Best air fryer cookbook 2026: the recipe books Mumsnet users love

With a hugely popular website and engaging social media channels, Nathan Anthony was thrust into the limelight during lockdown, sharing a range of time-saving, calorie-controlled recipes aimed at busy parents, professionals or those working from home. 

In addition to his popular range of slow cooker cookbooks, Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Cookbook is filled with 80 quick and healthy recipes, which benefit from clearly marked calorie content and inspiring full-colour photographs that are sure to make your mouth water.

From fakeaways like Honey Chilli Beef to speedy midweek dinners like Buffalo Chicken, Fully Loaded Gyros and Fish Tacos with Zingy Guacamole, this cookbook offers something for everyone. We also love the addition of a handy oven-to-air fryer conversion chart, helping adapt any recipe to achieve the best air fryer temperatures and timings. 

Most of us will be familiar with the financial benefits of an air fryer, with some of the best Ninja air fryers saving around 50% of energy when compared to a traditional fan oven. When choosing an air fryer cookbook, however, it’s also worth considering the selection of recipes and how much they cost to create—ideally using items that are already in your kitchen.

In a time of high living costs, it’s great to see an air fryer cookbook that focuses on money-saving meals, allowing families to switch away from clichéd ‘beige food’ and use their air fryer to create healthy and nourishing meals, even on a more limited budget. 

From advice on making the most of leftovers to using cheaper cuts of meat, cooking from frozen and using jars and cartons for sauces, the Budget Air-Fryer Cookbook features 101 recipes that can help keep meal costs low without sacrificing on taste. 

The Air-Fryer Cookbook from number one Sunday Times bestselling author Jenny Tschiesche (who also nabbed our 'best budget' spot above) comes highly recommended by Mumsnet users. Praised for its simple, easy-to-follow recipes, it's very well suited to beginners.

With a clear layout and stunning, full-colour illustrations for inspiration, you can choose from 101 tried-and-tested recipes, including fuss-free Honey and Mustard Sausages and family favourites like sizzling hot Chicken Fajitas. 

Offering a great mix of vegetarian and meat-based cuisine, the Air-Fryer Cookbook provides excellent value for money, helping build your confidence by serving up everything from snacks and sweet treats to entire family meals.

The UK’s most-visited food blog with over four million followers in their online community, Pinch of Nom has a wide range of popular cookbooks focusing on healthy and slimming-friendly recipes. 

If you’re keen to reap the health benefits of your air fryer in the new year, this Pinch of Nom Air Fryer cookbook is a great place to start, with 75 comforting and fuss-free recipes to explore, many of which take less than 30 minutes to bring to fruition. 

With valuable tips and a handy ‘favourites’ guide to help master programmes and settings, this recipe book proves that eating healthy doesn’t need to mean boring rabbit food. Instead, you can expect delicious filling recipes that the entire family can all tuck into together—from Chicken and Pineapple Skewers to our personal favourite, piled-high Pizza Turkey Burgers.

We love the clear layout of this air fryer cookbook, with tempting full-colour photographs for every dish. For convenience, preparation and cooking times are also outlined separately, making this a useful air fryer cookbook to assist your meal planning routine.

Yet to be convinced of the value of your air fryer or sticking to old faithfuls like frozen french fries and fish fingers? The Ultimate Air Fryer Cookbook is a great choice for newbies, packed full of valuable tips on how to use, maintain and clean your air fryer.

While more experienced air fryer pros may find the recipes a little basic, we love the simple, fuss-free meals such as Pizza Bagels, Butternut Squash Sliders and crispy Chicken Goujons, with accessible ingredients and short prep times to fit around even the busiest of schedules.  

With a clear layout, full-colour photographs and 80 inexpensive ideas to explore,The Ultimate Air Fryer Cookbook is a great way to experiment with flavours and become more confident with your new appliance. 

While many air fryer recipe books tend to focus on recipes with chicken and fish, The Green Air Fryer Cookbook focuses specifically on plant-based meals, so whether you’re a vegetarian, vegan or are simply trying to reduce your meat intake, you’ll find ample inspiration to tempt your tastebuds.

From light bites like Vegetable Samosas and Macaroni Cheese Bites to speedy main meals like crispy Gnocchi and Barbecue Mushroom Burgers, this easy-to-follow illustrated cookbook has a 50/50 split between vegan and vegetarian meals, using UK measurements and quantities based on two people.

If you’re catering for the whole family, you may find some air fryer cookbooks can miss the mark—featuring stronger flavours that are less likely to appeal to younger palettes or meals that simply take too long to prepare.

From the author of Sunday Times bestseller How to Make Anything in an Air Fryer, this book focuses on 100 easy dinners, helping to take the pressure off during manic midweek meal times, saving parents time, money and energy.

With delicious twists on family favourites, we love the rapid 20-minute meals for the days when you need a nourishing dish in a hurry, while the fun fakeaway dishes make a fab Friday night treat.