Convert an oven recipe to air fryer temp and time
Same food, much smaller and more aggressive oven. Enter what the recipe says and get settings that won't char the outside while the middle stays cold.
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180°C
for about 24 minutes in the air fryer
Air fryer temp
180°C
350°F
Air fryer time
24min
Was 30 min
Check it at 16 minutes. Air fryer baskets are small and vary a lot between models, so the first check should always come early. Shake or turn the food at that point too.
Uses the standard conversion: 20°C (25°F) lower and roughly 20% less time. Treat it as a starting point, not a guarantee — basket size and wattage differ enormously between models.
Air fryer times for common foods
Starting points from cold, in a single layer, shaken or turned halfway. Every model runs differently, so the first time you cook something, use these and note what your machine actually needed.
| Food | Temp | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast | 180°C / 360°F | 18–22 min |
| Chicken wings | 200°C / 400°F | 22–26 min |
| Frozen fries | 200°C / 400°F | 14–18 min |
| Salmon fillet | 180°C / 360°F | 9–12 min |
| Roast potatoes | 190°C / 375°F | 20–25 min |
| Bacon | 180°C / 360°F | 8–10 min |
| Reheated pizza slice | 160°C / 320°F | 3–5 min |
| Mixed vegetables | 190°C / 375°F | 10–15 min |
Why 20% and not half
The air fryer's advantage is surface heat transfer, not raw power. It browns and crisps the outside much faster, but the middle of a chicken breast still has to reach temperature by conduction at its own pace. That is why the time saving is meaningful but modest, and why a thermometer beats a timer for anything thick.
Already using a fan oven?
Then the temperature is already reduced and you should not drop it twice. Enter the original conventional temperature here — the oven temperature converter will give it to you if the recipe only stated the fan setting.
Air fryer recipes from short videos
Air fryer content is enormous on Reels and TikTok, and almost none of it comes with a written recipe. ReelsMeals pulls the ingredients, temperature, and timing out of the video and saves them as a card you can search later.
Common questions
What is the rule for converting oven recipes to an air fryer?
Drop the temperature by 20°C (about 25°F) and cut the time by roughly 20%. An air fryer is a small convection oven with the fan very close to the food, so it delivers heat far more efficiently than a full-size oven at the same dial setting.
Why does my food burn even after converting?
Almost always overcrowding. Air fryers work by moving hot air around every surface, so a packed basket means the top scorches while the bottom steams. Cook in a single layer with visible gaps, in batches if needed, and shake or turn at the halfway point.
Do I need to preheat an air fryer?
For anything that should form a crust — chips, chicken wings, breaded food, reheated pizza — yes, three to five minutes makes a real difference. For a slow bake or something covered in foil, you can skip it and add a couple of minutes to the total.
What does not work well in an air fryer?
Wet batters blow off the food before they can set, so beer-battered anything is out. Loose leafy greens fly into the element. Large roasts do not fit far enough from the heating element to cook evenly, and delicate cakes tend to dome and crack because the fan hits the batter before it sets.
Does this converter work for frozen food?
It works for the oven instructions on the packet, yes. Frozen food generally does better in an air fryer than in an oven, since the dry circulating heat drives off surface moisture instead of letting it pool. Still check early — packet times assume a full-size oven.
Other free kitchen tools
While you're here
The recipe you're converting probably came from a video.
ReelsMeals turns saved Reels, TikToks, YouTube links, and photos of paper cards into recipes you can search by ingredient.