One of my favorite air fryer creations is maple candied bacon. These strips make an indulgent sweet-salty snack or work terrifically as an interesting addition to salads and some sandwiches. And they are so easy to make quickly!

Putting foods I used to cook with a large amount of oil through the air fryer instead is fast becoming one of my favorite kitchen adventures. The air fryer cuts oil use down drastically and more often than not enhances the natural flavor of the food, especially when layering contrasting tastes and textures together. Sure, there are a few trade-offs (you can miss out on some texture and crunch from traditional frying) but on the whole, air frying is an exceptional taste and health experiment.

To make air fryer candied bacon you only need two, or three, ingredients. Bacon rashers, maple syrup, and chilli flakes. If you are not a chilli fan, you can leave them out, but I find a touch of warmth from the flakes helps create a better, deeper contrast between the sticky sweetness of maple syrup, and the naturally salty bacon.

You can use any style and flavor of bacon you like, just note that if it’s the thick stuff it will take longer. My preference is for thinner rashers, with the rind and fat included. If you have a bacon accessory for the air fryer that keeps rashers long and intact, then go for it, but I keep things simple by cutting the bacon into short slices that I can arrange neatly onto the bottom of the air fryer tray.

The best piece of advice that I can give you to make the bacon strips taste their absolute best, is to paint your bacon twice. Halfway through air frying the meat, you’ll likely want to flip it over anyway, so why not take it out and give it another quick paint and throw on a few more flakes of chilli? The extra minutes’ work will do wonders for the final result.

It’s a simple and delicious method of air fryer cooking, and apart from a bit of post fryer cleaning up (it gets a bit sticky!) is easy to make effectively and efficiently.