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The Best Ninja Air Fryer To Make Meals in a Snap

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Whether you’re looking to make healthier cooking choices or searching for kitchen tools that work in counter spaces, you’ve probably considered getting an air fryer. This innovative and super popular appliance can create everything from perfectly crispy French fries to wonderfully tender steak using little to no oil. Air fryers come in several different styles, including basket-style, which is great for foods like fries. An oven-style which is ideal for vegetables and proteins, and even toaster oven styles that can roast, bake, and broil in addition to air fry.

When shopping for air fryers it’s important to know what an air fryer is and what it does, there are a lot of things to think about besides just the style. It’s also important to consider the size, the features, and the brand. One of the most notable names in kitchen appliances is Ninja and just like their blender, they also have a high-quality air fryer line. If you’re in the market for a new air fryer and we’re curious about what Ninja has to offer, we’ve gathered the best Ninja air fryers for you to try.

Ninja Air Fryer Max XL

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The Ninja Air Fryer Max XL is one of the top-rated air fryers on the market. It features a 5.5-quart nonstick, dishwasher-safe ceramic basket that can hold up to 3 pounds and delivers up to 450 degrees of superheated air to cook foods up to 30% faster for hotter, crispier chicken wings and fries. This model offers 7 versatile cooking programs, including max crisp, air broil, bake, fry, and dehydrate. Each setting is pre-programmed with optimized fan speeds and temperatures to take the guesswork out of cook times, and a timer to ensure perfect results.

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Ninja Foodi 2-Basket Air Fryer

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If you’re looking for an air fryer made to handle heavy-duty tasks, the Ninja Foodi 2-Basket Air Fryer is the best in class. The highlight of this 8-quart air fryer is its dual drawer design, it has two 4-quart baskets each with its own separate fans and heat so you can cook main and side dishes at the same time.  Besides its double baskets, this model comes with features that you won’t find in other brands. It includes six versatile cooking programs and a special DualZone Technology. This feature allows you to choose between Smart Finish for cooking two separate foods at different settings that finish at the same time or Match Cook for cooking on the same setting in both baskets. Ninja makes cleaning up as fast as cooking with easy-to-clean baskets and dishwasher-safe crisper plates.

The Ninja Air Fryer

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Perfect for the entry-level air fryer user, the Ninja AF101 is their most affordable and most compact model but still offers the same guilt-free fried benefits. It features a 4-quart ceramic nonstick basket and crisper plate that can easily fit up to 2 pounds of food. It has a wide temperature range so you can fry, roast, reheat, and even dehydrate to make homemade dried fruits, veggie chips, and jerky.

Ninja Foodi Smart XL Air Oven

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The Ninja Foodi Smart XL Air Oven takes things to the next level by combining convection ovens with air fryer technology. This smart toaster oven offers 10 times the power and cooks food up to 30% faster than a traditional convection oven. It has ten functions for everything from air fry and whole roast, to pizza and toast, and its 2 levels are large enough to fit two 12-inch pizzas at once or a 12-pound turkey on its own.

The Smart Cook System offers a 90-second preheat and an integrated smart thermometer that monitors the internal doneness of your food so you’ll never under or over-cook food again. While it’s maybe more expensive than other air fryers on the market, the capabilities of the Ninja Foodi Smart XL Air Oven make it worth the price.

Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill with Air Fry

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Another multifunctional Ninja appliance, the Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill is an indoor countertop grill and air fryer all in one. This model uses 500 degree F cyclonic air and a combination of direct heat to sear, sizzle, and crisp food just like an outdoor grill. The grill grate can fit up to six steaks, 24 hot dogs, along with mains and sides at the same time and a built-in thermometer helps you achieve the perfect cooking temperature with four smart protein settings and nine customizable doneness levels. It has six cooking functions so you can grill, air fry, bake, broil, and dehydrate and thanks to its temperature-controlled grill grate, splatter shield, and cool-air zone it is guaranteed to keep the smoke under control and out of your kitchen.

Ninja Foodi XL Steam Fryer with SmartLid

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The Ninja Steam Fryer is a deluxe air fryer that comes with the ability to pressure cook, steam, and crisp. The SteamCrisp technology combines pressure cooking, steaming, and air frying in one machine so you can quickly pressure cook ingredients to lock in juices, then give them a crispy, golden finish. It has an extra-large capacity 8-quart ceramic nonstick pot and a family-sized 5-quart cook and crisp ceramic basket that holds up to 7 pounds. It has a total of 14 cooking functions—pressure cook, slow cook, air fry, steam & crisp, steam & bake, steam, sous vide, yogurt, sear, sauté, bake, roast, broil, dehydrate, keep warm, and proof. Unlike previous ninja pressure cookers, the Ninja Steam Fryer only has one lid that allows you to air fry, steam, and pressure cook so you can say goodbye to switching lids between different recipes.

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Lauren Paige Richeson
Lauren Paige Richeson
Former Digital Trends Contributor

Lauren Paige Richeson is an author and artist specializing in written, visual, and edible content. She wrote about Food, Recipes, Drinks, and Culture for The Manual. She's an Associate Editor at L'Oréal Paris Beauty Magazine, the author of Avocado Obsession Cookbook and her work has been featured in Cherry Bombe Magazine, Life & Thyme, LIVEKINDLY, Here Magazine & more.Lauren Paige is a Scorpio with a love of the beach, fiction, history, still life art, and fruits de mer. Please reach out to The Manual editorial staff with any questions or comments about Lauren’s work.

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