Maggi Expands Air-Fryer Crispy Mixes Across Three Markets

By Noah Mercier

Nestlé is expanding Maggi’s air-fryer range across three markets, bringing the brand’s first air-fryer-specific crispy mixes to Switzerland and Brazil while adding new flavours to the existing range in Chile. The company announced the move on May 18, 2026, describing the products as seasoning and coating mixes designed for fresh ingredients.

The announcement is relevant to home cooks because the mixes combine two jobs usually handled separately: seasoning and coating. Instead of preparing a seasoned flour, breadcrumb mixture or spice blend from scratch, cooks use one local product designed for the air-fryer format. The range is intended for foods such as chicken, vegetables and potatoes, although the exact recipes and pack instructions differ by country.

What Maggi is launching

Nestlé’s global announcement says Switzerland and Brazil received the range for the first time, while Chile received additional crispy flavours. The company does not present this as one worldwide launch, and it does not give a single international availability date. Availability therefore depends on the market and should be checked locally rather than assumed from the global announcement.

Further details are available in Nestlé Switzerland’s March 24 launch note. The Swiss range includes four mixes: Crispy Chicken Cheese, Crispy Chicken Tex-Mex, Mexican Style Fajita and Paprika Fries. The Swiss announcement says the mixes can also be used in a conventional oven, making the format relevant to households that do not own an air fryer.

Nestlé’s presentation focuses on convenience, but the practical change is more specific than a general claim that air fryers are fast. The coating is supplied as part of the mix, so the preparation is built around fresh food rather than a fully prepared frozen product. That distinction matters for cooks who want a crisp coating while still choosing the main ingredient themselves.

A simple way to use the mixes

The Swiss instructions describe a short preparation: combine the fresh ingredient with one tablespoon of oil and the chosen air-fryer mix, then cook it in the air fryer. Because the products and pack sizes vary by market, the package should be treated as the controlling source for the ingredient quantity, cooking time and temperature.

Prepare the fresh ingredient and keep raw poultry separate from ready-to-eat food.
Coat it with the amount of oil and mix specified on the local packet.
Arrange the pieces in a single layer where possible, leaving room for hot air to circulate.
Cook according to the packet instructions, turning or shaking only if the instructions call for it.
For poultry, check that the centre is fully cooked with a food thermometer and follow local food-safety guidance rather than judging safety by colour alone.

The single-layer step is a useful practical precaution even when it is not a product claim: overcrowding can reduce airflow and produce uneven browning. It is also worth remembering that a crisp surface does not prove that thicker pieces are safely cooked inside. Raw chicken, in particular, should be handled with clean utensils and kept away from salad, bread and other foods served without further cooking.

What the announcement does—and does not—say

Nestlé presents the mixes as part of its “Modern Cooking” activity and links the launch to the popularity of air fryers. That is a company positioning statement, not an independent performance test. The announcement provides no comparative data against homemade coatings, other brands or different air-fryer models, so there is no evidence here to claim that the mixes cook faster, crisp more evenly or taste better than alternatives.

For home cooks, the most defensible takeaway is narrower: the mixes offer a convenient way to season and coat selected fresh foods, with country-specific products and instructions. They may reduce preparation work, but they do not remove the need to check the ingredient, follow the packet and cook poultry safely.

The launch also illustrates how air-fryer products are moving beyond appliances and frozen snacks into packaged cooking aids. Whether that is useful will depend on how much a cook values a repeatable coating compared with the flexibility and lower cost of mixing spices and crumbs from pantry ingredients.

Read the official Nestlé announcement for the global rollout summary and the Nestlé Switzerland launch note for the Swiss product details. Neither page establishes availability outside the named markets, so shoppers elsewhere should not treat the announcement as confirmation that the mixes are sold locally.