Healthy and Delicious Fakeaway Air Fryer Recipe Ideas to Try This Weekend
There’s no denying it: we love air fryer recipes, and we love fakeaways, so it’s only natural that we love Fakeaway Air Fryer Recipes!
Part of the beauty of takeaway-style food is that it offers that distinctive crispy crunch that typically only comes from deep-frying.
Luckily for us (and all other fakeaway fans), air fryers are the key to getting a deep-fried crunch, without using buckets of high-calorie oil. If you’re planning a fakeaway feast this weekend, we’ve pulled together a list of air fryer fakeaway recipe ideas to inspire your menu.
From starters and side dishes, through to main meals, you won’t feel like you’re missing out with these recipes up your sleeve – and, better yet, you’ll save both money AND calories compared to ordering from a takeaway restaurant.
Air Fryer Cauliflower Hot Wings
Need a little nibble while you warm up for the rest of your feast? These Air Fryer Cauliflower Hot Wings might be meat-free, but you won’t be wishing for chicken once you’ve tasted them.
Lightly battered and sprinkled with panko breadcrumbs, we’ve doubled down on the crispy coatings, so each fiery little floret is super satisfying to bite into. There are spices in the batter, and then each cauli ‘wing’ gets an extra glaze of hot sauce shortly before the end of the cooking time, so there’s no shortage of lip-smacking heat in this recipe!
To cool things down, we’ve included a creamy dip made with plant-based yoghurt. At 154 calories per serving, these are the perfect air-fried starter for fakeaway night.
Air Fryer Sticky Chicken Nuggets
Next time you’re dreaming about a trip to the drive-through, preheat your air fryer and start prepping the ingredients for our Air Fryer Sticky Chicken Nuggets.
They take just half an hour from start to finish, and you probably already have most of the ingredients for the sticky-sweet sauce in the cupboards. Each bite of tender, juicy chicken gets a good coating of panko breadcrumbs, for a crunch that rivals a fast food shop nugget (for far fewer calories!).
These are well worth getting sticky fingers for – you’ll add the salty, sweet honey glaze and then pop your batch back in the air fryer for the final 5 minutes. Serve with a side of Sweet Potato Fries for the ultimate fakeaway air fryer dinner.
Air Fryer Vegan Nuggets
If you like the idea of recreating a drive-through style happy meal, but you’re after a veggie option, we’ve got you covered with this next air fryer recipe idea! Packed with fresh veggies, our Air Fryer Vegan Nuggets turn out golden and delicious every time.
We’ve used fresh cauliflower, carrot and red pepper to make sure these tasty little nuggets are full of flavour and goodness. If you’re cooking for fussy eaters, this recipe is a clever way to sneak more veggies into their diet!
Perfect for dunking and dipping, our recipe even includes a rich ketchup-based dip that’s smoky with paprika and a subtle kick of sriracha.
Air Fryer Ginger and Orange Chicken Kebabs
Filling your plate with way more flavour than anything you can pick off a kebab shop menu, our Air Fryer Ginger and Orange Chicken Kebabs cook in just 15 minutes. Ideal for a midweek fakeaway meal, you can set your chicken to marinate overnight in the fridge, ready to go straight in the air fryer the next day.
It’ll soak up the aromatic flavours of warming ginger, fiery chilli, zesty orange and zingy lime, to make sure every bite sets your taste buds tingling.
Threaded onto skewers with red peppers and cherry tomatoes, there’s something summery about this recipe, no matter what time of year you enjoy it. Why not dish it up with a fresh Greek-Style Salad on the side?
Air Fryer Cauliflower Katsu
Did you know the katsu curry from a certain popular Japanese restaurant chain comes in at over 1000 calories per serving? We’ve skipped the meat, but none of the flavour, to put our own slimming-friendly spin on the recipe – creating this winning Air Fryer Cauliflower Katsu.
With crispy, panko-coated cauli florets and a creamy, thick, katsu curry sauce, you might be surprised to hear it’s only 323 calories per portion.
While your cauliflower is crisping up in the air fryer, you’ll whip up the velvety sauce on the hob. It’s mild and fragrant, so this is a family-friendly fakeaway dream.
Don’t forget, you can always air-fry yourself a non-veggie version of this dish by following our recipe for Katsu Chicken Curry. If you’re unsure how to convert the cooking temperature and timings for the chicken in order to make it in your air fryer, we’ve got you covered! There’s a handy conversion guide in this article.
Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken Burgers
Speaking of chicken, it’s a perfect ingredient for so many different fakeaway air fryer recipe ideas, since it stays really juicy when air-fried. If a burger night sounds right up your street, grab a pen and note down the ingredients for our Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken Burgers.
The Chinese-inspired recipe works out at just 343 calories, and that’s including the burger bun and a crunchy Asian-style slaw. Our fiery salt and pepper spice mix is the magic touch in this recipe – and, best of all, you can tweak it to be just as spicy as you like it.
Panko breadcrumbs will give the chicken a great crunch, with stir-fried onions, peppers and chillies loaded in for extra veggie goodness.
Salt and Pepper Chips
The perfect side dish for your burger, our Salt and Pepper Chips recipe is so easy to convert to the air fryer. Instead of popping the potatoes into the oven, check our air fryer conversion table and crisp them up in there instead.
With bags of spicy salt and pepper flavour in every portion, you won’t regret giving the chip shop version a miss. They’ll cook in less than 20 minutes, making them faster than even the speediest of fast food orders!
Just like the Salt and Pepper Chicken Burgers, you can easily ramp the spiciness up or down, until it suits everyone around the table.
Air Fryer Rustic Potato Wedges
Not too long ago we gave one of our favourite potato recipes an air fryer makeover, and we haven’t looked back ever since! It’s a bold claim, but these Air Fryer Rustic Potato Wedges just might be the ultimate side dish for your next fakeaway night.
Whether you’re serving them with burgers, nuggets or a Mexican-inspired spread, you can never go wrong with golden wedges that are crunchy on the outside and oh-so-fluffy in the middle.
All you need is a few spuds, some seasonings and less than half an hour to make a batch, and (thanks to a little air fryer magic) they turn out restaurant-quality every single time.
Will you be trying any of these Fakeaway Air Fryer Recipe Ideas?
Let us know if you’re planning an air fryer fakeaway night soon! You can head on over to our Facebook group to drop in any hints, tips, or stories about your slimming journey. Everyone in the group will LOVE hearing from you!
Plus, don’t forget you can upload any photos you’ve taken of your recent meals to the PON gallery – you might even win some SWAG!
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