Celebrity chef Donal Skehan has dished out some essential advice for air fryer fans during his appearance on ITV’s This Morning, where he whipped up a tantalising quick midweek meal. While demonstrating how to make his rapid air fryer chicken tacos, Donal emphasised an often-overlooked step that could elevate the cooking game of many.
He stressed the importance of preheating the air fryer before tossing in the food, stating: “I do recommend that you get your air fryer up to temperature, get it preheated.” This revelation took host Alison Hammond by surprise as she said: “Really? Oh, I never do that!”. Donal confirmed that skipping the preheat is a common oversight but insisted that for optimal results, one should always start with a preheated appliance.
In response to Alison’s query, “Are you not supposed to?” Donal clarified: “Well you can, but what I would say is, and it’s a small space so it will heat up quickly, but best results will come if you put it on preheated.”
To ensure the air fryer reaches the desired heat, Donal suggested turning it on as if to “pretend” to cook something, thus warming the basket in preparation for the actual ingredients.
Air fryer chicken tacos with quick summer slaw
Ingredients
- Six chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into strips
- One tbsp taco seasoning
- Two tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 75ml hot sauce, of your choice, I like to use a chipotle one such as Cholula
- 180g mozzarella cheese, shredded
- Six mini flour tortillas
Quick slaw
- ¼ head white cabbage, thinly sliced
- Juice & zest of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
- Pinch of salt
- One onion, peeled
- Handful of coriander, roughly chopped
Place the sliced chicken into a bowl along with taco seasoning, oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Place into an air fryer basket and cook at 180°C for 16 minutes, or until cooked through.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, shred the white cabbage and place it into a bowl. Add the juice and zest of half a lime and a pinch of salt then massage everything together with your hands, really working the acid and salt into the cabbage. Set aside.
Finely chop the onion and mix with the juice of the remaining half a lime and some chopped coriander.
When the chicken is cooked, remove from the air fryer. Add to a bowl and mix with the hot sauce, stirring to coat the chicken.
Brush the tortillas with a bit of olive oil on both sides and sprinkle the cheese over the tortillas. Place the spicy chicken on one half of each tortilla, then fold them in half to seal, creating a half-moon shape.
Sprinkle with more mozzarella cheese and place back into the air fryer for four to five minutes to crisp the tacos and melt the cheese.
Serve the tacos at the table, stuffing them with the slaw and the onion and coriander mix. Serve with a few lime wedges for squeezing and some extra hot sauce if you fancy.