Air Fryer TipsCrisp Portuguese Fried Classics at Home

The most useful air fryer tips come down to five habits: chill breaded food before cooking, spray every surface with a little olive oil, preheat for 3–5 minutes, never crowd the basket, and turn things halfway. For Portuguese food, cook fish at 190–200 °C, pork at 200 °C, chicken at 180 °C, and reheat petiscos at 170–180 °C for 3–5 minutes.

Portuguese cooking is full of fried things: pastéis de bacalhau, rissóis, croquetes, small fried fish, squid. These are exactly the foods an air fryer can make lighter, but they're also the ones that go pale, stick or fall apart if you treat the machine like a microwave. Here's how to avoid that.

How to get crispy fried classics in the air fryer

Deep-frying works because hot oil surrounds every surface at once. An air fryer only moves hot air, so you have to supply the fat and the contact yourself.

Pastéis de bacalhau

The salt cod mixture is soft, so it needs help to hold its shape.

1. Let the riced potato steam dry before mixing, and add the eggs one at a time.
2. Shape with two spoons into ovals and chill for 30 minutes, or freeze on a tray if you're making a batch.
3. Use a perforated liner, leave a gap around each fritter and spray all over.
4. Cook at 190 °C for about 12 minutes, turning and spraying again halfway. From frozen, 180 °C for 16–18 minutes.

The full method is in our air fryer pastéis de bacalhau.

Rissóis and croquetes

Both are breaded, so the crumb is what needs to brown.

• Chill the filling until firm. A croquete mixture that's soft at room temperature will slump and split. At least 2 hours in the fridge.
• Double-coat if they burst. Egg, crumbs, egg, crumbs gives a stronger shell.
• Spray, then spray again. Dry breadcrumbs stay pale and taste dusty. A light, even coat of oil on all sides makes them golden.
• Turn halfway. The underside always browns less.

Croquetes take about 10 minutes at 200 °C; rissóis about 10–12 minutes at 190 °C. See rissóis de camarão and croquetes de carne.

Small fried fish and squid

For carapaus and lulas, dry the fish thoroughly with kitchen paper before flouring. Wet fish makes gummy coatings. Shake off excess flour, spray well and cook at 200 °C. Squid needs only about 8 minutes: any longer and it turns rubbery.

Oil: how much and how to apply it

"Oil-free" is the biggest air fryer myth. Food without any fat dries out instead of crisping.

• Use a refillable sprayer with olive oil. A fine mist coats evenly with very little oil, about a teaspoon for a full basket.
• Avoid aerosol cooking sprays in non-stick baskets. Many basket manufacturers advise against them, because the additives can build up into a sticky layer on the coating.
• Spray the food, not the empty basket.
• Toss loose food in oil instead when it's chips, potatoes or chicken pieces: a tablespoon in a bowl, then into the basket.

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A fine mist of real azeite is what turns air-fried food golden. It's cheaper and kinder to non-stick baskets than aerosol sprays.

Tip: Fill it with a mild olive oil and keep it next to the air fryer.

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Don't crowd the basket

Hot air has to reach every side. If pieces touch or stack, they steam.

• Keep a single layer with a small gap around breaded items and fish.
• Chips and potato cubes can overlap a little if you shake the basket every 5 minutes.
• Cook in batches and keep the first batch warm in a low oven (around 90 °C) rather than overloading.

If you're always cooking in three batches for the family, the machine is too small. Our air fryer size guide matches basket sizes to household sizes.

Should you preheat an air fryer?

For crisp food, yes. 3–5 minutes at the cooking temperature gives breaded petiscos and fish skin an immediate sear, which helps stop sticking and stops coatings soaking up oil. Many machines have a preheat setting; if yours doesn't, just run it empty. Skip the preheat for chunky potatoes and other dishes that cook for 20 minutes or more, where it makes little difference.

Liners: when to use them

Parchment liners stop soft mixtures from sticking and save on washing up. But they also block airflow under the food.

• Use perforated liners, not solid paper, for anything you want crisp underneath.
• Use them for: pastéis de bacalhau, croquetes, rissóis, fish fillets and anything marinated in a sugary or sticky sauce.
• Skip them for: chips, potatoes, chicken thighs and pork belly, which need air underneath and release easily anyway.
• Never preheat with an empty liner inside. It can lift into the heating element and scorch or catch fire. Put the food on it first.
• Don't let the liner come up higher than the food.

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Air fryer parchment liners, 125 pack

Stops wet mixtures like pastéis and croquetes from sticking to the basket.

Tip: Never preheat the air fryer with an empty liner inside.

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Temperatures for fish vs pork vs chicken

These are the settings used in our recipes, as a starting point. Machines vary, so check the first batch early.

Fish

• Whole sardines and horse mackerel: 200 °C, 8–14 minutes depending on size, turning once.
• Thick bacalhau loins: 190 °C, 15–18 minutes, basting with oil halfway.
• Squid rings: 200 °C, about 8 minutes.

Fish is done when the flesh flakes at the thickest part and is opaque to the bone. Overcooked fish dries fast in an air fryer, so err on the short side.

Pork

• Thin steaks for bifanas: 200 °C, 5–6 minutes, turning once.
• Pork belly slices (entremeada): 200 °C, 12–15 minutes, turning halfway.
• Pork cubes: 200 °C, 12–15 minutes, shaking twice.

Food safety agencies give 63–71 °C as the minimum for whole cuts of pork, depending on the country, and higher for minced pork. Thin steaks reach that in minutes.

Chicken

• Bone-in thighs and drumsticks: 180 °C, about 25 minutes, skin-side down first, then up.
• Chicken is safe at 74 °C in the thickest part, away from the bone. An instant-read thermometer removes the guesswork. Our air fryer frango piri-piri uses exactly this method.

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Alpha Grillers instant-read thermometer

Takes the guesswork out of piri-piri chicken and bifanas: 74 °C in the thickest part and the chicken is done.

Tip: Check the thickest piece, away from the bone.

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How to reheat petiscos in the air fryer

This is where the air fryer beats the microwave every time. Microwaved pastéis and rissóis turn soggy; air-fried ones come back crisp.

• Pastéis de bacalhau, croquetes, rissóis: 180 °C for 4–5 minutes from the fridge, 8–10 minutes from frozen (already cooked).
• Pastéis de nata: 170–180 °C for 3–4 minutes. Watch the tops. Our guide to reheating pastéis de nata has more.
• Bifanas and grilled pork: reheat the meat only, 180 °C for 3 minutes, then put it in a fresh roll.
• Piri-piri chicken: 180 °C for 6–8 minutes, until piping hot in the middle.
• Chips and roast potatoes: 200 °C for 3–4 minutes, shaking once.

Don't reheat fried fish or squid more than once, and make sure anything reheated is steaming hot all the way through.

Five common mistakes

1. Cooking straight from a wet marinade. Shake off excess and pat the surface dry, or the skin won't crisp.
2. Forgetting to turn. The underside always lags behind the top.
3. Opening the drawer constantly. Check at the halfway point and near the end, not every minute.
4. Never cleaning the basket. Old fat smokes at high temperatures. Wash it after fish and fatty pork.
5. Following air fryer times as fixed rules. Every machine runs differently. Use the first batch to learn yours.

For a full list of recipes these tips apply to, see our Portuguese air fryer recipes.

From the shop

What you’ll need

Links go to Amazon, where you can check today’s price. If you buy, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Amazon best seller

TrendPlain glass olive oil sprayer

A fine mist of real azeite is what turns air-fried food golden. It's cheaper and kinder to non-stick baskets than aerosol sprays.

Tip: Fill it with a mild olive oil and keep it next to the air fryer.

View on Amazon

Amazon best seller

Air fryer parchment liners, 125 pack

Stops wet mixtures like pastéis and croquetes from sticking to the basket.

Tip: Never preheat the air fryer with an empty liner inside.

View on Amazon

Amazon best seller

Alpha Grillers instant-read thermometer

Takes the guesswork out of piri-piri chicken and bifanas: 74 °C in the thickest part and the chicken is done.

Tip: Check the thickest piece, away from the bone.

View on Amazon

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Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt Air Fryer

One of Amazon's best-selling air fryers. The 6 Qt basket fits a batch of pastéis de bacalhau or chicken thighs for four, and the ceramic coating is PFAS-free.

Tip: Size is what matters for Portuguese cooking: 5.5–6 Qt feeds 2–4 people in one batch.

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