditional fried food, with barely any of the calories.
It’s for this reason that air fryers have become essential tools for people who are looking to make meals that are fired, while still being low enough in calories to help stick to their dietary plans.
Making food that tastes good while trying to slim down is a tall order, and thankfully one that air fryers are very helpful in delivering.
So, if you want a few recipes that you can use with your newly acquired air fryer, scroll down and take a look at some of the best recipes for air fryers that we could find that both please the whole family, and stay healthy!
Starting this list with a fresh and fishy recipe for you to try, we have a magnificent tilapia recipe for you to cuckoo up in your brand-new air fryer (see also “Tasty Whole30 Cod Recipes“).
Tilapia is an interesting fish that has recently become popular across the country, with it only really being widely sold and eaten in the United States since the late 1980s, but one that has become very popular for both its easy preparation and mild, yet pleasant taste.
This particular recipe helps maintain that classic lightness that this fish is known and loved for, while still giving it that distinct fried crisp that a good fried fish should have.
(a word of advice: When cooking tilapia or any other fish in your air fryer, make sure that you thoroughly clean up any oil or grease that has been left by the fish once it has been cooked. You don’t want your fryer and kitchen to smell of fish for months, do you?)
Staying with the fish theme for a little while longer, salmon is another popular fish that is cooked across the world, but one that is usually baked rather than fried. The somewhat oily fish doesn’t exactly mix well with a deep fryer, after all!
However, with an air fryer, you can have the best of both worlds with this recipe, getting the outer breaded side of the salmon crisped to perfection, while still maintaining that soft and delicate inside that salmon is loved for. As we said, the best of both worlds!
Plus, with this recipe, you’ll also be able to crisp up some chopped-up spuds to perfection as well!
Make sure you have the perfect sauce to drizzle over both, and you have a very classy meal on your hands when you are finished cooking here!
Moving on to some more meaty meals that you can prepare, we have a classic German recipe that can be prepared to perfection in an air fryer!
Pork schnitzel is a classic recipe that involved a pound and slice of pork meat until it is thin, then breading it up with breadcrumbs or batter and pan frying it.
However, you’ll also find that you can still get amazing results in an air fryer, whilst only using a fraction of the oil and calories a result!
If you’re looking for the perfect side dishes to serve this schnitzel with, we recommend making the perfect creamy dill sauce like this recipe provides, as well as some fresh vegetables to help balance out that meaty main with something a little greener and crunchier.
(For our money, butter bean pods or broccoli are great options, especially when they are also cooked in an air fryer!)
If you’re looking for meats with a low-calorie count, however, you can’t go wrong with some good old-fashioned chicken tenders!
Often considered the leanest of meats out there that you can easily buy, chicken is a favorite amongst people who are trying to keep their calorie count down.
The only problem with them is that when they aren’t prepared right, they can often be quite bland meat and easy to burn.
However, with some breadcrumbs and an air fryer, you’ll find that these chicken tenders are packed full of all the meaty goodness that you could ever want from the main meal recipe.
If you’re looking for serving suggestions, we would recommend serving these chicken tenders with some low-calorie fries (more on that later), as well as maybe with a slice of lemon so that the juices can be absorbed into that delicious batter.
Alternatively, you can always lightly fry some broccoli florets to go with that chicken!
Turkey is a staple of almost every thanksgiving meal out there, both for its ease of sourcing, as well as for its large size and how well it can pair with other traditional thanksgiving foods like brussels sprouts and stuffing.
However, by itself, turkey can often be one of the blandest meats out there, meaning that you’re going to need to work some magic to get a turkey tenderloin to taste great if you don’t have the rest of a classic thanksgiving meal to back it up.
Fortunately, with an air fryer and the right seasoning, you can create a turkey tenderloin that can compete with even the best chicken and pork version out there, being just the right amount juicy and tender to carry a meal, almost entirely by itself!
Plus, with a 30-minute cooking time, this is a recipe that is going to be easy to make if you’re in a rush as well, so it is a win-win as far as we are concerned!
We’re staying with the turkey recipes for a moment, to bring you what might be the perfect appetizer for pretty much any dinner or party occasion!
Peppers are practically primed for stuffing, once you remove all those pesky seeds and the stem.
And, with a little careful thinking and imagination, pretty much anything can be made into a stuffing for these peppers. It’s why they are a staple fun meal centerpiece across the country.
This particular pepper dish, coupled with some cheese and turkey meat, is perfect for cooking in the air fryer, getting a crispiness that would be tough to match if it was in an oven version, which might otherwise come out a little too soggy on the bottom side.
Fun to make, and fun to eat. What more could you ask for?
Fajitas are a staple meal across the country and in Central America, so you can imagine that more than a few people would be interested to see what could be cooked up in an air fryer for this classic dish!
With a chili-lime seasoning rubbed into your chicken before cooking, this fajita recipe is going to be packed with tons o zesty flavor alongside its crispy outside, alongside some freshly picked and cut peppers to boot!
If you want to avoid carb-heavy wraps, try putting this fajitas mix in a large leaf of lettuce for even better healthy eating!
Fries are great, but they can often be quite an unhealthy option to throw on your plate, thanks to them being heavy in carbs.
If you want to enjoy fries that aren’t going to ruin any diet plans that you had, you’re going to need to get a little creative with your vegetable of choice.
Luckily for you, this recipe manages to turn boring old zucchinis into a novel way of making fries that still taste great, while being a fraction of the calories to boot.
The perfect side for an air-fried chicken tender or pork schnitzel
Tater tots are a staple side dish for almost every main meal that you can think of, including most of the dishes that we have covered here.
They’ve often been seen as a pretty unhealthy side, however, thanks in part to how they have usually been cooked in deep fryers.
So, if you’re looking for a way to enjoy these classic little chunks of potato goodness, try cooking them in an air fryer with this recipe(see also: 15 Best Paleo Air Fryer Recipes To Try Today)!
Staying on the topic of sides, if you’re looking to create some amazing chips that no one will have ever tasted before, you need to try out this recipe that can turn everyday apples into the perfect savory/sweet chips (see also “3 Awesome Pizza Kale Chip Recipes You Have To Try“).
Mix them into a bowl of ordinary chips, or enjoy them on their own. The choice is up to you!
Final Thoughts
So if it wasn’t already clear by this point, air fryers are effectively miniature miracle workers in your kitchen, with pretty much only your imagination and experience being the limit for what you can make in them.
And all at a fraction of the kinds of calories they would have if made in a deep fryer!
Hi, my name is Justin Roberts and I like to live by one major rule in life – health is wealth. And where does all health stem from? The food choices we make.
I grew up in a not-so-wealthy household that often struggled to get food on the table.
The food we did eat was cheap, holding no nutritional value at all. I’m talking frozen foods, carbs, fats, and very little fresh produce.
I am fortunate enough to have made a life for myself where the money for food is no longer an issue, and I have spent the majority of it looking into healthy foods and different diets to try.
The most notable is keto and paleo. I am also interested in only using whole foods wherever possible – call it trauma!
As a professional chef, I now create recipes surrounding these diets every day. My family are my tasters, and I strive to make my recipes as budget-friendly as possible.
I hope that you’ll find some inspiration for healthier meals from my website. I want to create a catalog of recipes that you can come back to time and time again. Enjoy!
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