Does an Air Fryer Add Calories? (Quick Answers)

When it comes to cooking your food, an air fryer can be a healthier and more time-efficient option. But there is a lot of confusion among people regarding the health risks of air fryers. Let’s have a look and find out more about it. 

Does an air fryer add calories?

An air fryer is a simple frying home appliance that uses only the heating capability to fry any food item, there isn’t any requirement of oil or any other cooking spray while using the air fryer. So definitely an air fryer doesn’t add any extra calories to the food. 

Does cooking with an air fryer add calories?

An air fryer converts the electrical power into heat and a rotating fan circulates the heat throughout the confined space for food.

An air fryer can blow heated air up to 350°F to 400°F (170°c to 200°c), the heated air gets distributed evenly and fry the outer layer of the food, making it crispy and delicious.

Now about adding calories to the food, you can see there isn’t any need for oils or cooking spray or anything else when you cook in an air fryer. So an air fryer doesn’t add any extra calories to the food, it just cooks the food using heated air. 

Do air fryers have less calories?

The calories are solely depending on what kind of food you are cooking and how you are cooking it. Let’s say you have some uncooked potato chips and you divide them into 3 separate batches.

You deep fry the 1st batch of the potato chips, you put the 2nd batch in an oven to bake, and you put the 3rd batch in the air fryer.

After cooking, if you measure the calories you would see that the deep-fried potatoes will have the most excessive calories and the air-fried potatoes will have the least.

In deep frying there was excessive use of oil, also there was oil used in baking in the oven but when you used the air fryer the need for oil or cooking spray was zero, yet you will get a crispy fried evenly cooked food.

An air fryer has less calories while cooking the food and making it a healthy alternative for cooking. 

How many calories does an air fryer save in comparison to a deep fryer?

For deep frying, you would need to use cooking oil or animal fat and after frying your food would be heavily soaked in oil or fat. The cooking oils or animal fat are sure to add an excessive amount of calories to your food.

Now air fryer could be a healthier cooking option, it eliminates the necessity of any cooking oil and as a result, there are no extra added calories to the food.

Now if you are wondering what removing cooking oils would do then it’s observed that an air fryer can save almost 60% to 80% of calories compared to the deep fryer.

Air fryer would reduce an astonishing number of calories and sure to help you maintain a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

Is an Air Fryer good for weight loss? 

If you are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and eating less or totally avoiding oily food then an air fryer can be your most reliable companion.

When you are trying to lose weight you would need to carefully keep an eye on what you are eating and how many calories are there, and the most important thing is you will need to be on a calorie deficit diet.

When it comes to regular cooking and baking you would need to use cooking oil, butter, or animal fat, these oils add on a bunch of extra calories and fat.

With an air fryer, you can be at ease and forget about any extra added calories from oil, the heated air will be evenly distributed, and cook your food in a jiffy.

When you are consuming fewer calories than it will be easier to lose weight and an air fryer is sure to help with oil-free cooking.

How much weight can you lose using an air fryer?

When it comes to losing weight, being in a calorie deficit is more important than anything. No matter how healthy foods you eat, no matter how healthy the cooking style is, it won’t bring any satisfactory results unless you are in a calorie deficit or eating fewer calories than before.

Traditional cooking methods need oil, butter, or animal fat to cook but doing so will only add a tremendous amount of calories and fat to your food.

An air fryer is far better than any traditional cooking method, a blow of hot air gets evenly distributed by a fan rotating at high speed. The 350°F to 400°F temperature is more than enough to cook your food.

If you eat at a calorie deficit, maintain an active lifestyle then losing 4lb to 6lb in a month will be a piece of cake for you. An air fryer will be a better cooking companion on your weight loss journey.

Why is an air fryer healthy?

No extra calories:

As the air fryer uses heated air to fry the food, no oil or animal fat is necessary for cooking. You can reduce the calories by almost up to 70% when compared to deep frying. Oil-free cooking makes an air fryer a healthy cooking option. 

No smoke or burn: 

when it comes to traditional cooking methods, the most irritating thing is the smoke of burning spices and hot oils spreading outside of the cooking pot.

The smoke from traditional cooking methods may cause irritation in your nose and continuous sneezing or a burning sensation in the eyes, and the hot oils if in contact with your skin may cause unbearable pain and leave permanent burn marks.

But when you use an air fryer you reduce the risk to a minimum or almost zero. Air fryers ensure a pleasant and safe cooking environment.

Temperature controlled:

whether you are deep frying your food or cooking on a stove, in both cases, it is pretty hard to maintain a temperature control environment.

Some essential micronutrients from the food lose their effectiveness when it’s cooked at a higher temperature.

Air fryers ensure controlled temperature for cooking the foods and preserving all the essential micronutrients of the food. So with an air fryer, you can cook tasty and healthy foods quite effortlessly.

Is air fried food unhealthy?

Deep-fried food has a high risk of causing acrylamide and other diseases but cooking with an air fryer in a temperature-controlled environment reduces several health risks.

However, there are few downsides to air fryers such as cooking meat at high temperatures may cause polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to form and sometimes it also bears the risk of developing heterocyclic amines, these compounds may cause cancer and other health risks.

 So you need to be extra cautious when cooking meat in an air fryer.

Does air-fried food taste as good as deep-fried food?

An air fryer is a far better and healthier cooking option than deep frying. Now if you compare the taste between these two, you would definitely go for the air fryer. The food cooked in the air fryer will get evenly cooked and get a delicious crispy taste.

The food cooked with a deep frying process will soak up oils and it may change the food’s actual taste and texture. So compared to deep-fried oily food, air-fried food will be healthy, also preserving the natural taste and texture of the food.

Does air frying reduce nutrients?

The micronutrients in food are temperature sensitive. At a high temperature, the nutrients may lose their capabilities, so it’s essential to cook certain foods at a controlled temperature.

Deep frying or traditional cooking methods are unable to provide such a cooking environment but an air fryer can control and maintain a certain temperature for a long time. So air frying your food will not reduce the crucial nutrients.  

Is air frying healthier than frying?

Air frying is a healthier, time-efficient, and effective cooking method than frying. To fry a portion of food you would need a huge amount of oil and after frying the food would soak all the oils and fat, making it more calorie-dense and sometimes unhealthy.

The air fryer won’t add any extra calories and keep all the nutritional values preserved.

Frequently asked question:

How many calories in air fryer chicken wings?

In a serving portion of 6, there are 560 to 570 calories in air fried chicken wings. It will also contain 39g fat; 15g carbohydrates; 30g protein; 145 mg cholesterol. You can cook it from 350° F to 400° F to bring out the crispy outer taste. 

How many calories in air fryer French fries? 

In a 1 cup amount of air-fried French fries, you will get 80 to 90 calories. You would also get 15 g carbohydrates, 2g protein, 3 g mix of saturated and trans fat.

You can cook it for 15 min at 380°F then keep it outside to cool down then again cook it for 10 to 15 min for getting the most crispy bites.

How many calories in air fryer chicken breast? 

In an 85g air-fried chicken breast you can get 160 calories. You will also get 17g protein, 3g of mixed saturated, monounsaturated fats, also 25mg cholesterol.

The total carbohydrates would be 14g. It will only take 10 to 15 minutes to properly cook the chicken.  

Final Thoughts:

An air fryer circulates 350° F to 400°F of heated air to cook the food. It doesn’t add any extra calories to the food. The temperature-controlled and oil-free cooking is far better than traditional cooking or deep frying. The air fryer can be a great cooking option for people trying to lose weight.

Frequently Asked Questions:

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Are Air Fryers Allowed in Dorms?

Do Air Fryer Liners Work?

Why Does My Air Fryer Burn Food?

Can I Use Steel, Ceramic, & Plastic Bowls in An Air Fryer?