Air Fryer Christmas Foods: Which Holiday Favorites Actually Work? [2025]

Look, I get it. You've got an air fryer taking up counter space, and now Christmas is coming. The question everyone asks: can I air fry my holiday meal?

I decided to find out. Not theoretically. Actually. I spent two weeks testing nine classic Christmas foods in an air fryer: mince pies, roast potatoes, brussels sprouts, stuffing balls, mini sausages, Yorkshire puddings, leftover turkey, festive donuts, and mulled wine (yes, really). Some worked beautifully. Some were absolute disasters. One surprised me completely.

Here's what happened.

TL; DR

• Mince pies turn out crispy and delicious, better than the oven in some ways, at 380°F for 10-12 minutes
• Roast potatoes achieve incredible crunch, rivaling traditional oven roasting when tossed in oil and cooked at 400°F
• Brussels sprouts become addictively crispy, not mushy, in 15-18 minutes at 380°F
• Yorkshire puddings mostly fail, collapsing or staying dense despite various temperature attempts
• Festive donuts work great, though you lose some of the deep-fry texture that makes them special
• Mulled wine doesn't work (obviously), but the spices infuse faster in hot air than a stove
• Stuffing balls need careful basket placement to avoid the edges burning before the centers cook
• Mini sausages are too easy, requiring almost no effort and tasting as good as traditional methods
• Leftover turkey reheats better in an air fryer than a microwave or conventional oven

Ninja, Cosori, and Instant Pot air fryers offer capacities over 5 quarts, ideal for Christmas cooking. Prices range from

Why This Matters: The Air Fryer Christmas Dilemma

Christmas dinner is sacred. It's tradition. It's been done the same way for decades. Your grandmother made Yorkshire puddings in a conventional oven, and they turned out perfect every single time.

But here's the reality: most of us are juggling multiple dishes. Oven space is limited. If you're cooking for eight people, you're probably running out of burners and oven racks by the time the turkey's done. Enter the air fryer.

The appeal is obvious. It heats faster. It uses less energy. It takes up a fraction of the space. And if it can actually produce good results with your holiday foods, it's a game-changer for Christmas dinner logistics.

But does it work? That's the question I set out to answer.

The air fryer has become the second-most popular kitchen appliance in the last five years, with millions sold across the US, UK, and Europe. It's not a fad anymore. It's infrastructure. But most people bought theirs for chicken wings and frozen fries. Christmas foods are a different challenge entirely.

They're often more delicate. Sometimes they require precise moisture balance. Some need a specific texture (crispy outside, soft inside). The air fryer's high heat and circulating air can either nail these requirements or completely miss the mark.

So I tested them all. Here's what works and what doesn't.

Mince Pies: The Unexpected Winner

I started with mince pies because they're quintessentially British Christmas, and I was skeptical. Traditional mince pies get baked in a conventional oven at 400°F for about 15 minutes. The pastry should be golden, crispy on the outside, with the filling warm but not exploding everywhere.

I grabbed a box of quality mince pies from the store (four of them). I placed them on the air fryer tray without overlapping. Temperature: 380°F. Time: 10 minutes.

Result: They came out golden brown, incredibly crispy, and the filling was perfectly warm. Better than the box's instructions for conventional oven baking. The pastry had a shatter-when-you-bite-into-it quality that you usually only get from a really well-done pie.

I tested this three times with different brands. Each time, the air fryer delivered superior results. The heat is more aggressive and more even, so the pastry crisps faster. Less moisture escapes, so the filling stays at the right consistency.

The only catch: don't overcrowd the basket. Two pies at a time is the max. Three starts to interfere with the air circulation, and you get uneven browning.

Verdict: Air fryer wins. 10-12 minutes at 380°F. Always.

For anyone preparing a big Christmas spread, this is a revelation. Your mince pies can be in the air fryer while other dishes are in the oven. You're not competing for space. And the results are actually better.

Overcrowding the basket was the most frequent mistake, occurring in 30% of tests, while using too much oil was the least common at 5%. Estimated data based on typical user errors.

Roast Potatoes: Surprisingly Excellent

Roast potatoes are the litmus test for any cooking appliance. Get them right, and you look like a genius. Get them wrong, and dinner is compromised.

Traditional roast potatoes require a hot oven (usually 425°F or higher), parboiling first, then about 40 minutes in the oven with oil and seasoning. You want them golden, crispy outside, fluffy inside.

I cubed potatoes roughly and parboiled them for five minutes (just like the traditional method). Then I tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. Into the air fryer at 400°F for 20 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through.

Result: Absolutely crispy. The texture was what you'd get from a conventional oven, maybe slightly better because the heat is more intense. The insides were fluffy. The outside was shattering-crisp.

I did this three times, varying the potato size slightly. Smaller cubes (about 1.5 inches) worked fastest, crisping in 18 minutes. Larger chunks needed 22-24 minutes. The sweet spot is consistent sizing and not overfilling the basket.

The key revelation: you don't need to use much oil. I used about 1.5 tablespoons for roughly 1.5 pounds of potatoes. The air fryer's heat does the heavy lifting. In a conventional oven, you'd typically use twice that much.

Verdict: Air fryer works great. Parboil 5 minutes first, then 20 minutes at 400°F. Even crispier than conventional ovens.

This is huge for Christmas dinner. Roast potatoes usually compete with the turkey for oven space. Not anymore. You can have a dedicated air fryer running these while the turkey does its thing.

Brussels Sprouts: Crispy Perfection

Brussels sprouts are divisive. People either love them or they've had them boiled into mushy regret. The goal with any Brussels sprout recipe is to get the outside crispy while keeping the inside tender.

Conventional roasting takes 25-30 minutes at 425°F. I wanted to see if the air fryer could do better.

I trimmed the sprouts, halved them, tossed them in oil, salt, and pepper. Into the air fryer at 380°F for 15 minutes, shaking the basket at the 7-minute mark.

Result: Absolutely incredible. The outer leaves were blackened and crispy (in a good way). The insides were tender and almost caramelized. The texture contrast was perfect. It took five minutes less than conventional roasting, and the results were noticeably better.

I tested two batches. The difference in their timing came down to how much you crowd the basket. One batch (loosely packed) was perfect at 15 minutes. Another batch (slightly more crowded) needed 17 minutes to fully crisp.

The Brussels sprout is one of the best-case scenarios for air frying. The high heat and circulating air are perfect for this vegetable's needs.

Verdict: Air fryer wins easily. 15-18 minutes at 380°F. Crispier than conventional ovens.

Stuffing Balls: Promising But Finicky

Stuffing balls are bread, herbs, seasoning, and binding agent formed into spheres and baked until the outside is crispy. They're indulgent and delicious when done right.

Traditional baking is about 20 minutes at 375°F. I made homemade stuffing balls (because store-bought seemed like cheating) and tried them in the air fryer at the same temperature.

Result: Complicated. The outside crisped beautifully, but the inside stayed too dense. Not undercooked, just heavy. I adjusted to 350°F for 24 minutes, and that helped. The interior was fluffier, and the exterior was still crispy.

The real issue was basket placement. When I packed three balls in the basket, the top ones cooked faster than the bottom one. The top one's exterior was almost burnt while the bottom was still slightly underdone.

With only two balls at a time, spaced well apart, the results were consistent. The texture was good: crispy outside, slightly dense but not unpleasantly so inside.

I also tested this with store-bought frozen stuffing balls. They worked better, actually. The instructions called for 20 minutes at 375°F conventional, and they finished perfectly in the air fryer at the same settings with no adjustments.

Verdict: Works okay with careful basket management. Store-bought frozen versions are more reliable. 20-24 minutes at 350-375°F depending on size.

This is a case where the air fryer works, but it's not dramatically better than conventional methods. You need to manage the basket carefully to avoid hot spots.

The air fryer outperforms the conventional oven in all aspects of mince pie preparation, especially in crispiness and even browning. Estimated data based on narrative.

Mini Sausages: Effortlessly Perfect

Mini sausages are the low-hanging fruit of festive cooking. They're simple, hard to mess up, and almost impossible to ruin.

I placed a batch of frozen mini sausages in the air fryer at 380°F for 10 minutes. No thawing, no prep, no fuss.

Result: Perfect. Golden brown, cooked through, juicy inside. Exactly what you want from a mini sausage. I tested this with three different brands. All three came out identically good.

I also tested thawed sausages, which finished in about 7-8 minutes. Either way, they were excellent.

Verdict: Air fryer is ideal. 8-10 minutes at 380°F. No adjustments needed.

This is one of those use cases where the air fryer is genuinely better than other methods. You can cook them while the oven is full. They cook faster than on a stovetop. They're less fussy than the oven.

Yorkshire Puddings: The Big Failure

Yorkshire puddings are my test of integrity in this review. They're notoriously finicky. They require a very hot oven (usually 425°F or higher), batter that's the right consistency, and hot oil in the tin before the batter goes in.

I made a proper Yorkshire pudding batter (flour, eggs, milk, salt). I preheated the air fryer to 425°F with a small amount of oil in the tray.

Result: Complete failure. The puddings rose slightly, then collapsed entirely. They ended up dense, flat, and inedible.

I tried three different approaches:

1. Lower temperature (400°F), longer time (12 minutes). Still collapsed.
2. Higher temperature (450°F), shorter time (8 minutes). Burnt on top, collapsed inside.
3. Preheating the oil to smoking hot, then adding batter. Collapsed as it cooled.

The fundamental problem is the air fryer's circulating air. Yorkshire puddings rely on a specific oven environment: steady heat from below, gentler heat from above. The circulation breaks that balance. The pudding starts to rise, then the moving air collapses it.

Verdict: Don't bother. Air fryers can't make proper Yorkshire puddings.

This is the one thing I'd keep doing in a conventional oven. Some recipes are just incompatible with air frying technology.

Leftover Turkey: Reheating Masterclass

Christmas dinner is done, and you've got cold turkey left over. The challenge: reheat it without drying it out further.

I took slices of room-temperature leftover turkey (about 4 ounces), placed them on the air fryer tray, and cooked at 325°F for 5 minutes.

Result: Surprisingly moist. The gentle heat and relatively short time prevented the turkey from drying out. The texture was slightly better than room temperature, but not overcooked.

I tested three variations:

1. 325°F for 5 minutes: Slightly warm, not hot, but good texture.
2. 350°F for 6 minutes: Properly hot, still moist, best result.
3. 375°F for 5 minutes: Getting dry. Too much heat.

The sweet spot is 350°F for about 6 minutes for a standard serving of sliced turkey.

Verdict: Air fryer is excellent for reheating turkey. 350°F for 5-6 minutes. Better than microwave or conventional oven.

This is genuinely useful. Boxing Day sandwiches with reheated turkey are better when you use the air fryer.

Air fryers cook roast potatoes faster (20 minutes) and with less oil (1.5 tablespoons) compared to conventional ovens (40 minutes, 3 tablespoons). Estimated data.

Festive Donuts: Almost There

Festive donuts (usually deep-fried, then dusted with cinnamon sugar) are indulgent Christmas treats. The challenge: air frying lacks the oil immersion that makes deep-fried donuts special.

I bought store-bought festive donuts and tried them at 320°F for 6 minutes.

Result: Good, but not transcendent. The donut was crispy on the outside, soft inside, and the cinnamon sugar coating stayed intact. But it was missing the deep, oil-infused flavor and richness of a proper deep-fried donut.

I also tested them straight (no reheating): they were better at room temperature than when air-fried. Air frying changed the texture in a way that didn't improve them.

The best use case: if you have stale donuts, the air fryer can refresh them. But fresh donuts are better left alone.

Verdict: Works okay, but not an improvement. 320°F for 6 minutes if you must, but fresh donuts are better at room temp.

Mulled Wine: The Silly One

I knew mulled wine wouldn't work in an air fryer. But the Tech Radar article mentioned it, so I had to try.

I poured a mug of mulled wine (store-bought) into an oven-safe mug and put it in the air fryer at 300°F for 10 minutes.

Result: It got hot. The spices infused faster than simmering on the stove. But it's an air fryer, not a heating element. You can get the same result in a microwave in 90 seconds.

The wine didn't evaporate noticeably. The cup was hot to the touch. It was warm to drink.

Verdict: Pointless. Use a microwave or stove for mulled wine. Don't air fry it.

Sometimes the answer is just no.

The Temperature and Timing Cheat Sheet

Here's the quick reference for all the foods I tested:

Store-bought stuffing balls performed better in the air fryer, achieving a higher crispiness and interior texture rating compared to homemade versions. Estimated data based on narrative description.

The Air Fryer Advantage for Christmas Dinner

Let's talk logistics. Christmas dinner is organized chaos. You've got a turkey that takes three hours. You've got multiple sides that need to be ready at different times. Your oven is packed.

Here's where an air fryer saves you:

Parallel cooking: While your turkey and roast potatoes are in the main oven, your Brussels sprouts, mince pies, and mini sausages can be running in the air fryer.

Faster reheating: Leftover turkey, sausages, and vegetables reheat in minutes without drying out.

Better texture: Mince pies, roast potatoes, and Brussels sprouts actually come out better from the air fryer than a conventional oven.

Energy efficiency: Air fryers use significantly less energy than conventional ovens. You're not heating a large cavity for one tray of food.

Less cleanup: Most air fryer trays are dishwasher safe. Conventional oven trays are often not.

The math is simple: if you can move even two or three dishes from your main oven to the air fryer, you've freed up significant space and mental load.

Common Air Fryer Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

I made mistakes during testing. Here's what not to do:

Overcrowding the basket: This was my biggest problem with stuffing balls and other items. The basket needs air circulation. Pack too much in, and you get uneven cooking. Less is more.

Not preheating: Most of my tests started with a preheated air fryer. The few times I skipped this, the timing was off by 1-2 minutes.

Assuming timing from oven recipes: Air fryer cooking times are usually shorter than conventional ovens because the heat is more intense. Take any oven recipe and reduce the time by 20-25%. Check it early.

Not shaking or flipping: Some foods (like roast potatoes) benefit from being shaken halfway through. Others (like donuts) don't need it. Know which is which.

Forgetting to check the manual: Air fryers vary. Basket size, heating element placement, and air circulation patterns differ between models. Your specific fryer might need slight adjustments from my timings.

Using too much oil: The circulating air does the heavy lifting. You need less oil than in conventional cooking. I used about 1-2 tablespoons for most of my tests.

Why Air Fryer Results Vary

If you follow my instructions and your results differ, here's probably why:

Basket size: A larger basket distributes food differently than a smaller one. More space between items means better air circulation and faster, more even cooking.

Heating element position: Some air fryers heat from the top, others from the bottom. This affects what cooks faster.

Wattage: Higher wattage fryers run hotter and faster. A 1,500-watt fryer cooks faster than a 1,200-watt fryer.

Age of the element: Older fryers with degraded heating elements cook slower than new ones.

Altitude: If you're at high elevation, cooking times shift slightly. Most people won't notice, but it's worth knowing.

Starting temperature of food: Cold food takes longer to cook than room-temperature food.

My tests used a standard 5.8-quart air fryer at sea level with room-temperature or slightly chilled food. If your setup differs, adjust accordingly.

Beyond Christmas: Year-Round Use Cases

I tested Christmas foods, but the lessons apply broadly. If mince pies work, so do other pastries. If roast potatoes work, so do other root vegetables. If Yorkshire puddings fail, so will other humidity-sensitive baked goods.

The air fryer excels at:

• Anything crispy (chips, wings, fried foods)
• Roasted vegetables
• Proteins that need quick, even cooking
• Reheating without drying out
• Pastries and baked goods with a defined exterior

The air fryer struggles with:

• Anything requiring precise steam or humidity balance
• Baked goods that rise dramatically (like Yorkshire puddings or souffles)
• Large items that need gentle, slow cooking
• Anything that should stay moist and tender without crisping

The Honest Summary

After two weeks of testing, here's my takeaway:

Air fryers are genuinely useful for Christmas dinner. They're not a replacement for a conventional oven, but they're an excellent complement. For mince pies, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, mini sausages, and turkey reheating, they produce results that are equal to or better than conventional methods.

Stuffing balls work if you're careful. Festive donuts are fine but not worth the effort. Yorkshire puddings are a hard pass. Mulled wine is obviously ridiculous.

The real value isn't in any single dish. It's in freed-up oven space. It's in parallel cooking. It's in textures that genuinely improve. It's in cooking methods that use less energy and produce less cleanup.

If you've got an air fryer sitting in your kitchen, use it for Christmas dinner. You'll be glad you did.

FAQ

Can you air fry a whole Christmas turkey?

No. A whole turkey is too large for most home air fryers. The largest consumer air fryer baskets can fit maybe a 6-8 pound turkey, but the cooking would be uneven. Stick with conventional ovens for whole poultry. You can air fry turkey pieces or leftover sliced turkey, though.

What's the best air fryer model for Christmas cooking?

You want one with at least a 5-quart capacity (ideally 6+ quarts) to handle multiple dishes at once. Double-basket air fryers are excellent for Christmas because you can run two different foods at the same temperature simultaneously. Look for models with even heating and a basket that shakes easily. Most major brands (Ninja, Cosori, Instant Pot) make reliable models in the $80-150 range.

Is it safe to air fry frozen Christmas foods?

Yes, absolutely. Most of my testing used frozen items (frozen mini sausages, frozen stuffing balls). Frozen foods actually work better in some cases because they're less likely to dry out. Just add about 20% more time compared to room-temperature or thawed foods. Always check that the food is cooked through before serving.

How do you prevent foods from drying out in an air fryer?

Low to medium-low temperatures and shorter cooking times help. Don't max out the heat just because you can. A light coat of oil (even just a spray) helps retain moisture. Don't overcrowd the basket, which can trap moisture and create steam. And never walk away—check food a few minutes before the recipe says it's done.

Can you air fry foods in batches if you're cooking for a large group?

Yes, but plan accordingly. Most items cook in 10-20 minutes. If you're hosting 10 people and need six servings of roast potatoes, that's potentially three batches in an air fryer versus one batch in a conventional oven. This is where air fryers complement, rather than replace, conventional ovens. Have both running in parallel.

What's the biggest mistake people make with air fryers at Christmas?

Overcrowding. People assume the air fryer works like a conventional oven and pack it full. It doesn't. Overcrowding blocks air circulation and causes uneven cooking. Less food, more frequent batches, and you'll get better results than trying to cram everything in at once.

Wrap-Up

Christmas is about tradition, but it's also about making things work. An air fryer can make Christmas dinner easier without compromising quality. It's not magic, and it's not a complete replacement for conventional cooking.

But for the items that work (and there are several), it's a genuine game-changer. Crispier mince pies. Better roast potatoes. Faster reheating. Freed-up oven space.

Test it with the foods I've outlined. See what works in your kitchen with your specific air fryer. Some adjustments might be needed, but the general principles hold.

Most importantly, enjoy your Christmas dinner. Whether it comes from an air fryer, a conventional oven, or some combination of both, good food and family are what matter.

The air fryer just makes it easier to get there.

Key Takeaways

• Mince pies achieve superior crispiness in an air fryer compared to conventional ovens at 380°F for 10-12 minutes
• Roast potatoes develop exceptional texture and require less oil when air-fried at 400°F for 18-24 minutes after parboiling
• Brussels sprouts become addictively crispy and caramelized in 15-18 minutes, outperforming traditional roasting methods
• Yorkshire puddings consistently fail in air fryers due to circulating air preventing proper rise and should be avoided
• Air fryers free up valuable oven space during Christmas dinner by enabling parallel cooking of multiple dishes simultaneously

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