4 things you should never cook in an air fryer

Air fryers have quickly become a staple in modern kitchens, thanks to their ability to cook crispy, delicious food with significantly less oil than traditional frying methods.

From golden fries to crunchy nuggets and roasted vegetables, the air fryer seems like a miracle appliance that does it all. However, not everything is well-suited for this compact convection oven.

Not everything is meant for the air dryer!

Despite its versatility, certain foods can either create a mess, compromise taste or texture, or even pose a safety risk when cooked in an air fryer. Understanding what not to cook in your air fryer is just as important as knowing what to cook, especially if you want to maintain the appliance's longevity and want to enjoy food that's actually delicious. Here are some things which should not be cooked in an air fryer

Foods with wet batter

While your air fryer might make an excellent chicken wing or breadcrumb-crusted fish, it's not built for wet batters. Think tempura shrimp, beer-battered onion rings, or fish coated in a runny flour-egg batter mix. In a deep fryer, the batter instantly sets and forms a crispy shell around the food thanks to the hot oil.

But in an air fryer, the batter simply drips through the perforated basket before it has a chance to cook. The result? A sticky mess at the bottom of the appliance and limp, bare food that’s far from appetizing. Not only does this ruin the dish, but cleaning up congealed, half-cooked batter from your air fryer tray can be a real headache.

Cheese and delicate soft cheeses

While tossing a slice of cheese on top of your air-fried burger is totally fine, trying to cook plain cheese, cheese sticks without a solid coating, or soft cheeses like brie and camembert is a recipe for disaster. Cheese melts rapidly, and in the high-heat environment of an air fryer, it can bubble, ooze, and drip straight through the basket. You’ll end up with burnt cheese stuck to the interior components, potentially damaging the appliance and definitely ruining your food.

Even breaded cheese items like mozzarella sticks can burst open if not frozen properly or if cooked at too high a temperature, leaving a gooey, charred mess behind.

Raw leafy greens

While air fryers are excellent for vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, or even Brussels sprouts, delicate leafy greens like spinach, kale (unless pre-treated), or lettuce don’t fare well when placed inside raw. These greens are extremely light and can be blown around by the air fryer’s fan, causing them to burn, dry out, or even stick to the heating element. The result isn’t crispy kale chips, it’s blackened fragments with a bitter, unpleasant flavor. If you really want to make greens like kale chips in an air fryer, the trick is to lightly coat them in oil and weigh them down slightly.

Uncooked grains and rice

Air fryers rely on air circulation to cook food, which makes them completely unsuitable for preparing uncooked grains like rice, quinoa, or pasta. These foods require water to cook, which the air fryer doesn't provide. Unlike a pressure cooker or stovetop method, where grains absorb water and soften over time, an air fryer will just dry them out and leave them undercooked or burned.

Trying to "boil" or "steam" rice in an air fryer tray will not only fail but may damage the machine by creating hot spots or steam buildup in the wrong areas.