Say Goodbye To Soggy Food: Air Fryer Leftovers Taste Like They Were Just Made

Leftovers are lifesavers for those of us too busy to cook every night. In fact, a pro meal planning tip is to make more than you need when preparing a meal so it'll last you more than one night. That said, soggy leftovers are sad renditions of their former selves. But you can revive soggy leftovers by reheating them in an air fryer.

The air fryer has become America's favorite appliance because it instills a crunchy exterior and tender interior of fried food without a vat of hot oil by circulating hot air around any food you put into it. Just as it crisps up ingredients you're making from scratch, the air fryer will do a quick and thorough job of instilling that same crisp to leftovers that have been sitting in the fridge and accumulating moisture. Whatever moisture that has seeped out of that chicken breast or floppy french fries will rapidly evaporate thanks to the hot air the air fryer cranks out. Many air fryers even have a setting for reheating leftovers, so you don't have to guess proper temperatures or cooking times.

Air fryers are much faster than a toaster oven, to say nothing of the stove. Plus, you don't have to dirty sauce pans or baking sheets as you can put leftovers directly into the air fryer basket. While microwaves are just as fast at reheating food, their mechanism of heating doesn't crisp up food nor does it heat as evenly as an air fryer.

Since air fryers are famous for instilling that deep-fried crunch, the leftovers you choose to reheat in an air fryer should likewise need crisping up. One air fryer hack you should know is to preheat it before adding your leftovers. Since it's the ultra hot air that creates the crispy crust, you want the air fryer to already be extra hot to reinstate your leftovers to their former crispy glory. 

Reheating everything from a bloomin' onion to rotisserie chicken calls for a 350 degrees Fahrenheit air fryer, but different dishes require different protocols. For example, if you're reheating steak in an air fryer, you should brush it with oil and add a few pats of butter on top to ensure the steak doesn't dry out. If you're reheating pizza, the style of pizza dictates the time and temperature of the air fryer. A deep-dish Chicago-style slice warrants lower temperatures to heat it through without scorching the top. You can reheat leftover pasta like lasagna in the air fryer to crisp up its cheesy topping for a tasty textural contrast to the saucy, meaty layers of leftover lasagna. You might want to add a bit of water to the dish and cover it with foil before sliding it into a 350 degree Fahrenheit air fryer to reheat so that the saucy or cheesy layers or interior retain moisture.