Air Fryer Stuffing

Air fryer stuffing is a great dish to serve as a side dish during the holiday season. It’s quick and easy to make, and can be whipped up without using your oven – perfect for when you are cooking up a holiday feast and just don’t have enough space for all the sides. Plus, it’s delicious!

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How to make stuffing in an air fryer

When it’s a holiday you know that dinner is going to be a little more crazy than usual, right? If you’re cooking for a large group of people, it can be tough to find space in the oven for everything you need to cook. If the oven is already taken up with other dishes for the traditional Thanksgiving menu, there’s no need to sacrifice the side dishes!

Air fryer stuffing is a great side dish that doesn’t require an oven and it’s quick and easy to cook, and tastes delicious. Made with breadcrumbs, onion, cranberries, herbs and spices, this recipe is a delicious, low-effort side that you can whip up without breaking a sweat.

For some other holiday dishes you can cook in your air fryer, try air fryer roast beef, air fryer roast pork, air fryer roast lamb, air fryer roast potatoes, or air fryer vegetables.

Scroll down for the printable recipe card for this air fryer stuffing recipe, or read on for all the details.

Ingredients

Quantities for all ingredients are given in the recipe card below.

Butter: The butter in this recipe adds flavor, so use good quality butter if you can. (for this reason I wouldn’t recommend substituting margarine).

Brown onion: the recipe below calls for a brown onion, but you can substitute red onion or even shallots if that is what you have to hand.

Dried cranberries: Perfect for a Thanksgiving stuffing. If you don’t have dried cranberries you could substitute other dried fruit such as sultanas, dried figs or dates.

Breadcrumbs: I like to use panko breadcrumbs in this recipe as I find it gives a slightly lighter texture to the stuffing, but you can use any type of breadcrumbs you like.

Herbs and spices: dried oregano, dried rubbed sage (or 2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves), garlic powder, salt

Milk: This adds moisture and nutrition to the stuffing. You could substitute stock or water if you don’t have milk. I haven’t made this with plant-based milks, so if you try, please let me know in the comments below if it was successful.

Egg: This binds the stuffing together.

Directions

Step 1: Finely chop the onion, and melt the butter. I usually melt the butter in the microwave. Place the butter in a microwave safe bowl or jug and microwave on high in 30 second bursts until just melted.

Step 2: Combine onion, butter and the other stuffing ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until well combined. Preheat air fryer to 360°F/ 180°C.

Step 3: Roll stuffing mixture into golf ball sized balls.

Step 4: Spritz air fryer basket with oil, then place the stuffing balls in the air fryer basket, ensuring they are not touching. Spritz the stuffing balls with oil.

Note: use an olive oil that spritzes rather than an aerosol spray as these can damage the non-stick coating of your air fryer basket.

Step 5: Air fry the stuffing balls for around 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and have reached a temperature of 165°/ 74°C in the center of the thickest ball (use an instant-read thermometer).

Serving

I serve these stuffing balls as a side to a roast dinner with gravy. They are great for a holiday dinner, though also make great snacks (make sure you save any leftovers!).

Storage and reheating

Store any leftover stuffing balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and use within 3 days. 

You can reheat the stuffing in the air fryer, air fry for 3-4 minutes until warmed through, or reheat them in the microwave, 1-2 minutes on high. However, they are also great cold, I like to snack on them straight from the fridge! 😋

Air Fryer Stuffing Recipe Card

You may also like:

• Air fryer Cornish hen
• Air fryer turkey breast
• Air fryer roast lamb
• Air fryer carrots
• Air fryer parsnips
• Microwave vegetables