How to adapt The Fast 800 recipes to your air fryer

The air fryer has truly taken the UK by storm, with an estimated two-thirds of adults now owning one. As the world is embracing the convenience and speed of air frying, we’re delving into their benefits, downsides and how to adapt our healthy recipes to suit this handy, kitchen gadget.

While fried foods aren’t featured in our Mediterranean-style meal plans, air fryers can help you get a similar texture satisfaction that’s better aligned to The Fast 800 way of life. So, let’s take a further look…

Air Fryers vs Traditional Cooking Methods

Air fryers deliver a crispy food texture by circulating hot air, which means that less oil is required during the cooking process. This can have some benefits, like keeping calories lower, and could be a good alternative for the times you may need it.

Air frying doesn’t guarantee a healthy diet, and as with all things should be used mindfully with healthy food choices going into the air fryer in the first place.

Potential Benefits

• There’s no need to add additional oils to achieve a crispy ‘fried’ texture. Despite this, extra virgin olive oil has ample health benefits and, if you’re adapting a recipe to use an air fryer, any oil that’s not used for cooking could be re-allocated to vegetables or side salad, using it as a dressing instead.
• The air fryer could be utilised as a tool to help people transition away from fried foods, towards a healthier lifestyle.
• They’re quick and convenient, and there’s less washing up that when using multiple pots and pans!
• A smaller device that allows you to cook smaller portions more efficiently.

Drawbacks

• Using an air fryer does not guarantee your diet will be healthier.
• With limited capacity, they may not be as good for batch cooking, catering for family meals, or providing you with leftovers for later in the week due to their smaller size.
• They take up space on your bench.
• Cost: Expensive models can come at a high price and they are not essential when cooking healthy meals.

How to adapt recipes to your air fryer

Firstly, ensure you follow the instructions for your individual appliance.

When taking a recipe from an oven to the air fryer, the general rule is to reduce the temperature by 20ºC – 30ºC and cook for 20% less time. So, you will have to do some maths along the way!

This of course is a very basic conversion and you may need to adjust your cook times and temperatures to ensure their cooking appropriately in your appliance. This will likely need some trial and error, so you may want to take notes on what works and doesn’t work for your specific air fryer.

The Fast 800 Favourites

Dr Clare Bailey Mosley has released a brand-new book, The Fast 800 Favourites, with over 100 best-loved recipes over the years. An exciting update is more than 30 air fryer adapted recipes, along with three 7-day meal plans to support better eating habits in a simple way.

To celebrate, we’re excited to share two air fryer recipes from the new book below:

Ingredients:

½ tsp rapeseed or coconut oil
120g ground almonds
30g desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
60g coconut oil
1 large egg
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
40g soft pitted dates, finely chopped
40g dark chocolate chips (at least 70% cocoa solids)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4 and grease a large baking tray with the oil.
2. Place all the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in a medium bowl, add a generous pinch of salt and blitz briefly with a stick blender or in a food processor to make a slightly sticky dough. You may need to add ½ tablespoon water, if the mixture is a bit crumbly. Alternatively, mix together by hand.
3. Stir in the chocolate until well combined.
4. Roll the mixture into 20 small balls and place on the greased tray. Flatten each of them with a fork, until around 1cm thick.
5. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes (see below for air fryer adaptions), or until firm and turning deep golden brown around the edges.
6. Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Store excess cookies in an airtight container in the freezer.

COOK’S TIP: If you don’t have dark chocolate chips, use any dark chocolate – as long as it contains over 70% cocoa solids – and chop it into small pieces.

AIR-FRYER COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat the air fryer to 160°C. Prepare and shape the cookies as Steps 2–4. Air fry (in batches) for 10 minutes, or until firm and turning deep golden brown around the edges.

Ingredients:

4 bone-in chicken thighs (each around 150g)
1–2 lemons, juice of 1 (around 2 tbsp), the other quartered (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 3–4 rosemary sprigs (or use 1 tsp dried herbs)
1 bulb garlic, halved (optional)

Method:

1. If cooking the chicken straight away, preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6.
2. Put the chicken in a bowl with the lemon juice and oil. Add the thyme or rosemary and season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Toss well together. If you have time, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
3. Place the chicken, skin-side up, in a roasting tin with the herbs and quartered lemon, if using, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven, add the garlic, if using, and cook for a further 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned, tender and cooked all the way through.

NON-FAST DAYS: Serve with roasted butternut squash and/or 3 tablespoons of cooked quinoa or brown or wild rice.

COOK’S TIP: If you remove the chicken skin before eating, you will save 25cals per serving. Add extra herbs for garnish about 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, if you like.

AIR-FRYER COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: Prepare the chicken thighs as above. When ready to cook, preheat the air fryer to 180°C, if needed. Put the chicken, skin-side down, in the air fryer with the herbs and lemon quarters, if using, and cook for 12 minutes. Turn the chicken, add the garlic, brushing the cut-side with the juices in the pan. Air fry for another 18 minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through.