Air Fryer Accessories 2026: What to Buy and What to Skip

You bought the air fryer. Now the basket scratches, the crumb tray overflows, and cleanup takes longer than the cook time. The right air fryer accessories fix all three problems without turning your kitchen drawer into a gadget graveyard.

Why this matters

Air fryers only cook well when air actually moves around the food. Most complaints about soggy chips or unevenly cooked chicken trace back to the wrong accessory, not the appliance. Pick tools that fit your basket size and your cooking habits, and the machine you already own performs better without spending on a new one. If your kitchen drawers are already full of half-used gadgets, sort that out first with a kitchen organisation guide before adding more tools to the pile.

Who this is for

This guide is for home cooks who use their air fryer at least three or four times a week and want it to do more than reheat leftovers — busy parents batch-cooking dinners, couples in small kitchens with limited bench space, and anyone tired of scrubbing a basket by hand every night. If you cook for one person occasionally, you probably don't need half of what's below.

What to look for in air fryer accessories

Size compatibility

Air fryer baskets vary from around 2 litres to 10 litres, and an accessory that fits a friend's fryer might not fit yours. Measure your basket's diameter and depth before buying anything, because a liner or rack that's even a centimetre too wide won't sit flat and will block the airflow the whole appliance depends on.

Heat-safe materials

Silicone rated for oven and air fryer use handles the 180°C to 200°C range most recipes call for. Cheap plastic accessories can warp or release odours at those temperatures, so check the packaging states an air fryer or oven-safe rating rather than assuming any silicone will do.

Multi-use versatility

A rack that only holds one thing earns its drawer space slowly. Look for accessories that double up — a rack that works for reheating, dehydrating, and roasting gets used weekly instead of sitting unused after the first month.

Easy cleanup

This is the single biggest reason people add accessories at all. Dishwasher-safe liners and trays cut nightly cleanup from a five-minute scrub to a rinse, which matters more than any other feature if you're cooking daily.

Storage-friendly design

Stackable or collapsible accessories save drawer space, which matters in apartment kitchens and share houses. A rack that folds flat takes the same space as a placemat; one that doesn't takes up a whole shelf.

Value for the basket size

Match the accessory to how often you'll realistically use it. A rotisserie-style skewer set only earns its keep if you cook whole chickens or kebabs regularly — otherwise it's a one-off purchase that gathers dust.

Top picks

Silicone liners — the easy-cleanup pick. These sit inside the basket and catch crumbs, grease, and marinade before it hits the nonstick coating. Look for a set rated to at least 220°C so it handles high-heat settings without deforming. Buy if nightly cleanup is your biggest complaint about air fryer cooking.

Multi-tier racks — the batch-cooking upgrade. A two- or three-tier rack roughly doubles the food you can cook in one cycle, which matters for a family of four trying to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. Buy if you're currently running the fryer twice per meal to fit everyone's portions.

A small-kitchen gadget set — the all-in-one starter. Rather than buying liners, racks, and tongs separately across three different orders, a kitchen gadgets set built for small kitchens bundles the basics into one drawer-friendly package. Buy if you're setting up a first kitchen or replacing worn-out tools all at once.

Skewers and rotisserie accessories — the family-dinner upgrade. Useful for kebabs, satay, and small roasts, but only if you cook these dishes more than once a month. Consider if you already batch-cook proteins on weekends; Skip if your air fryer meals are mostly chips and reheated leftovers.

Oversized crisper trays — the wildcard. Marketed as fitting most air fryers, these often don't leave enough clearance for air to circulate in baskets under 5 litres. Skip unless you've confirmed the exact internal dimensions of your model first.

What to avoid

• Metal utensils and racks with sharp edges — they scratch nonstick coatings within weeks, and a scratched basket cooks less evenly and is harder to clean.
• Accessories with no stated heat rating — if the listing doesn't say oven-safe or air-fryer-safe to at least 200°C, assume it isn't and skip it.
• Novelty single-use moulds — egg bite trays, individual pizza racks, and similar niche tools sound useful but sit unused after the second or third try for most households.

If your gadget drawer is already overflowing before you've added any of this, sort storage first — a busy-family kitchen gadgets guide covers which tools actually earn a spot on your bench versus which ones belong in storage.

Verdict comparison table

Cooking for a family and want the routine to run smoother beyond the fryer itself? A meal-prepping kitchen gadgets guide covers the tools that speed up the rest of the weeknight cook, not just the air fryer step.

FAQ

One last thing

The accessory that gets used the most in 2026 isn't the fanciest one — it's the liner, because it's the one thing standing between you and scrubbing a basket every single night. Buy that first, and decide on the rest once you know how often you're actually cooking with the fryer instead of just planning to.

Related guides

• Fridge organisers for meal prep