How to use an air fryer to make comfort food healthier

TikTok sensation Christina Kynigos, aka @veryhungrygreek, is on a mission to change diet culture by proving that it’s possible to tuck into carbs, meat and cheese daily while staying healthy.

With recipes like ‘marry me chicken pie’, ‘bolognese tacos’ and ‘pepperoni pizza toastie’, some of the 34-year-old home cook and content creator’s recipes have garnered millions of views on the social media platform.

With Greek-Cypriot heritage, Kynigos says: "We have a lot of carbs in our food, we also have a lot of olive oil in our food, we are very meat heavy as well." So she wanted to embrace comforting, delicious dishes in generous portions – but make them lighter in calories.

"I’ve lived with my grandparents literally all my life, with my mum since I was one, and they were always about big portions but always home cooked, always loads of veg, very hearty food – food you want to eat! I watched them since I was one making food, they put all their heart and soul into cooking for me and my brother."

The mum-of-one has also been "obsessed" with cooking in an air fryer since the craze started, and it helps her prepare food easily for her toddler, Sophia. "If you want to save money, don't use your oven, use your air fryer" – they use a lot less energy to run. "I can literally stick in everything in the air fryer, and it will cook within 20 minutes. And that’s it, all sorted!"

So her third cookbook, Healthy Air Fryer Feasts, promises easy, high-protein recipes in 30 minutes or less, including a fast-food inspired crispy chicken sandwich with homemade baconnaise, cheeseburger burritos and ‘the best’ sweet potato fries. As well as Jack Daniel’s sesame chicken strips, inspired by a dish from TGI Fridays.

"The glaze is exceptional, but it’s so high in calories, so I’ve made it lower. I’ve made the chicken so it’s not deep-fried, it’s air fried, so it’s crispy still, and it tastes identical." Here’s Kynigos’s advice for getting the best out of your air fryer.

Start basic

If you’re new to air frying or get the kitchen gadget for Christmas, Kynigos’s advice is to start simple. "Stick to really easy recipes, go for your standard chips, or even roast [potatoes]. Stick with the basics first and get to know your air fryer," she says. "Cook a chicken breast in the air fryer when you first start out, getting used to how air fryers work, how long things take, how to keep the chicken moist…"

The recipes in her book are designed for standard air fryer mode, "so that you get to grip with the basics first. Once you’ve nailed that down, you can venture out."

And check your food while it’s cooking. "If a recipe says, ‘cook the chicken for 20 minutes on 180’ check it halfway, or check it a third of the way, and just to see how your air frying is cooking it," she says, while you get to know your device.

Make your own oil spray

"Get a really good oil sprayer. I’ve got a standard glass bottle, and you spray anything that you want to make crispy – chips, chicken, if it [needs] a crispy coating, spray it. And you’ve already saved loads of calories because you’re just lightly spraying it, rather than deep path frying it, or using loads of oil in a pan."

Hardly any oil is needed for air frying, she notes. "Be mindful with the oil, just spray it a little bit." And some recipes don’t require any whatsoever.

Increase the protein

Kynignos isn’t a fan of scrimping on portion sizes. "I’m making the portions bigger because you’re adding in more vegetables and more protein. You can have quite a bit of protein and it’s so filling. As long as you balance the protein with the carbs and veg, you will be full. If you don’t have enough protein you’re going to be starving. High protein is so key, when you want to lose weight, you stay sustained until your next meal."

Don’t cut out carbs

"Carbs are life," she says. "I did keto [a low-carb diet] years ago. I cut out carbs for two or three months, and I was the skinniest I’ve ever been, and I was the most depressed I’ve ever been because I couldn’t eat carbs. I had to stop.

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"It’s just a fad diet. I don’t advocate anything like where you have to cut out all of your favourite things, because it’s not sustainable and it’s not long-term. If anyone wants to cut out their favourite things, what’s the point in living? Do you know what mean?"

For pasta for example, just replace some of the carbs with protein, loads of vegetables and a gorgeous sauce, she suggests.

Try lower fat versions

"I love my cheese, I love my carbs, why restrict yourself when you can just limit the amount or use different variations of cheese?" says Kynignos. "A lot my recipes, you use loads of cheese, and I just use reduced fat, or reduced-fat crème fraîche, single cream. You can still use it, but just less of it, so you’ve still got that gorgeous, rich, fatty taste from single cream to make the recipe taste amazing, but because you’re using less of it, it’s your hundreds of calories less.

"You can still eat all the foods you love with some little tweaks along the way."

Keep it clean

"If you’re using really sticky batter, line the air fryer," she says. "There are so many different liners you can get for air fryer so it doesn’t stick, that you can just stick in the dishwasher [afterwards]. And it’s annoying to clean an air fryer if it’s already really bad or continuously clean it!"

Healthy Air Fryer Feasts: Fast, Easy, High-Protein Recipes in 30 Mins or Less by Christina Kynigos is published by HQ HarperCollins. Photography by Ellis Parrinder. Available now.