Cook classic roasted and baked dishes – without using the oven

From crisp-skinned chicken to golden roast potatoes and juicy fish, here's how to make your favourite foods without firing up the oven

Image caption,
Not just for stews, slow cookers can work wonders on dishes like chicken shawarma.

With energy prices on the rise, many of us are looking to limit our oven use and find more economical ways to cook our meals.

Using our stovetop instead is one option, focusing on dishes that are cooked on the hob like pasta, curries and stir-fries. Other foods, which usually require time on a baking tray, can be adapted for a frying pan too, like these loaded wedges and this stovetop pizza.

Favouring the grill over the oven to cook meat and veg, or to brown the tops of pasta bakes and shepherd's pies, can also help save on energy.

But there are other alternatives, too. Slow cookers and air fryers have found themselves thrown into the spotlight of late, thanks to their cost-effective nature. Many of us already have one or the other stashed away at the back of a kitchen cupboard, perhaps long forgotten about. If that's the case for you, now might just be the time to dust it off.

Each of these mini appliances has its strengths – slow cookers are great for one-pot-style dishes like chillis and stews, while air fryers are known for giving usually deep-fried bites a crisp, golden finish, using a fraction of the oil. But both are capable of a lot more than you may realise.

Recipe developer and food writer Sarah Cook knows her way around both bits of kit and often uses them to cook meals at home. Having stretched both to their limits over the years, she's well clued up on the variety of meals they can work their magic on, and the more she's learnt, the more her cooking habits have changed.

“Over the last 10 years, the recipes I regularly make in slow cookers have shifted from soups and stews to drier meat dishes like chicken shawarma and even cakes,” she says.

“The biggest game-changer for me, though, was starting to use them to cook aubergine for things like warm salads. I love aubergines but the thought of endless griddling or baking is off-putting. A slow cooker makes it effortless.

“Similarly, when I was first using air fryers it was just to crisp up or reheat food, but now I’ve upgraded to a larger size it’s allowed me to be more creative. I love to mix up a batter that's thick enough to not drip through the basket, then I use it to coat just about anything. It's perfect for cauliflower ‘wings’.”

“Pulled pork and pull-apart lamb shoulder work beautifully in a slow cooker. If I have time in the morning, I’ll brown the meat before adding it to the cooker's bowl – it really helps to boost the flavour. Otherwise, after the meat is cooked, I’ll sometimes get the grill going and give it a quick blast. This means you get the best of both worlds: a fall-apart tender texture inside, and a well-browned, crisp outer.”

To improve the meat even more, remember to make use of the juices it leaves behind in the slow cooker, says Sarah.

“Never throw away those cooking juices! As you shred up the meat it’s nice to stir some through for moisture and flavour. I also add them to accompaniments like couscous, rice or fried onions.”

When it comes to air fryers, one of Sarah’s favourite ingredients to cook in them is fish fillets, like salmon.

“It’s always seemed such a waste to turn the oven on for something that will only take 10 minutes. Also, because of the unique way the air fryer cooks and the temperatures it reaches, you can achieve a nice colour and texture on the outside without overcooking the inside – which is ideal for fish.”

Crispy, battered and breadcrumbed foods

Crisp, golden bites are an air fryer's wheelhouse. Both chips and roast potatoes work wonderfully in them, as well as crumbed goujons, nuggets and the like.

“Breadcrumb coatings aren't just for chicken or fish,” says Sarah. “Goujons are a great way to get kids to fall in love with vegetables like aubergine and cauliflower, too.”

Whatever you put in your goujons, they can be used in all kinds of dishes, from tacos to curries.

“I make big batches of katsu sauce, crammed with hidden veg, then freeze and defrost portions to be served with goujons, sticky rice and picky salad bits. Tex-Mex style beans (probably made in my slow cooker) is another great option, topped with those goujons and served with corn, warm tortilla wraps, shredded lettuce, grated cheese and yoghurt.”

Sarah has a simple technique to dial up the flavour of these crispy coated bites, too: spraying them with infused oils, such as chilli and garlic oil, before cooking. “Not only will it help food brown evenly but it will add an extra layer of flavour.”

Creamy and liquid-based dishes

If you have a favourite stew, curry or casserole that’s usually made in the oven or on the hob, there is an easy way to adapt it for slow cookers, says Sarah. “Just reduce the amount of liquid by a third to half. Don’t be fearful if, once all the ingredients are added, everything isn’t submerged; remember, meat and vegetables give off liquid of their own during the cooking process. Keep the flavouring levels the same – the herbs, spices, stock cubes and pastes – just limit the liquid.

“This works because sauces in the slow cooker will not thicken and reduce as they would using conventional cooking methods, which involve evaporation.

“With that in mind, try tossing meat in a few tablespoons of plain flour at the start, or mixing a little cornflour to a paste with a ladle of the sauce towards the end of the cooking time. This can then be stirred back through the pot to thicken the liquid.”

You can make creamy dishes such as risotto or macaroni cheese in slow cookers too, just be careful of the timings so the rice or pasta doesn’t become mushy. For example, when making this slow-cooker risotto with fennel, lemon and rocket, you cook the stock and veg for a couple of hours before adding the risotto rice, and this slow-cooker macaroni cheese is cooked on the high setting for two hours, rather than on low for longer.

Meanwhile, dishes like shakshuka, potato gratin and dauphinoise can be made really well in an air fryer, says author Jenny Tschiesche, who has written a book dedicated to air fryer cooking. The key is to make sure you have ramekin or small gratin dishes that fit your air fryer so you can cook different elements separately, and to be aware of how long each element of a dish takes to cook.

“Because the air fryer circulates very hot air, the surface cooks faster and hotter than the inside. So, some dishes like shakshuka need to be cooked in stages. I start by roasting the peppers, then I add the tomato and seasoning and then later I add the egg.”

Frequently asked questions about air fryers and slow cookers

For those that are new to air fryers or slow cookers but want to give them a go, there may be some things you're unsure of at first. So, we put some of the most common questions that we get asked about these gadgets to our expert, Sarah.

How do you know when meat is thoroughly cooked?

“The nature of preparing meat in a slow cooker means that when the dish is ready it will have been thoroughly cooked and safe to eat for some time. The reason it's been in so long is simply to tenderise it.

“With air fryers, I stick to the classic cut and check method. Find the largest or thickest piece of meat and cut into the centre to check it’s cooked. As air fryers work by circulating hot air they tend to cook very evenly and not have hot spots like an oven may, so you don’t have to worry as much about things towards the centre, or edges, being more or less cooked than in another area.”

Are air fryers considerably faster at cooking than ovens?

“Typically, yes – a good deal faster. Especially so when you also factor in the time it takes to preheat your oven. which usually takes about 10–15 minutes. In that time alone, you could have already cooked those frozen fish goujons in an air fryer.

“The only limitation with an air fryer is its size, so if you’re cooking for large numbers, or following a recipe that requires preparing multiple batches, it may be quicker to use an oven so you can cook everything at the same time.”

Is it safe to leave a slow cooker on overnight or when you’re out of the house?

“Yes, if you’re following the manufacturer’s instructions and are sensible about use. Make sure the cooker is stood on a flat, heatproof surface and ensure there’s space around it, as the sides give off the most heat. If you’re going out, keep the setting to low, so you don’t risk overcooking or burning your food.

“If I’m going out for a long period of time, I would stick to liquid-based recipes as they’re a little more forgiving, just in case you get back later than you planned.”

Originally published September 2022.