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Can you cook ready meals meals in an air fryer? Yes, you can cook ready meals in air fryer, including TV dinners and Lean Cuisines! Welcome to my ultimate guide on how to cook TV dinner in the air fryer. Learn to make Hungry Man dinners, Banquet Mega Bowls, Amy’s frozen vegetarian meals, and more. You’ll love how easy it is to make air fryer frozen ready dinners!
With a few basic questions answered, you can easily cook any microwave dinner in the air fryer. I air fried six types of microwave meals here as examples. The principles you’ll learn here can apply to your favorite TV dinner brand.
Here are a few things to ask yourself before you begin:
Is the container the microwave meal came in safe for the air fryer?
How do you know if TV dinner containers are air fryer safe? Read the box to see if you can put the container in your oven. If the container is safe for oven baking, it will generally be safe for the air fryer too.
Can the container fit in the air fryer?
The container may be safe for the air fryer, but will it fit inside? Air fryer ovens can fit most microwave meal containers. You may need to move the food to a different pan if you have a small air fryer with a basket.
Do I want the top of the food to get crispy or not?
If there’s one thing air fryers do well, it’s crisping up foods, adding texture. But what if you’re making a meal where you don’t want the top to get crunchy? No sweat, just keep the frozen dinner covered with foil for most of the cooking time.
📋 Calories, Net Carbs, Protein
The nutrition information for your microwave meal depends on the type of meal and your portion size. I try to aim for a frozen meal with 300-600 calories and at least 20-25 grams of protein. After adding veggies (and maybe dressing) on the side, I end up with a moderate calorie meal.
You may have different targets depending on how many meals you eat per day, whether you’re trying to gain weight or lose weight, etc. Many frozen dinners are too low in protein for a meal (some under 10 grams). It’s a good idea to add more protein to these meals, in addition to a veggie side dish.
⭐ Ready Meals in Air Fryer Benefits
Why make microwave meals in the air fryer? It’s generally fastest to cook a microwave dinner in the microwave. The air fryer is a great alternative if you don’t like to cook in microwaves.
Air frying is also advantageous because it doesn’t heat up the house like the oven in the summer. It’s awesome to have an air fryer when it’s too hot for baking! Here are some other reasons I like this recipe:
- Quick, easy clean up: If you follow the directions provided, you will have no clean up. When we can’t air fry the meal in the disposable container it comes in, we’ll use parchment paper to minimize mess.
- Crispy: If there are foods in your meal that you want crispy, air frying is the best cooking method. Microwaves can’t crisp foods, but air fryers do a great job with this.
- No added oil: You don’t need to add oil (or anything else) to cook your TV dinners. Even the stir fry type frozen meals that typically require oil to cook on the stovetop need no oil when air fried.
- Fits practically any diet: You can find frozen microwave meals and TV dinners to fit almost all dietary restrictions. There are gluten free, low carb, keto, dairy free, vegan, “clean eating” options, and more.
- Fits most budgets: There are also microwave frozen meals available at a variety of different price points. Your local health food store typically has the most spendy options. Check out the mainstream supermarkets and stores like Costco if you’re on a tight budget.
🥘 Ready Meals Ingredients
The only food you need to make TV dinners in the air fryer is the microwave meal itself. If you don’t want to be hungry, I also recommend picking up some bagged salad and a light dressing to go on the side.
If you tend to pick lower protein microwave meals, you’ll probably also want to add additional protein. Cooked rotisserie chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, and cooked edamame are some good options.
Here are the meals I’m using. Remember, with slight modifications to these directions, you can apply them to your favorite type of TV dinner:
- Amy’s Cheese Enchilada Meal
- Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala
- Amy’s Vegetable Lasagna
- Kevin’s Roasted Garlic Chicken (this is a refrigerator item, but I froze it before air frying)
- Amy’s Mac and Cheese
- Primal Kitchen Chicken Fried Rice Cauliflower Skillet
🍽 Equipment
To make TV dinners in the air fryer, you’ll need an air fryer, foil, and a meat thermometer. For certain types of meals, you’ll also need parchment paper and an aluminum pan that fits in the air fryer. I use these with my 10-Quart Kalorik Digital Air Fryer Oven.
You can make TV dinners in the Ninja Foodi, Cosori, Pampered Chef Air Fryer, Actifry, Nuwave, Instant Vortex, Cuisinart, Philips, Power Air Fryer, and other air fryers. However, you may need to adjust the cooking times depending on the air fryer you use.
🔪 How to Make Ready Meals in Air Fryer
Remember if your microwave food container is safe in the oven, it should be safe in the air fryer. Always check the package of the food you’re using to be sure. Remove any plastic overwrap and put the food in a parchment-lined air fryer safe container before beginning the recipe.
How to Cook Frozen Lasagna in Air Fryer
I air fried a 9.5-ounce (269g) Amy’s Vegetable Lasagna. The container is safe for the air fryer. Remove the plastic wrap from the lasagna and cover it in foil.
Preheat the air fryer to 375F (190C) for 5 minutes. Bake the foil-covered frozen lasagna for 45 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Uncover the lasagna and bake an additional 2-3 minutes to finish melting the cheese.
How to Cook Frozen Mac and Cheese in Air Fryer
For this, I air fried a 9-ounce (255g) Amy’s Mac and Cheese. The container is safe for the air fryer. Remove the plastic wrap from the frozen macaroni and cheese and cover it in foil.
Preheat the air fryer to 375F (190C) for 5 minutes. Bake the foil-covered frozen mac n cheese for 40 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Uncover the mac and cheese, stir, cover with foil again, and bake 15 more minutes.
How to Cook Frozen Stir Fry Meals in Air Fryer
I also air fried a 20-ounce (567g) package of frozen chicken fried rice (Primal Kitchen). The principles here are similar to bowl meals, such as Banquet mega bowls and Healthy Choice bowls. (Note: Cooking times may vary depending on the size of your meal. This was A LOT of food!)
Remove the stir fry meal from the bag and put it in an aluminum baking pan lined with parchment paper. Cover the aluminum pan with foil. If a sauce packet came with the meal, let it thaw in a bowl of water while the food cooks.
Preheat the air fryer to 375F (190C) for 5 minutes. Bake the meal for 30 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Stir, cover with foil again, and air fry 30-35 minutes.
Remove the foil and stir again. Air fry for 5 minutes uncovered. This helps evaporate any excess water in the meal while it finishes cooking.
Check the food with a meat thermometer. If it hasn’t reached a safe temp of 165F (74C), stir and air fry uncovered for 5 more minutes. (If your microwave meal lists a different safe internal temp, use that as a guide instead.)
How to Cook Frozen Chicken in Air Fryer
Additionally, I air fried a 16-ounce (454g) container of Kevin’s Roasted Garlic Chicken. This is a fully cooked refrigerated chicken that I froze. The packaging is not safe for the air fryer. I removed it all and put the chicken in a parchment-lined aluminum pan that was covered with foil.
Preheat the air fryer to 375F (190C) for 5 minutes. Bake the foil-covered frozen chicken for 30 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Then gently break the chicken up into pieces, cover with foil again, and bake 20 more minutes.
Check the temperature of the chicken after cooking to ensure it reached 165F (74C). While the chicken cooks, put the sauce packet in a bowl of water to thaw it. Change out the water as needed if it gets too cold.
Stir the cooked chicken and sauce together when the chicken has cooked. I like to serve this over a bed of spinach. I find this meal is big and filling enough to split into 2-3 lunches.
How to Cook Frozen Enchiladas in Air Fryer
I air fried a 9-ounce (255g) Amy’s Enchilada meal. These directions can be adapted to other frozen Mexican food.
The container for the Amy’s Mexican meal is safe for the air fryer. Remove the plastic wrap from the frozen enchilada meal and cover it in foil.
Preheat the air fryer to 375F (190C) for 5 minutes. Bake the foil-covered frozen cheese enchilada for 45 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Let it cool a few minutes before digging in.
How to Cook Frozen Curry in Air Fryer
I air fried a 10-ounce (283g) Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala meal. These directions can be adapted to other protein and grain meals, as well as Hungry Man dinners.
The container for the Saffron Road frozen meal is NOT air fryer safe. I removed the frozen rice and curry chicken from the container, and put it in an aluminum baking pan lined with parchment. (If your meal has an oven-safe container, there’s no need to do this.)
Cover the baking pan of food with foil. Preheat the air fryer to 375F (190C) for 5 minutes.
Bake the foil-covered frozen meal for 30 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. It will be thawed out at this point, but not very hot. Stir it, replace the foil cover, and air fry for 20 minutes more.
Check to ensure the chicken reached a safe minimum internal temp of 165F (74C). If there’s a separate sauce packet, let it thaw in a bowl of water while the food cooks. (There wasn’t with my Saffron Road meal.)
️⏲ Cooking Time and Temperature
What temperature for air fryer microwave meals? I made an air fryer microwave meal cooking chart for you that summarizes the information above:
| Meal | Size | Temperature of Preheated Air Fryer | Total Air Frying Time (minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frozen Lasagna | 9.5 ounces (269g) | 375F (190C) | 47-48 |
| Frozen Mac and Cheese | 9 ounces (255g) | 375F (190C) | 55 |
| Frozen Stir Fry Meals and Bowl Meals | 20 ounces (567g) | 375F (190C) | 70-75 |
| Frozen Chicken and Sauce | 16 ounces (454g) | 375F (190C) | 50 |
| Frozen Enchilada and other Mexican Meals | 9 ounces (255g) | 375F (190C) | 45 |
| Frozen Curry Meals | 10 ounces (283g) | 375F (190C) | 50 |
Remember to keep the meals covered with foil for most (or all) of the cooking time. That’s how to prevent food from drying out in the air fryer.
When in doubt, adapt the oven directions from packaging. If the oven directions are 375F (190C) for 45-55 minutes, I’ll generally try air frying it for a slightly shorter cooking time. In this case, I’d air fry for 40-45 minutes at 375F, checking the food after 30 minutes (in case it cooks more quickly than expected).
Sometimes the packaging will tell you what temperature to cook your microwave meal to. If there are no instructions on safe temp, a general guideline is to aim for is 165F (74C). This has you covered regarding the FDA guidelines for safe minimum temperature for all kinds of meat, poultry, and casseroles.
🌡️ Leftovers
Most TV dinners and microwave meals are intended to be single-serve. (Sometimes the packaging states otherwise, but realistically many eat the whole thing.) Reheating TV dinners will lead to a loss of quality, so I recommend only cooking what you’ll eat.
😋 How to Make Lean Cuisines Filling
Lean Cuisine used to sell microwave Salad Additions. These were basically a microwave meal that you’d put on top of your favorite salad greens. IMVHO, these were the most filling Lean Cuisine meals around, and I’m sad I can’t find them in stores anymore.
No worries though; you can recreate this experience at home by adding some bagged salad to your chosen microwave meal. I almost always add half of a 4–5-ounce (113-142g) bag of salad to the side of my meal. It’s one of the easiest ways to get some green veggies into your diet every day.
Fresh baby spinach and iceberg lettuce last a long time. Alternatively, go for spring mix or butter lettuce with a light dressing if you’d prefer.
Add some more protein to your meal if you’re still hungry, such as hard-boiled eggs or rotisserie chicken. With the right additions, you can build a meal that will keep you full, so you’ll snack between meals less.
FAQs
What’s the difference air fryer vs microwave oven?
Think of air fryers like mini convection ovens; they cook foods with hot circulating air. Microwaves heat food with radiation, channeling heat energy to molecules inside the food. Microwaves do a better job cooking foods quickly, while air fryers are better at creating a crisp, crunchy texture.
Do you need a microwave if you have an air fryer?
Since microwaves and air fryers cook foods in different ways, I would say that one doesn’t completely replace the other. It’s very difficult to get crispy foods with microwave cooking. Meanwhile, nothing beats the speed of the microwave for heating foods like soup.
Is the air fryer safer than the microwave?
Both air frying and microwaving are considered safe cooking methods, but some prefer to avoid microwave radiation. Like other kitchen appliances that generate heat, there is a risk of burns when the air fryer or the microwave is not used safely. You should not put metal in a microwave, and you should not put microwave-safe plastic in an air fryer.
Can I use microwaveable plastic in an air fryer?
No, as mentioned above, microwaveable plastic is generally not safe in the air fryer. This includes plastic microwave containers and plastic wrap. If it’s not oven safe, don’t put it in the air fryer.
What are the best keto microwave meals?
Primal Kitchen is a great option for low carb and keto microwave dinners. Check out their Chicken Pesto Bowl and Steak Fajita Skillet bag. The downside of these meals (and many other frozen dinners) is that they can be very high in sodium. For some on the keto diet, that will be seen as an advantage for electrolyte replenishment.
What are the best vegan microwave meals?
Amy’s Organics has been one of my favorite brands for vegan and plant-based microwave meals for a very long time. Check out the Moroccan Vegetable Tagine and the Indian Vegetable Korma. Some of the options are on the low end for protein, so I’d add some edamame, lupini beans, or another legume on the side.
👩🏻🍳 Other Quick and Easy Air Fryer Meals
Want more recipe ideas for easy meals in the air fryer? Here you go:
Watch How to Make It!
Ready Meals in Air Fryer (Can you cook ready meals in an air fryer?)
Ingredients
- 9.5 ounces frozen lasagna (269g) OR
- 9 ounces frozen macaroni and cheese (255g) OR
- 20 ounces frozen stir fry meal (567g) OR
- 16 ounces frozen chicken and sauce (454g) OR
- 9 ounces frozen enchilada meal (255g) OR
- 10 ounces frozen curry meal (283g) OR
- your favorite frozen meal
Instructions
- If your microwave food container is safe in the regular oven, it should be safe in the air fryer. Always check the package of the food you’re using to be sure. Remove any plastic overwrap and put the food in a parchment-lined aluminum pan (if necessary) before beginning the recipe.
- Preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C) for 5 minutes. Cover your tray of food with foil. We're going to be cooking all of these meals at 375°F (190°C).
- For frozen lasagna: air fry for 45 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Uncover the lasagna and bake an additional 2-3 minutes to finish melting the cheese.
- For frozen mac and cheese: air fry for 40 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Uncover the mac and cheese, stir, cover with foil again, and bake 15 more minutes.
- For frozen stir fry meals: air fry for 30 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Stir, cover with foil again, and air fry 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and stir again. Air fry for 5 minutes uncovered. This helps evaporate any excess water in the meal while it finishes cooking. Check the food with a meat thermometer. If it hasn’t reached a safe temp of 165°F (74°C), stir and air fry uncovered for 5 more minutes.
- For frozen chicken and sauce: air fry for 30 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. Then gently break the chicken up into pieces, cover with foil again, and bake 20 more minutes. Check the temperature of the chicken after cooking to ensure it reached 165°F (74°C). While the chicken cooks, put the sauce packet in a bowl of water to thaw it. Change out the water as needed if it gets too cold.
- For frozen enchilada meal: air fry for 45 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven.
- For frozen curry meal: air fry for 30 minutes in the middle of the air fryer oven. It will be thawed out at this point, but not very hot. Stir it, replace the foil cover, and air fry for 20 minutes more. Check to ensure the chicken reached a safe minimum internal temp of 165°F (74°C). Add more cooking time if needed.
- Note: If I've missed your favorite type of microwave meal, drop me a comment below! I will update this post based on your suggestions.
Notes
💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). You can find a microwave meal that will meet your needs, pretty much no matter what you’re looking for. There are gluten-free, low-calorie, high-calorie, low-carb, vegan, and Paleo meals available, and more. That said, there are some nutritional downsides to your standard TV dinner. Here are a few:- Many microwave meals are high in sodium
- Many microwave meals count as ultra-processed foods
- Frozen microwaveable meals tend to have a small volume and not be very filling (relative to the calories they provide)
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x
Nutrition
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Hello! I’m Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create recipes for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
If these meals are fully cooked, why do the have to stay in the air fryer for 50 minutes? And why do to have to check internal temperature?
Hi Howard, great questions! They take so long because they’re frozen and the air fryer takes much longer than the microwave to heat things through to the middle. Some of the fully cooked meals will still need to be heated to 165F because they technically count as leftovers https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety The packaging should state whether that specific meal needs to be heated to a certain internal temp or not if you’re unsure.
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Informative article, totally what I wanted
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Hi Danny, I’m so glad it helped you out!
what about marie callender’s frozen dinners like zete
Hi Jaime, you should be able to heat those in the air fryer! If they’re not in an oven-safe container, you’ll need to transfer the frozen food to something else to cook it in before covering with foil and air frying. Those big family-size Marie Callender meals might not fit in some air fryers. In that case, they’ll have to be broken up and cooked in smaller batches. The exact timing will depend on which meal you’re cooking. Thank you for visiting!