Almost every oven recipe converts to the air fryer with two small moves: lower the temperature by 25 degrees and shorten the cooking time by about a fifth. Learn the two rules once and you will never look up a conversion again.
The standard oven-to-air-fryer conversion is: subtract 25 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) from the oven temperature, then multiply the oven time by 0.8. A 400 F recipe for 20 minutes becomes 375 F for 16 minutes. Check the food a few minutes early the first time, and shake or flip it halfway through.
Do the conversion in your head, or let the calculator do it: enter any oven temperature and time for the exact air fryer settings.
Rule one: drop the temperature 25 degrees
An air fryer is a small, fierce convection oven. The fan drives hot air across the food at high speed, so heat transfers faster than in a still oven. Running the full oven temperature in that environment browns the outside before the inside finishes. Dropping 25 degrees Fahrenheit compensates almost exactly. If the recipe is in Celsius, drop 15 degrees instead.
The rule holds across the whole dial. An oven set to 450 F becomes 425 F in the air fryer; 350 F becomes 325 F; 300 F becomes 275 F. In Celsius, 220 C becomes 205 C and 180 C becomes 165 C. Round to the nearest 5 degrees if your air fryer dial moves in steps, which nearly all of them do.
Rule two: multiply the time by 0.8
The same fast-moving air that demands a lower temperature also finishes the job sooner. Most oven recipes need about 20 percent less time in the air fryer, which is the same as multiplying the oven minutes by 0.8. A 30-minute oven recipe becomes 24 minutes; a 45-minute recipe becomes 36.
For odd numbers, round to the nearest minute and plan to check early anyway. Twelve minutes times 0.8 is 9.6, so call it 10 and start peeking at 8. The check-early habit matters more than exact arithmetic, because every air fryer model runs a little hot or a little cool.
Worked examples
Frozen pizza at 400 F for 20 minutes in the oven: subtract 25 for 375 F, multiply 20 by 0.8 for 16 minutes. Start checking at 13. Roast chicken pieces at 425 F for 45 minutes: 400 F for 36 minutes, flipping once. A casserole at 350 F for 30 minutes: 325 F for 24 minutes, covered with foil if the top browns too fast.
A Celsius example: roast vegetables at 200 C for 25 minutes become 185 C for 20 minutes in the air fryer. Another: 180 C for 40 minutes becomes 165 C for 32 minutes. The pattern never changes, which is what makes it reliable enough to memorize.
Why it works
Conventional ovens heat mostly by radiation from the walls and elements, with still air acting as a mild insulator around the food. An air fryer replaces that still air with a constant blast, stripping away the cool boundary layer that normally slows cooking. Lower heat plus less time reproduces the same total heat delivered, just on a compressed schedule.
This is also why the conversion is a starting point, not a law of physics. Foods with huge surface area, like fries or wings, track the rule almost perfectly. Dense foods behave a little differently, which is where the exceptions below come in.
When to break the rule
Delicate baking is the main exception. Cakes, custards, and souffles depend on gentle, even heat and precise timing, and the air fryer's aggressive airflow can set the outside while the center stays liquid. If you adapt a cake recipe anyway, drop a full 25 degrees but keep a closer eye on time than the 0.8 factor suggests, and expect a denser crumb.
Very thick roasts are the second exception. A thick pork loin that converts to 375 F for 40 minutes may brown deeply on the outside while the center lags. Go 25 degrees lower than the rule says and add time back, finishing with a thermometer rather than the clock. The third exception is food cooked from frozen: add 2 to 4 minutes over the converted time, since the rule assumes thawed food.
Mistakes that ruin conversions
Overcrowding is the most common one. The conversion assumes air can circulate, so food piled two deep cooks unevenly no matter how perfect the math is. Cook in a single layer and work in batches. Skipping the preheat is next: a 3 to 5 minute preheat matters most for breaded and frozen foods, and skipping it costs you a minute or two of converted time.
The last mistake is trusting the converted time blindly. The 0.8 factor gets you close; your eyes and a thermometer get you the rest of the way. Check a few minutes early the first time you convert any recipe, note what your machine actually needed, and the second batch will be exact.
Frequently asked questions
What is the rule for converting oven recipes to an air fryer?
Subtract 25 degrees Fahrenheit (15 Celsius) from the oven temperature and multiply the oven time by 0.8. A 400 F, 20-minute oven recipe becomes 375 F for 16 minutes in the air fryer.
What is 350 F in an air fryer?
325 F. Apply the 25-degree rule: 350 minus 25 equals 325. A 30-minute oven time at 350 F converts to 24 minutes at 325 F in the air fryer.
Do you reduce cooking time when using an air fryer?
Yes, by about 20 percent. Multiply the oven minutes by 0.8. The circulating hot air cooks faster than a still oven, so the same food finishes sooner at the lower temperature.
How do you convert Celsius oven temperatures to air fryer?
Subtract 15 degrees Celsius instead of 25 Fahrenheit. A 200 C oven recipe becomes 185 C in the air fryer, and the time still gets multiplied by 0.8.
Does the oven-to-air-fryer conversion work for baking cakes?
Not reliably. Delicate bakes like cakes, custards, and souffles can set on the outside before the center finishes in the air fryer's strong airflow. The rule works best for roasted foods, breaded items, frozen foods, and reheating.
Related conversion guides
How Long to Cook Chicken Wings in an Air Fryer: How long to cook chicken wings in an air fryer: fresh and frozen times.
Air Fryer to Oven Conversion: Air fryer to oven conversion: running the rules in reverse.
Air Fryer Conversion Chart: Air fryer conversion chart: every temperature and time, tabulated.
Microwave to Air Fryer Conversion: Microwave to air fryer conversion: times for frozen foods.