6 Best Air Fryer Dinners That Are Proper Meals, Not Just Chips

Squeaky, salty halloumi and colourful summer vegetables threaded onto skewers, then finished with a bright lemon and herb dressing. The air fryer's circulating heat chars the edges of the halloumi and vegetables in a fraction of the time a grill takes to heat up.

It is a genuinely brilliant way to prove the air fryer is not just for chips: real char, real crispness, no need to stand over a hot grill pan. Air fryer: around 12 minutes at 200°C, turning the skewers halfway through.

Crispy sweet potato fish cakes, built around smoked mackerel, paired with a zesty horseradish beet salad and a refreshing yoghurt dressing. This is exactly the kind of dish the air fryer was made for: a crisp, golden crust without a shallow pan of oil.

The result holds together better than pan-frying too, since there is no flipping to risk breaking the cake apart. Air fryer: around 15 minutes at 190°C, flipping once halfway.

Spiced lamb mince shaped into koftas and cooked until properly charred at the edges, served with a cool, garlicky tzatziki to balance the warm spices. Koftas are a genuinely underrated air fryer dish, since the high heat gives that char without needing a barbecue or a grill pan.

It takes hardly any time at all, and the air fryer's basket keeps the koftas neatly separated so they cook evenly on all sides. Air fryer: around 10 minutes at 200°C, turning halfway through.

Chickpea falafel blitzed with fresh herbs and warming spice, traditionally deep-fried to get that deeply crisp exterior. The air fryer gets remarkably close with a fraction of the oil, so the falafel still shatters nicely on the outside while staying soft within.

It is a genuine myth-buster: properly crisp falafel, without a pan of hot oil to deal with afterwards. Air fryer: around 15 minutes at 200°C, shaking the basket halfway through.

Sausages glazed with a spicy-sweet harissa sauce, nestled on a bed of caramelised onions. Sausages are one of the easiest wins for an air fryer: properly crisp, evenly browned skins, without the spit and mess of a frying pan.

The glaze caramelises beautifully in the basket's dry heat, so you get all the stickiness without any of the usual splatter. Air fryer: around 18 minutes at 190°C, turning once halfway through.

Saving the fullest plate for last: salmon fillets nestled on a bed of roasted potatoes, asparagus and onions, finished with a zesty lime dressing. This traybake-style dish translates brilliantly to the air fryer, since everything crisps up in the basket the same way it would on a roasting tray, just faster.

It proves the air fryer can genuinely handle a complete plate, protein and vegetables together, not just a single crispy side. Air fryer: around 20 minutes at 190°C, adding the salmon halfway through so the vegetables get a head start.