Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster ebook. Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox. Contents Introduction 1. Cooking with an Air Fryer 2. Breakfast 3. Appetizers and Snacks 4. Side Dishes 5. Chicken Main Dishes 6. Beef and Pork Main Dishes 7. Fish and Seafood Main Dishes 8. Vegetarian Main Dishes 9. Desserts About the Author Index Thank you to our family and friends for all your support. To my wonderful husband, Joe—thank you for being my biggest encouragement and making this all possible. There is absolutely no way I could have done this without you. Joey and Maya, thank you for your patience and being my little taste testers. This book is for my dad, who for years has always asked, “What’s cooking good?” during our Sunday phone calls. To all my Keto followers, thank you all for your encouragement and support. You all inspire me to be creative every single day. Introduction If you have an air fryer, you already know it’s a revolutionary appliance meant to save you time and help you live better. If you still haven’t made the leap, you’ll be excited to learn just how quickly you’ll be hooked and using your air fryer to prepare nearly every meal. But what’s so special about air frying? The air fryer can replace your oven, your microwave, your deep fryer, and your dehydrator and evenly cook delicious meals in a fraction of the time you’re used to. If you’re looking to provide your family with healthy meals, but don’t have a lot of time, the air fryer is a game changer. An air fryer can also help with your success on the keto diet. One of the many benefits to air frying is the short cooking times it provides. This is especially beneficial when you are hungry and short on time, a recipe for cheating on your diet. Long-term success on a ketogenic diet is often attributed to ease of preparing healthy meals. That’s why your air fryer will be your best friend throughout your keto journey and help you stay on track, even on the days when you’re short on time. Throughout this book you’ll learn everything you need to know about how and why to use an air fryer as well as some basics that will help you find success following the ketogenic diet. Let’s get cooking! Cooking with an Air Fryer Cooking with an air fryer is as easy as using a microwave. Anybody can do it, and after just a few uses you’ll wish you had switched over to this genius method of cooking earlier. This chapter will introduce you to air frying options and maximizing your cooking time and crispness, explain how to keep your air fryer clean, and recommend some accessories that will make your air frying experience even easier and more enjoyable. While this chapter will cover the basics of using your air fryer, the first step is reading the manual that came with your air fryer. All air fryers are different, and with the recent rise in popularity of the appliance there are a lot of different models on the market. Learning how to use your specific air fryer thoroughly is the key to success and will familiarize you with troubleshooting issues as well as safety functions. Reading over the manual and washing all parts with warm, soapy water before first use will help you feel ready to unleash your culinary finesse! Why Air Frying? Air frying is increasingly popular because it allows you to quickly and evenly prepare delicious meals with little oil and little effort. Here are just a few of the reasons you’ll want to switch to air frying: It replaces other cooking appliances. You can use your air fryer in place of your oven, microwave, deep fryer, and dehydrator! In one small device, you can quickly cook up perfect dishes for every meal without sacrificing flavor. It cooks faster than traditional cooking methods. Air frying works by circulating hot air around the cooking chamber. This results in fast and even cooking, using a fraction of the energy of your oven. Most air fryers can be set to a maximum temperature of 400°F. Because of this, just about anything you can make in an oven, you can make in an air fryer. It uses little to no cooking oil. A main selling point of air fryers is that you can achieve beautifully cooked foods with little to no cooking oil. While that may be attractive to some because it can mean lower fat content, people following the keto diet can rejoice because it means fewer calories, which still matter if you’re doing keto for weight loss. It has a fast cleanup. With any method of cooking you’re sure to dirty your cooker, but with your air fryer’s smaller cooking chamber and removable basket, thorough cleanup is a breeze! Choosing an Air Fryer When choosing an air fryer, the two most important factors to focus on are size and temperature range. Air fryers are usually measured by quart size and range from about 1.2 quarts to 10 or more quarts. If you’re looking to cook meals to feed a family, you might be interested in at least a 5.3-quart fryer that can be used to beautifully roast an entire chicken (see Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken in Chapter 5), but if you need a small machine because of limited counter space and you’re cooking for only one or two, you can definitely crisp up some Jicama Fries (see Chapter 4) with a much smaller air fryer. As for temperature range, some air fryers allow you the ability to dehydrate foods because you can cook them at a very low temperature, say 120°F, for a long period of time (see Beef Jerky in Chapter 3). Depending on the functions you need, you’ll want to make sure your air fryer has the appropriate cooking capacity and temperature range. The Functions of an Air Fryer Most air fryers are equipped with buttons to help you prepare anything, such as grilling the perfect salmon, roasting an entire chicken, or even baking a chocolate cake. These buttons are attached to preset times and temperatures based on your specific air fryer. Because of the wide variety of air fryers on the market, all recipes in this book were created using manual times and temperatures. Every air fryer allows you to set these yourself. Still, it is important to know how the cooking programs work on your air fryer and when to use them. While some air fryer recipes call for preheating the appliance, this is really more of a personal preference. Some people preheat their air fryers while others just add a few minutes to the cooking time, which is what is done in these recipes. In my personal experience there’s no benefit to preheating which is why it is not called for in this book. Essential Accessories Your air fryer’s cooking chamber is basically just a large, open space for the hot air to circulate. This is a huge advantage because it gives you the option to incorporate several different accessories into your cooking. These accessories broaden the number of recipes you can make in your air fryer and open up options you never would’ve thought were possible. Here are some of the common accessories. Metal holder. This circular rack is used to add a second layer to your cooking surface so you can maximize space and cook multiple things at once. This is particularly helpful when you’re cooking meat and veggies and don’t want to wait for one to finish to get started on the other. Skewer rack. This is similar to a metal holder, but it has built- in metal skewers that make roasting kebabs a breeze. Ramekin. Small ramekins are great for making mini cakes and quiches. If they’re oven safe, they’re safe to use in your air fryer. Cake pan. You can find specially made cake pans for your air fryer that fit perfectly into the cooking chamber. They also come with a built-in handle so you can easily pull them out when your cakes are done baking. Cupcake pan. A cupcake pan usually comes with seven mini cups and takes up the entire chamber of your 5.3-quart air fryer. These versatile cups are perfect for muffins, cupcakes, and even egg cups. If you don’t want to go this route, you can also use individual silicone baking cups. Parchment. Specially pre-cut parchment can be helpful to making cleanup even easier when baking with your air fryer. Additionally, you can find parchment paper with precut holes for easy steaming. Pizza pan. Yes, you can bake a pizza in your air fryer, and this book includes several recipes for different kinds of keto-friendly pizzas. This is a great option for easily getting the perfect shape every time. Accessory Removal At some point you will need to get those helpful accessories out of your air fryer without burning yourself. Here are some tools that will allow you to take items out of your air fryer safely and easily. Tongs. These will be helpful when lifting meat in and out of the air fryer. Tongs are also helpful for removing cooking pans that don’t come with handles.