- Air fryers make it possible to prepare classic recipes like Spanish torrijas and everyday dishes with much less oil and shorter cooking times.
- Innovative models with steam, dual baskets or multifunction oven modes broaden the range of textures and recipes you can prepare.
- Simple tricks with bread, milk infusion, temperature control and sweeteners help turn traditional torrijas into a lighter, air‑fried version.
- Cookbooks, automatic programs and included recipe books make it easier to experiment and get consistent results with air fryer recipes at home.
In many kitchens, that familiar smell of home baking and air‑fried dishes has become part of everyday life. From lighter versions of deep‑fried favourites to quick weekday dinners, the air fryer is now used for much more than reheating leftovers. What started as a gadget for crispy fries has turned into a tool for experimenting with everything from sweet Easter treats to full family meals.
At the same time, manufacturers and cookbook authors are raising the game. New appliances add extra cooking functions like steam, dual zones or oven‑style heating, while recipe creators test how far you can go with this compact appliance. The result is a growing universe of air fryer recipes that aim for better textures, shorter times and, quite often, fewer calories than traditional frying.
Healthier torrijas in the air fryer: a seasonal favourite reimagined
When Easter approaches in Spain, one dessert starts to appear everywhere: torrijas, the classic milk‑soaked sweet bread that has been prepared at home and in bakeries for generations. Traditionally, they are fried in plenty of oil, which gives them their unmistakable flavour but also makes them quite heavy.
Home cooks looking for something a bit lighter have begun to swap the frying pan for the oven or, more recently, for the air fryer to cut down on fat. The idea is to keep the creamy centre, the citrus‑and‑cinnamon aroma and the lightly caramelised outside, while avoiding the oil bath. Done right, the result is still indulgent, just less greasy and a little easier to fit into everyday meals.
Content creator Marta Sanahuja, known online as DeliciousMartha and now a judge on a popular cooking show, has become one of the loudest voices defending this approach. She explains that she has been preparing her torrijas in the air fryer for years and insists they come out “delicious”, proving that you don’t have to give up tradition to adapt the technique.
Her method starts with a simple base: a loaf of day‑old bread cut into fairly thick slices, so that each piece holds its shape when soaked. This bread goes into a large rectangular dish, ready to absorb the flavoured milk and take on that custardy texture inside.
The next key step is the infusion. Sanahuja gently heats around a litre of milk with orange peel, lemon peel and a cinnamon stick for about ten minutes, taking care that it does not come to a full boil. This step perfumes the milk and gives the dessert its unmistakable fragrance. Once infused, the milk is left to cool slightly so it doesn’t break the bread.
When the milk is warm rather than hot, she pours it over the bread slices until they are completely soaked and have absorbed most of the liquid. Patience here pays off: the more evenly the bread drinks in the milk, the creamier the interior of each torrija will be. After that, she lifts the slices carefully, lets any excess drip off and coats them in beaten egg — for her version, two eggs are enough for the batch.
Here’s where the big difference with the traditional method comes in. Instead of sliding the bread straight into bubbling oil, she places the pieces in the basket of the air fryer, leaving a little space so the hot air can circulate properly. A light spray of oil helps mimic the subtle fried finish without soaking the bread.
Sanahuja cooks the torrijas at 200°C for about 10 minutes, turning them halfway through so that both sides brown and crisp evenly. The air flow gives them a golden surface and a tender centre, coming surprisingly close to the texture of pan‑fried versions, but with noticeably less fat absorbed.
Once they come out of the fryer, still warm, she suggests two ways to finish them. One is the classic route: rolling them in a mix of sugar and ground cinnamon so they form a thin, crunchy, aromatic coating. The other appeals to those who want to lower the sugar content a bit more by using erythritol instead of regular sugar. This naturally occurring sweetener, present in some fruits and fermented foods, has significantly fewer calories and around 60-70% of the sweetening power of table sugar.
Tips for getting the best texture in air‑fried torrijas
The move from deep frying to hot air cooking doesn’t mean abandoning good technique. On the contrary, some basic rules become even more important when preparing air fryer recipes based on soaked bread desserts like torrijas.
First, the choice of bread really matters. It’s advisable to use bread specifically made for torrijas or a dense loaf from the previous day with a firm crust. This kind of crumb will withstand the soaking process without falling apart. For a more modern take, some people opt for a brioche‑style loaf, which adds a butterier, richer crumb while still holding its shape if cut thick.
The thickness of each slice is another point to watch. Most cooks agree that pieces of around 2 to 3 centimetres work best. If you slice them too thin, they tend to collapse when you drench them in milk; too thick and they may not soak through evenly, leaving a dry centre.
When preparing the citrus peel, it’s worth taking an extra moment to remove the white pith from the lemon and orange. That layer can add a bitter note that overpowers the gentle aroma you want in the milk. Using only the coloured outer skin gives you the essential oils without that unwanted aftertaste.
The temperature of the infused milk also plays a role. Soaking the bread when the milk is warm but not piping hot makes it easier for the crumb to absorb the liquid slowly, minimising the risk that the slices will break apart. Pouring boiling milk over them, in contrast, tends to weaken the structure of the bread too quickly.
Once the torrijas are air‑fried, their texture can still be adjusted slightly. Some cooks like to drizzle a little of the reserved infused milk or a light syrup over the finished pieces to boost their juiciness, even when they are not fried in oil. Allowing them to sit for a while before serving also helps the flavours settle and the inside become smoother.
Air fryers that expand what you can cook: steam, dual baskets and oven‑style models
The explosion of interest in air fryer recipes has gone hand in hand with a new generation of appliances that move beyond the classic single‑basket design. While a basic model is enough for simple dishes like fries, vegetables or a few torrijas, larger families and curious cooks are looking for extra flexibility and capacity.
One of the most striking recent launches is a 6‑litre air fryer that combines hot air circulation with a steam function. This model is designed to deliver juicy interiors and crisp exteriors in a single device. It offers 1,800 watts of power, quick preheating capabilities and precise temperature control, so you can cook generous quantities in one batch.
The steam option allows you to prepare extra tender dishes that still brown nicely on the outside, whether you are roasting meat, baking pastries or making fish and vegetables. For recipes like torrijas or other enriched breads, this dual approach can help keep the crumb moist while still achieving a slightly toasted finish.
Control is handled through a digital touch panel with several advanced features, letting you set time and temperature according to the specific recipe. The timer can be programmed for up to 60 minutes, and the heat can be adjusted up to 200°C. A metal basket with a viewing window and internal light makes it easier to keep an eye on the food without needing to open the drawer and lose heat.
This particular air fryer stands out for its 10 built‑in cooking programs, covering common options such as preheating, chicken wings, pizza, fish, vegetables, seafood, meat, fries, baking and a keep‑warm function. For someone starting out with air fryer recipes, these presets provide a straightforward way to get reliable results without trial and error for every dish.
Another line of innovation focuses on space and productivity. Some brands propose a vertical “tower” design with two independent baskets stacked one above the other. Instead of occupying a wide stretch of counter space, these devices rise upwards, making them a more manageable presence in cramped kitchens while still delivering a total capacity of around 10 litres.
In daily use, this configuration makes it possible to cook two different dishes at the same time, each with its own temperature and cooking time. For example, you might crisp up potato wedges like crispy bang bang potatoes in one basket while roasting vegetables or reheating leftover meat in the other. Features like automatic programs for common ingredients simplify the process further, so you don’t have to constantly adjust the settings.
Some of these tower‑style air fryers also include specific functions to make the most of the twin baskets. A “Match” mode copies the same adjustments to both compartments, useful when you need to double the quantity of a single recipe, such as a large batch of fries to accompany your torrijas dessert. A “Sync” option coordinates dishes with different settings so that they finish at the same time, letting you bring everything to the table still hot without manual juggling.
Alongside stand‑alone fryers, multipurpose ovens with integrated air‑frying capability are becoming more visible. One recent example is a 30‑litre smart oven that mixes the functions of a classic oven, an air fryer and a dehydrator. With an 1,800‑watt heating system and a fan that distributes hot air evenly, it can handle everything from pizzas and roast meats to dehydrated fruit and oil‑free snacks.
This type of oven often comes with a large touchscreen and a wide range of automatic programs – more than a dozen in some cases – tailored to different foods. Some models even allow you to chain two cooking modes in a row, such as starting with a gentle bake and finishing with a high‑heat crisping phase, which can be helpful for casseroles or layered desserts that you want golden on top.
Compact air fryers and recipe books for smaller households
Not everyone needs an appliance capable of feeding a crowd at once. For people living alone or couples who cook small portions, a compact air fryer with moderate capacity can be more practical and economical, while still leaving room for creativity with recipes.
Discount supermarket chains have tapped into this demand with models that offer around 4 to 5 litres of total capacity, usually with a slightly smaller effective cooking volume. An example is an air fryer with 4.7 litres (3.6 litres useful), 2,000 watts of power and six integrated programs. Temperature ranges typically run from 40°C for gentle reheating or dehydrating up to 200°C for crisping.
Instead of complex screens, some of these devices rely on a simple, intuitive rotary dial for setting time and heat, which can be appealing to users who don’t feel comfortable with more advanced interfaces. They often come with a user manual and a small recipe booklet included, which helps new owners move beyond basic fries and try things like roasted vegetables, chicken dishes or sweets similar to torrijas adapted for the air fryer.
There are also more premium compact models marketed as particularly portable, with glass containers instead of metal or silicone baskets. The idea is to make cleaning easier and avoid some of the issues users report with flexible liners, which can be awkward to wash and sometimes degrade over time. In these designs, the food is cooked directly in glass bowls of around 2.4 and 3.8 litres, large enough for an average household.
Despite their smaller footprint, these portable air fryers often maintain power ratings around 1,500 watts, close to larger models. They typically support core functions like high‑temperature crisping, conventional air frying, baking of sweet or savoury dishes and reheating food to restore its texture. The emphasis is on covering everyday needs without adding too many specialised modes that might go unused.
To support this boom in home cooking with hot air, publishing houses have spotted another opportunity: cookbooks dedicated entirely to air fryer recipes. One Spanish communicator, for instance, has released a second volume with 120 ideas intended to “triumph” with this appliance. She describes how she tested a wide variety of ingredients in the air fryer, from savoury snacks like authentic chicken croquettes and kebab‑style meat to Christmas sweets and even seafood.
Her experience underlines both the potential and the limits of the method. While many experiments worked well, she openly acknowledges that some dishes, like rice, still resist being perfectly adapted to this type of cooking, which relies on circulating dry heat rather than simmering in liquid. For home cooks, that kind of candid feedback can be just as useful as the recipes themselves when deciding what is worth trying.
Beyond recipe books, content creators who specialise in testing viral hacks on social networks often use the air fryer as their preferred tool. They put to the test all sorts of ideas circulating online and report which ones actually deliver good texture and flavour. For anyone short on time, following this type of content can be a shortcut to discovering new air fryer recipes that have already been filtered by someone else’s trial and error.
Taken together, these trends show how far air fryer cooking has evolved. Between lighter takes on traditional desserts like torrijas, increasingly versatile appliances with steam or dual‑basket systems, compact models for small homes and a steady flow of cookbooks and online tips, it has become easier than ever to explore a wide range of recipes with this method while adapting them to your taste, kitchen space and dietary preferences.
