---
title: "What’s cooking today: Caramelised butternut in an air fryer"
description: "Can you caramelise halves of butternut in an air fryer? I wanted to know, so I followed my instincts and adapted what I know to this method of cooking. Turns out, you certainly can."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "CARAMEL & CHAR"
author: "Tony Jackman"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/tonyjackman/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-15-whats-cooking-today-caramelised-butternut-in-an-air-fryer/"
published: "2024-03-15T12:30:57"
updated: "2024-03-04T20:54:39"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 333
---

# What’s cooking today: Caramelised butternut in an air fryer

> Can you caramelise halves of butternut in an air fryer? I wanted to know, so I followed my instincts and adapted what I know to this method of cooking. Turns out, you certainly can.

By Tony Jackman · Published 15 March 2024, 14:30 SAST · Updated 4 March 2024, 22:54 SAST

## Key points
- Learning to cook favorite vegetables in new ways
- Butternut can be tricky to cook, easily drying out in the oven
- Butternut caramelises beautifully when balanced
- Recipe for caramelised butternut in an air fryer: halve, season, and cook at 190℃ for 20 minutes, then 200℃ for 10 minutes

## Content

Butternut, gem squash, courgettes, potatoes; these are a few of my favourite things, but now I need to learn how to cook them in new ways.

My new learning curve, as you [may know](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-11-01-whats-cooking-today-air-fryer-roast-potatoes/) from my first foray into cooking roast potatoes in what is really a countertop convection oven, is about trying to cook, in an air fryer, some of the things I like to cook by other methods.

Butternut is a tricky critter to cook. In an oven, it dries out easily, going from that perfect, succulent orange flesh to a curled-up shadow of itself, in barely minutes.

But butternut caramelises beautifully too, and if you get the balance right you end up with a real treat.

**Ingredients**

1 medium butternut

Olive oil

4 small pieces of cassia bark

4 garlic cloves, crushed and dehusked

A sprinkling of caramel sugar

Coarse sea salt

Black pepper

**Method**

Halve the butternut, scoop out the pips and discard them.

Brush olive oil on the cut surface and in the cavities.

Put a piece of cassia bark (often marketed as stick cinnamon) in each cavity, and another piece on the flat part of each.

Smash the garlic with the flat side of a knife and take off the husks.

Put two crushed garlic cloves in each cavity.

Season the tops with salt and black pepper, and sprinkle a little caramel (or brown sugar) over. Only a little, it’s not dessert.

Preheat the air fryer to 190℃ and cook for 20 minutes.

Drizzle or spray a bit more oil on top.

Turn the heat up to 200℃ and cook for another 10 minutes.

Check to see whether it’s tender enough (pierce the flesh with a skewer) and, if not, put it in at 190℃ for 10 minutes more. **DM**

*Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF,*[*here*](mailto:tony@dailymaverick.co.za)

*Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram*[*@tony\_jackman\_cooks*](https://www.instagram.com/tony_jackman_cooks/)*.*

*This dish is photographed on a plate by*[*Mervyn Gers Ceramics*](https://www.mervyngers.com/)*.*