I got an air fryer last year and I'm still figuring out what I can actually make in it beyond chicken wings. I've seen some people mention making soup in theirs but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort or if stovetop is still better. What soups work well in an air fryer and do they actually taste different?
The earlier answer's right that air fryers aren't designed for liquid-based dishes - you'd be fighting the machine's whole purpose. Where an air fryer actually shines for soup-adjacent cooking is prepping components: roast veggies, toast bread cubes for croutons, crisp up bacon bits, or make broth-based proteins that you then combine into soup on the stovetop. If you're just trying to get soup on the table faster, stick with the pot; if you want to use the air fryer for texture work that goes into your soup, that's where it earns its counter space.
Are you looking to make soup faster, or are you trying to use the air fryer because your stovetop is busy?
The thing is, air fryers aren't really the best tool for soup. They work by circulating hot air, which is great for crisping things up, but soup needs liquid and consistent heat from below. What some people do is use the air fryer to prep ingredients - roasting vegetables, crisping bacon or croutons - then finish the soup on the stovetop. That's actually faster overall than doing everything by hand, and you get better results. Roasting vegetables in an air fryer does intensify their flavor compared to boiling them, so your final soup tastes richer.
If you want to cook an actual soup *in* the air fryer, you're looking at putting a heat-safe pot or small Dutch oven inside and basically using it as a convection oven. It works, but it's slower than the stovetop and doesn't offer much advantage. The air fryer basket isn't designed for holding liquid, and you lose the benefits of direct heat. You'd be better off sticking to the stovetop for the actual cooking.
My suggestion: use the air fryer for roasting your soup ingredients - carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes - at high heat for 5-10 minutes, then dump everything into a pot with your broth and finish it quickly on the stove. Vegetable soups, chicken soups, even French onion benefit from this approach. You'll get done faster than doing it all the traditional way, and the soup actually tastes noticeably better.
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