“It has been absolutely mental.” Nathan Anthony, the Belfast business consultant and home cook who shot to fame on social media during the pandemic with his Bored of Lunch food blog, is not exaggerating. His first cookbook, The Healthy Slow Cooker Book, a spin-off from the blog, topped the best-seller charts in the UK and Ireland when it was published in January, and now he’s back just two months later with a follow-up, The Healthy Air Fryer Book.
Demand for the slow cooker title, the fastest-selling book of its kind, took his publishers, Penguin Random House, by surprise. “The numbers have been terrifying, particularly in [the] UK. We couldn’t print the book quick enough. We had four or five factories around Europe printing it,” Anthony says. From an initial print run of 15,000 copies, 504,000 copies of the two titles have now been printed, so far.
He was approached by a number of publishers before signing with Penguin, and there are several more books in the pipeline. Celia Palazzo, commissioning editor at Ebury Press, says: “The response to Nathan’s first book has been truly incredible to witness. Nathan has built something really special with his community of followers and his recipes come from a true place of authenticity. Nathan was a busy home cook who wanted to make healthy food in a way that wasn’t going to break the bank.”
The numbers are perhaps less surprising when Anthony mentions that his social media following has grown to just under 3 million, across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. There is large support for his cleverly shot, quick-fire recipe videos that get a healthy dinner on the table quickly. “I think that’s probably the appeal, I cook in a way that suits people that just don’t have time,” he says.
He has reduced his hours at the FTSE100 company he works for in Belfast, but has no plans to make food content creation and writing his full-time career. “I don’t want to give it up. I went to university and I studied hard, and did my postgraduate, and I’ve been with the same employer since I finished.”
Doing both jobs means he works a 60-70 hour week, doing meal prep and filming before work and uploading in the evening, as well as fitting in time to go to the gym. His interest in fitness and health is what led to the calorie counts being added to all of his recipes. “They’re there for people to use and to eat based on their lifestyle choice, but it’s not a diet book, and it’s not a reduce your calorie count book. The thing that I really preach is that it’s all about balance.”
The air fryer book is expected to surpass the staggering sales chalked up by the slow cooker one. “I think air fryers are very much front and centre at the moment,” he says, and his favourite model is the Ninja two drawer. “Obviously, they’re energy efficient, which is probably why most people are buying them, but for me it’s the calorie focus and the health focus as well. I make a lot of fakeaways in my air fryer, so rather than ordering honey chilli chicken or beef and black bean from my local Chinese, I make it myself in my air fryer and it’s a lot healthier.”
As his media profile grows and he branches out into TV appearances – he made his debut on the Six O’Clock Show – the 32-year-old is getting used to being recognised in public, something that he is not completely at ease with. “There have been times where I find it slightly overwhelming. I was in the Maldives in November and someone in the resort was like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re that Bored of Lunch guy!’ That’s something that I’ve had to get used to.”
Recipe: Air fryer coconut panko prawns and peanut sauce
Recipe: Air fryer ‘nduja stuffed arancini balls
Recipe: Air fryer salted chilli chicken
Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book, by Nathan Anthony, is published by Ebury (£18.99). Photography by Claire Wilkinson
