15 Fruits You Need To Start Air Frying Right Now

Nothing says "home" more like baked apples with your favorite toppings. You can use your air fryer to make cinnamon-sugar fried apples with virtually no mess — all within 10 minutes. To make these apples at home, you'll want to slice your apple of choice — we recommend meaty varieties like Cortlands or Macouns — into small pieces and roll them in a mixture of cinnamon and granulated sugar. You can leave the skin on your apple for more texture, but you should remove it if you want to make puree from air-fried apples. Then, add your slices on parchment paper to the air fryer basket. Bake your apples at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes or until the apples are soft to the touch.

You can upgrade this recipe in many ways — including using a more complex spice blend with apple pie spice, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In addition, we recommend topping your dessert with homemade granola for a take on an apple crisp or sticking with the traditional à la mode by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Pineapple is the quintessential tropical fruit. The only way to make it better is to pop it in the air fryer! You can add plain pineapple chunks to your air fryer or add a layer of brown sugar and butter if you want a more confectionary flavor. Then, bake the chunks at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 10 minutes. The resulting fruit has a firm exterior and a soft, juicy interior. These pineapple cubes are a great snack eaten on their own, or you can consider adding a bit of yogurt, granola, or nuts to help add some healthy proteins and fats.

Pineapple is one of the sweetest ways to include more nutrients in your diet. One cup of pineapple contains most of your daily recommended vitamin C, manganese intake, and a hefty dose of copper, folate, and potassium. Pineapple also contains digestive enzymes called bromelain that help improve the digestion of other foods and can help break down meat proteins in your gastrointestinal system.

Mangos likely aren't your go-to cooking fruit, but they should be one of your favorites to air fry. To make air-fried mango chunks, cut the mango into small cubes and toss in a bit of neutral-flavored oil. This will help promote some browning of the fruit but can be omitted if you're looking to curb the calories or fat. Next, air fry the pieces at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for eight to 10 minutes or until you notice a bit of caramelization on the edges.

If you don't have fresh mango on hand, you can use frozen mango chunks too. For the perfect texture, these must cook at a lower temperature, around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for a little over 10 minutes. You'll also want to ensure that when you place the frozen cubes in the basket, none of the pieces touch; leaving overlaps can cause the mango to stick together as it cooks.

The mango flavor lends itself well to salty, savory, and acidic flavors. Add a bit of salt to your mango slices before eating for a more pronounced sweet taste, or use cumin and chili powder before air frying for a bit of heat.

If you didn't think strawberries could get any more delicious, you obviously haven't tried cooking them in your air fryer. Cook these fruits for about eight minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and watch the smell of your kitchen quickly morph into that of a candy factory.

If you want your strawberries to have a more dehydrated texture, you'll need to slice them much thinner, and air fry them for longer. The ideal size is about ⅛ of an inch wide; this allows the most amount of water to be removed from the berry as its cooking. You'll want to cook the fruit low-and-slow; 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour is optimal. Be sure to flip the berries over mid-way through cooking and avoid overlapping for best results. The dehydrated berries are perfect for a road-trip snack or adding to a homemade trail mix with dark chocolate chips and yogurt balls.

Fried oranges are perfect for snacks, breakfasts, or desserts. You can use your favorite type of orange for this recipe; Navel and blood oranges are both easy to find and perfect for air frying. We also recommend seasoning your oranges with a bit of honey — it adds moisture and a sweet undercurrent to contrast the acid — and a warming spice like cinnamon.

You can leave the skins on your oranges after you cut them in half; this will make it easier to dip the face of the fruit into the honey and spice mixture. Then, place a single layer of the fruit in your air fryer and cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for five to eight minutes or until the face of the fruit starts to brown. Like other fruits, air-fried oranges are best served piping hot. If you have leftover honey, you can drizzle some on top of the fruit after it's finished cooking. A vanilla ice cream or custard is also ideal for serving with the oranges because the citrus curbs some of its sweetness.

Kiwis are a popular snack food because of their small size and big flavor. If you want to put kiwi into your air fryer, you'll want to peel the skin off and cut it into quarters or eighths. Then, cook your kiwis at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes. The finished kiwi slices will taste like candy and have a deliciously crispy exterior.

If you want to go a step further and dehydrate kiwi rounds, you can do so in your air fryer, too. Dehydrating these fruits takes four hours, which is much quicker than using an oven or a dehydrator. Like the other air-frying method, you'll want to peel off the skin and cut it into ¼ to ½-inch thick rounds. Then, place the rounds in the air fryer with ample space between the pieces. Run your air fryer low and slow at around 130 degrees Fahrenheit. You can save your kiwi chips for snacking, add them to a salad, or use them as a cocktail garnish.

Do you dream of the perfect cocktail? There's no perfect cocktail without the perfect cocktail garnish. And if you have access to an air fryer, you can make your own with leftover lemon or limes. Cut thin fruit discs and place them into a foil-lined air fryer basket. It is imperative to avoid overlapping the slices to ensure they dry evenly. If you want a bit of sweetness to counteract the acidity, try tossing your fruit in sugar or salt before placing it into the air fryer.

You should cook your citrus on the lowest temperature setting for about an hour. When the slices come out, they should be somewhat rigid and lightly toasted in color. We love using these garnishes on margaritas, but we could also see adding a garnish to your favorite vodka tonic too. You can also use these fruit discs as a charcuterie board or fish platter garnish.

Star fruit is a unique type of produce found in tropical areas like Southeast Asia and India. The star-shaped fruit has a unique, waxy, and hard exterior with a soft, juicy interior similar to a grape. The taste is a cross between an orange, grape, and pear. 

Although it is less popular to dehydrate star fruit compared to more conventional types of fruit, it is possible. First, cut the whole fruit into ¼ inch rounds and remove any seeds with a spoon. Then, place the pieces in the air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes. You should check on the star fruit pieces at least once during the dehydrating process — since not all air fryers cook at the same temperature. Flipping the pieces halfway through the cooking time can help the fruit dry more evenly. While you can stick with the regular star fruit recipe, you can also coat the pieces in warming spices, like apple pie or pumpkin pie spice, for more flavor.