Courgette quarters in an air fryer
Fresh — the short answer
200°C (392°F) for 15–18 min
- For
- 500g in total
- In
- Dual-basket air fryer
- Published for
- Ninja Foodi Dual Zone AF300UK
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Part way
- shake the basket at about 8 min
- Check
- The cut faces have coloured and the pieces still hold their shape
Fresh courgette, quartered lengthwise and cut in 2.5cm pieces, gets eight to eighteen minutes at 200°C in one manufacturer's charts for two machines.
Manufacturer figures with no state given — 1 from a named machine, listed further down this page.
Fresh
The quick answer
200°C (392°F) for 15–18 min
Published range for 500g, cut in quarters lengthwise and then in 2.5cm pieces.
- Assuming
- 500g in total
- In
- Dual-basket air fryer
- Published for
- Ninja Foodi Dual Zone AF300UK
- Preheat
- Not needed
- Result
- Browned but not crisp
Preparation
Cut in quarters lengthwise, then in 2.5cm pieces, and tossed in a tablespoon of oil, as the row prints.
About 15ml of oil.
While it cooks
At about 8–9 minutes: Shake the basket
The chart tells the owner to shake or toss the food often, and recommends shaking at least twice during the cooking cycle. It prints that beside the whole chart, not against this row, and gives no moments for it.
How to tell it is done
- The cut faces have coloured and the pieces still hold their shape
- No pooled liquid in the bottom of the basket
Other figures for this state
Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone AF400UK — dual-basket air fryer: 200°C for 8–10 min
Published range for 500g, cut in quarters lengthwise and then in 2.5cm pieces.
Where these figures came from — fresh
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row from the manufacturer's own Quick Start Guide for this machine, under a block whose heading names the state. It is held as the chart prints it: its amount, its preparation and its oil where it gives them, and nothing where it does not.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-10
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this model. It is evidence about this appliance and is not general advice.
- This machine has two drawers. The chart prints one amount for the row and does not say which drawer it is for, or whether it is for one drawer or both.
- The chart heads this block Fresh Vegetables, and the row is held as fresh on that heading. The word is the block's and not the row's own.
Sources (1)
Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer AF300UK — Quick Start Guide and cooking charts
SharkNinja Operating LLC — Manufacturer cooking chart (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The state, amount, temperature and time for courgette quarters.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-10-10 from euronics.a.bigcontent.io
Retrieved from a retailer's document store, Euronics, which mirrors the manufacturer's booklet. Argos's manual library holds an earlier revision of the same guide, 200515_Mv1, which differs in a few printed amounts; the later revision is the one held here.
Chilled
Cooked as fresh: use the fresh figures above. Raw food sold chilled is the fresh state under another name, and the charts those figures come from start from fridge-cold.
Manufacturer figures with no state given
This is a published figure for one named machine. The manufacturer does not say whether this is fresh or frozen. So it is kept apart from the figures above, and not used as the answer for any of them.
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK: 200°C for 15–18 min
Published range for a kilogram, cut in quarters lengthwise and then in 2.5cm pieces.
What usually goes wrong
Collapse into wet strings. Courgette is over ninety per cent water with no starch to hold it, and a thin cut has nothing left once the cell walls fail — which is why the thicker quarter survives where a stick does not.
Running the appliance safely
The rules for the machine are the same whatever is in it: plug it straight into a wall socket, leave clear space round it, do not overfill it, do not leave it running unattended, and unplug it at black smoke or an electrical smell. They are set out once, each with its source and what to do if it has already happened, and not repeated on every food. Every rule for running an air fryer safely.
Courgette in fast-moving hot air
Courgette is over ninety per cent water in a soft, thin-walled structure with no starch and almost no sugar. There is nothing to crisp and very little to brown, and as soon as the cell walls fail the whole piece releases its water. Cutting thicker helps more than cooking hotter: a thick baton can lose its surface water and brown slightly before the centre collapses, where a thin slice cannot. It is also the food most improved by not crowding the basket, because the released steam has to go somewhere.
Where to go from here
The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.
- How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
- Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.
Easily confused with
- Courgette sticks — A different cooking problem with a different answer.
- Aubergine cubes — A different cooking problem with a different answer.