Unpopular opinion: Air frying frozen pizza rolls is a complete waste of time

I saw a video on TikTok saying you could make perfect pizza rolls in the air fryer, so I grabbed a bag of Totino's from my freezer. I set it to 400 degrees for 8 minutes like they said. What I got was a tray of little volcanic rocks that exploded all over the basket, leaving a burnt cheese mess that took 15 minutes to scrub off. The outside was like leather while the inside was still cold. I learned that some frozen foods just NEED the soggy microwave steam to cook right, or you have to thaw them first. The air fryer is amazing for so many things, but this was a total fail. Has anyone actually found a way to make these work without creating a disaster zone?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elliot1mo ago

Hold up, you just did it wrong. My air fryer makes them perfect every single time. You gotta spray the basket with oil first, that stops the sticking. I do 380 for 10 minutes, shake them halfway. They come out crispy, not leathery, and the inside is totally hot. @diana_black has the right idea with the lower temp, you just need to adjust the time.

jordan_webb1mo ago

My old toaster oven does a better job than my air fryer for those. I set it to 375 and they come out fine, no explosions. The problem might be the high heat and short time. It cooks the shell way too fast before the filling can thaw. A lower temperature for a bit longer usually works, but honestly, it's a bag of frozen pizza rolls. If the microwave gets them hot and tasty in 90 seconds, that's a win in my book.

diana_black1mo ago

Actually, the microwave can make pizza rolls a bit soggy sometimes. Air fryers are great because they keep the outside crispy. The trick is to start at a lower temp, like 350, for a few minutes to thaw the filling, then crank it up to get that crunch. It takes a little longer but the texture is way better than a toaster oven in my experience.