When it comes to oven vs air fryer cooking, I firmly believe that baked potatoes taste better in the oven. After numerous failed attempts, I’ve come to accept that my air fryer simply can’t deliver the same golden skin and fluffy insides.

Tired of limp, disappointing potatoes, I banished the air fryer to the back of the cupboard and began to wonder: what else can an oven do that an air fryer can’t?

Air fryer vs oven

According to Food Editor Sarah Murphy, who happily uses both appliances, vegetables baked in the oven develop a deeper, richer flavour.

“Air fryers are great for speedy crispy cooking, which is why we love them,” says Sarah. “But you may find that you don’t get the same depth of flavour as you do when roasting in the oven.

“When you roast vegetables in the oven, they’re typically placed on a baking tray. In contrast, the air fryer uses a rack or similar setup to allow air to circulate around the food.”

She adds: “This is great for crispiness and fast cooking, but I’ve found that often the flavour depth is slightly more enhanced when oven roasting. I think it’s the slightly longer cooking time, combined with the vegetables roasting in their juices, that gives that extra flavour. Ultimately, it does come down to personal preference and what’s most convenient for you!”

cookie dough going into the oven

I’m not saying the air fryer isn’t great—crispy nuggets in minutes are tough to beat—but when you look at what an oven can do better than an air fryer, there are plenty of dishes where the oven still comes out on top. Here are a few of them.

1. Meal prep Sunday

#mealprepsundsy is all the rage. But how do you expect to prepare 45 different meals in two hours on a Sunday afternoon using one air fryer? You can’t.

Air fryers are great for cooking for a small crowd, but when you need to feed the whole family (or prepare meals for the week), the oven wins hands down.

2. Crispy roast potatoes

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: oven-roasted potatoes are the superior potato. The secret? Preheat your roasting tin with oil or fat before adding the potatoes. They’ll sizzle on contact, creating that crunchy outside and fluffy inside air fryers can’t quite match.

If you want to go all out, parboiling potatoes before roasting them in the oven will help achieve that crispy outer layer.

3. Even baking for cakes and cookies

Sure, your air fryer can make decent cakes and cookies. But why settle for average when you could have cookies with a golden crunch and a gooey, molten centre?

One Reddit user demonstrated that oven-baked cookies hold up better than those made in an air fryer—the oven’s larger space and even heat help cakes rise and cookies bake evenly.

pizza cooking on oven

4. Perfect pizza

Fire up a pizza stone, and your oven transforms into the next best thing to a wood-fired pizza oven. Meanwhile, your air fryer is still struggling to squeeze in a single slice.

Pizzas need high heat for a crispy base, fluffy dough, and melted cheese. An air fryer can crisp the base, but its small size and heating style can make toppings overcook or dry out before the dough is ready.

5. Capacity

Air fryer: “I can do six chicken nuggets at once.”

Oven: “Hold my roasting tray.”

Unless you have a huge air fryer, you can’t cook several parts of your meal at once for the whole family. As one writer wrote, she loved her air fryer, but had to serve the chips from her fish-and-chip dinner as an entrée while the fish was still cooking.

6. Crusty artisan bread

Steam, steady heat, and room for your loaf to rise make the oven the undisputed champion of bread baking. Ask any baker and they’ll tell you: nothing beats the even warmth of a classic oven.

Air fryers can give uneven results, sometimes burning the crust and bottom before the inside is cooked. They aren’t great for sourdough, since fast cooking and no steam can hurt the crust. For a shiny, crackly finish in the oven, add a few ice cubes to a hot tray at the bottom. This steam trick works best in an oven.

roast chicken in the oven

7. Big roasts with room to breathe

The air fryer might be a hero for potato gems, but when faced with a Christmas turkey the size of a toddler, it throws in the towel.

From festive turkeys to hearty legs of lamb, the oven’s spacious interior allows heat to circulate evenly throughout, delivering juicy meat and crispy skin without a hint of crowding.

8. Doesn’t need to live on your benchtop

No hunting for cupboard space. No trendy matte-black plastic hogging your benchtop or clashing with your decor.

Your oven is the dependable roommate: always present, tidy, and never causing a fuss. The air fryer? Fun to have around, but always hogging space and making itself the centre of attention.

9. Saucy dishes

Air fryers aren’t great for dishes with lots of liquid or sauce because the intense, circulating heat can quickly dry out the food or cause splattering.

Casseroles, lasagne, and baked pasta all work much better in the gentle, even heat of a regular oven, where moisture is retained and flavours have time to mingle. The oven’s steady temperature lets the sauce bubble away slowly, cheese melt evenly, and the whole dish develop that rich, comforting texture you can’t replicate in an air fryer.

10. Meals that need to be cooked long and slow

Some dishes simply shine when given time—and your oven is built for it. Slow-cooked roasts, casseroles, pulled pork, and braised lamb shanks all benefit from hours of gentle, consistent heat, which allows flavours to develop and meat to become fall-apart tender.

While an air fryer excels at speed, its rapid, high heat isn’t designed for the kind of low-and-slow magic that turns tough cuts into melt-in-your-mouth meals. For comfort food that tastes like it’s been cooked with love (and patience), the oven wins every time.

Which is better, an air fryer or an oven?

It depends on what you’re cooking. Air fryers excel at small, quick batches—think crispy nuggets, reheated leftovers, or roasted veggies for two—and use less energy for these tasks.

Ovens, on the other hand, are better for larger meals, baking, slow cooking, and anything that needs even heat over a longer time. If you want capacity, versatility, and consistent results, the oven wins. For speed and convenience, the air fryer comes out on top.

Can an air fryer replace an oven?

Not completely. While air fryers can handle many everyday cooking tasks, they’re limited by size and cooking method. You can’t fit a whole turkey, bake multiple trays of cookies, or slow-cook a roast in most air fryers. An oven’s larger space, steady heat, and ability to cook several dishes at once make it irreplaceable for certain meals.

The best setup? Use both—the air fryer for quick wins and the oven for the big jobs.