Create Delicious Meals With Less Oil
Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the bestproducts youcan learn more about ourreview process here.We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.
The Spruce / Chloe Jeong
Air fryers have gained popularity for producing crispy, evenly browned “fried” foods without the use of an actual deep fryer. They work by circulating hot air around food, similarly to a convection oven, and eliminate the need for much, if any, cooking oil, resulting in grocery savings and less cleanup.
Many consumers are convinced air fryers produce a superior fried finish on French fries, tater tots, and chicken wings, compared to a standard oven. They can even be used to make homemade chicken tenders and potato chips, making them worth the investment for fried snack food lovers.
Many air fryers are programmed with multiple cooking functions and can double as a toaster oven, convection oven, warmer, rotisserie, indoor grill, and more. With so many options on the market, it can be tough to choose the one that’s right for you, so we sent the top-rated air fryers to our experienced product testers to review. They cooked French fries, wings, and more, and tested out each appliance’s special features and additional functions beyond air frying. They specifically rated each air fryer on its design, heating capacity, performance, versatility, and overall value.
Here, the best air fryers, based on our extensive testing insights.
Best Toaster Oven Air Fryer: Instant Pot Plus 11
A beast of a machine with 11 smart programs , the Instant Pot Plus is the go-to appliance for making everything from morning bagels and apple crisps for snacking to proofing buns and air frying potatoes. It comes with an oven rack, a cooking pan, a rotisserie spit and forks, and an air fryer basket, and its large capacity fits 12-inch pizzas and whole chickens. The toaster oven air fryer achieves the same crispy texture as a deep fryer with 95% less oil than the latter usually requires. crowned it a “game-changer in the best way.” “It’s a little large, but it can accommodate two racks that can cook at the same time,” said the shopper. “I barely use my oven anymore.” The air fryer is out of stock at Amazon, but you can still find it at Williams Sonoma.
To buy: $200 williams-sonoma.com
Best Air Fryers Of 2021 According To Testing
These top-notch air fryers make crispy fries and wings with little oil.
We updated this story in November 2021 to include more information on air fryers and what to look for when buying. We also added more detail about how we test air fryers in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliance Lab and made sure that all of our picks were in stock.
Air fryers can be compared to small ovens that crisp up wings, fries, veggies and air-fried recipes with little oil. They come in several different styles, including basket-style, which is great for large batches of foods like fries and vegetables that benefit from shaking oven-style, which is ideal for cooking food on numerous shelves and often feature rotisserie accessories and toaster oven styles, which can toast, bake, broil and more in addition to air fry.
Air fryers create a nice “fried” finish that your oven range can’t compete with, and they also reheat food with results that blow away the average microwave. Plus, air fryers require only a small amount of oil to make foods crispy, which means a fraction of the calories and fat of traditional cooking methods, like deep frying.
How do air fryers work?
Are air fryers “healthy?”
How we test air fryers
- Performed the best in our lab tests â it made food the crispiest in the shortest amount of time
- Easy to use
- Some may think basket diameter is small
Best Value Air Fryer
- Cooks evenly for crispy results
- Affordable
Recommended Reading: Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls Costco
What We Think Of The Ninja Af161 Max Xl Air Fryer
One of the best parts about fried food is the crispy exterior. If you are a crispy lover, you need an air fryer with extreme crisping abilities, and only one air fryer really fits that bill: the Ninja AF161 Max XL Air Fryer.
This air fryer comes with max crisp technology because of its super heat. It can get as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The high heat allows the air fryer to cook quickly and crisply. It even comes with a convenient broil rack to ensure your meals have a crispy crunch or bubbly finish.
Of course, the Ninja AF161 Max XL Air Fryer is good for more than just crispy finishes. It also has the ability to air roast, bake, reheat, and dehydrate, making it another great multipurpose pick. In other words,
Now, lets talk about some of the downsides of the Ninja AF161 Max XL Air Fryer. It is highly expensive. Even though it offers multifunctional capabilities, it is much more expensive than the previous model, which proves that you can get an affordable air fryer that functions for many purposes.
I chose this air fryer because it has a smaller carbon footprint than others. It has multiple modes of cooking and has a great crisp option. The secret to this air fryer is to shake up the food every few minutes to make sure it is all crisped evenly. The fact that you can dish wash the cooking parts further makes it a better option than some of the other air fryers.
What Are The Benefits Of Using An Air Fryer
There are numerous benefits to using an air fryer to prepare fried foods:
- Air fryer is much healthier than deep frying since youre using air rather than oil. This results in much fewer calories and fat so you can enjoy more of your favourite crispy foods without the same health impact.
- Air fryers are much more convenient to use since they clean very easily and you dont have to fill them with oil, making them much lighter and easier to store.
- Air fryers are also much easier to use than a deep fryer since you can prepare your fried foods with just a few buttons.
- Your running costs are much lower since you dont need to continually purchase oil for your deep fryer.
- Air fryers are safer to use than a deep fryer since youre never exposed to hot spluttering oil that can easily burn your skin. Theres also a nearly 0% chance of a fire, something that is of higher risk with traditional deep fryers.
- An air fryer is much more versatile than a deep fryer since you can perform more than one function with them and you can put any food in your air fryer without needing to coat it in an egg wash, flour, and breading before frying.
Don’t Miss: America’s Test Kitchen Air Fryer
Caraway Cookware Fry Pan Review: Non
If youre reading this, youve probably decided to finally give into the air fryer rage. Get ready to say goodbye to pre-heating your oven, waiting for it to beep and patiently hoping your food doesnt burn.
The reason? Air fryers have taken the world by storm and were definitely not mad about it!
The hardest part about using an air fryer is choosing which one to buy. With so many appliance options, and each one housing its own set of features, it can be difficult to find the right one for your space and needs.
In an effort to help you find the perfect air fryer, we did all the research for you and rounded up the eight best options, according to reviews.
Each pick below has five stars and hundreds of stellar reviews. Our list includes brands from Ninja and Cuisinart to NuWave and COSORI.
Keep scrolling to discover the best rated air fryers on the market. Youll be cooking up a storm in no-time!
Cosori Smart Wifi Air Fryer 58qt Review: Wi
If you download the companys Vesync app, you can connect the Cosori Smart Wifi Air Fryer to the WiFi. This lets you program the air fryer from your phone as well as select recipes from the app. When you pick a recipe, it will set the temperature and time on the air fryer automatically.
We found the air fryer easy to connect to the WiFi and the app intuitive to use in terms of programming. Once youve accessed the app, it is a little easier to program the fryer than on the machine itself as it spells things out very clearly. It gives you the choice to turn off the preheat and to determine whether or not you want a reminder to shake your food and, if so, at what stage.
However, for safety reasons, you cant start the fryer remotely. Because of this, once the fryer is preheated, it doesnt automatically start cooking and you dont get a notice to press the start button again. All in all, we saw minimal benefit to the app, especially considering its not difficult to program the machine itself.
Once the WiFi is connected, you can give the fryer voice commands through Alexa or Google Assistant as well.
Don’t Miss: Jimmy Dean Breakfast Burrito Cooking Instructions
Whats The Best Food To Cook In A Small Air Fryer
As cooking space decreases in air fryers, so do your options for what you can cook. You wont be cooking any whole chickens or roasts in a 1 to 4-quart air fryer.
Small air fryers lend themselves best to chopped veggies or bite-sized meats. French fries, brussel sprouts, chicken wings, and shrimp are all great options. You still have enough space to even air fry a chicken breast or two or bake a couple of potatoes.
Editors’ Recommendations
How Much Oil Should I Use With An Air Fryer
A. The amount of oil to put in an air fryer varies based on the size of the appliance and what you are trying to achieve. Larger air fryers require more oil. Likewise, if you are trying to as closely as possible mimic deep-fried foods, you should use extra oil. Most people find somewhere between 1 teaspoon and 2 tablespoons is the ideal amount of oil for their needs.
Recommended Reading: Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwich Air Fryer
Air Fryers Are Fast And Fun
If you need a plate of chicken strips for a crowd, youll love having an air fryer in your kitchen. The best air fryers will have your food on the table in 15 minutes or less, and because they cook so quickly and efficiently, you can make multiple dishes in no time.
You wont have to hover over your air fryer when its cooking either. You can set a timer, walk away, and come back to crispy, delicious food.
Best Small: Philips Kitchen Appliances Avance Digital Turbostar Airfryer
-
Digital screen is easy to use
-
Substantial 2.75-quart basket
-
You dont have to rotate your food while cooking
-
Doesnt shut off when you open it
-
Housing gets hot
For a reliable and attractive option, we recommend the Philips Air Fryer Viva TurboStar. Philips isn’t as well known as Cuisinart or Breville, but they were one of the first manufacturers to bring air fryers into home kitchens.
The TurboStar has four preset functions for cooking popular meals , dishwasher safe parts, and a keep-warm function that makes sure your food remains warm and ready to serve while you finish other aspects of the meal. The digital display makes it easy to see the settings that are all controlled with a simple knob.
The proprietary TurboStar technology is also designed to cook foods evenly so you wont have to stop cooking to shake the basket of fries for the perfect poutine. Our reviewer cooked French fries, chicken tenders, and apple chips and everything came out exactly as expected. To make cooking even easier, theres a downloadable app that has 200 recipes designed for the air fryer.
The Spruce Eats / Lindsay Boyers
Capacity: 2.75 quarts | Power Rating: 1425 watts | Dimensions: 14.5 x 10.5 x 11 inches | Warranty: 1 year
Don’t Miss: Barber Foods Air Fryer
Nutribullet Magic Bullet Air Fryer
With a 2.5-quart capacity, this little-but-mighty air fryer is the perfect size for one-to-two people. It has a wide temperature range of 180-400 degrees Fahrenheit and is small enough for most kitchen countertops. “It’s my favourite appliance to use when preparing a quick meal,” writes one reviewer. “I’ve done chicken, veggies, egg rolls and other snacks. It comes fully cooked, hot and perfectly crispy.”
Cosori Air Fryer Max Xl
Cosori has rarely shied away from making top quality air fryers. The Max XL is visible proof of this statement. It boasts an award-winning design as its easy-to-use presets and the angled display has made it a darling of its users and experts alike.
Everything from mozzarella sticks, to frozen foods like French Fries and chicken nuggets, to onion rings turns out golden brown and delicious out of this air fryer. It also performs admirably with Brussels sprouts, thanks in no small part to its root vegetable mode.
Aside from offering 11 preset recipes, this unit has also made them easy to choose. A simple tap on display is all that is required to select any of them. With similar ease you can select cooking temperature and time. You may not have to read its manual to get up to speed with this air fryers working.
Cosori has provided this model with a non-stick, dishwasher safe and removable basket to sweeten the deal further. One that is free of harmful substances like BPA and PFOA and has the ability to fit a 6lb chicken with minimal fuss.
Pros
- Outside may get warm
Recommended Reading: Kalorik 10l Airfryer Oven
Best Indoor Grill Air Fryer: Ninja Foodi Xl Pro Grill And Griddle
Air frying might be a quick and easy way to make dinner, but many choose grilling as their preferred method because it’s so good at preserving natural umami flavors of ingredients while adding classic smoky elements from an open flame. With Ninja’s Foodi XL Pro Grill and Griddle, you can combine the best of both worlds. It comes with three baskets, one each for griddling, grilling, and frying, making it perfect for cooking burgers, making pancakes, grilling steaks and vegetables, and so much more. The tool heats up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and promises to balance edge-to-edge cooking so you won’t be left with charred bits on one side of your steak and raw meat on the other. Its large 12-inch cooking surface fits as much as six burger patties or pancakes, and cleaning up is easy since all its accessories are dishwasher-safe.
To buy: $300 bestbuy.com
Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer
- Cooks very quickly
- Large cooking surface
- Since foods cook quicker than most other appliances when using air fry, we recommend using a lower temp and keeping a close eye on food to help prevent burning
Cuisinart was one of the first brands to introduce a toaster oven air fryer that allows you to toast, bake, convection bake and air fry. We tested the pictured digital version, which not only made the most evenly-colored toast, but also the crispiest air fried food in the shortest amount of time. The rectangular 15.5- by 16-inch air fry rack offers a large cooking surface and sits atop a drip/crumb tray for easy cleanup. Since launching the toaster oven air fryer, Cuisinart also introduced a smaller version with the same features and quality performance.
Best Air Fryer Oven with Rotisserie
Power XL Air Fryer Pro
- Produced the most evenly golden chicken wings from rack to rack in our tests
- Offers many functions, including rotisserie and dehydrate
- Rotating basket isn’t the most effective use racks instead
Best Digital Air Fryer
- Includes a preheat function
- Steam escapes from basket during cooking
In our tests, the Cosori scored high for ease of use â and more than 800 five-star reviewers on Amazon agree. It also made good fresh fries and wings. Frozen fries required almost 10 minutes less than the manufacturerâs instructions, so keep an eye on the goodies youâre cooking. Steam came out of the air fryer during cooking, which caused condensation to develop on the drawer .
Recommended Reading: Farberware Air Fryer Toaster Oven Powerful Technology Preprogrammed Easy To Use
Instant Pot Vortex Plus
- Large capacity and cooking area
- Easy-to-use dial control
- Buttons can sometimes be hard to press
We were impressed with the performance of this air fryer from one of our favorite multi-cooker brands. Instant Potâs Instant Vortex Plus is sleek with its stainless steel face and large, easy-to-read buttons. It boasts six cooking settings, including air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat and dehydrate, with different programmable temperature and time settings. The dial allows for easy selection so you don’t have to click a button 100 times to get to the temperature youâre looking for. The air fryer basket is large and square, which creates more cooking space than its round competitors, making it a smart investment for a family. Its removable tray has a thin, hinged handle, so it’s easy to pull out but also lays flat to preserve the full cooking area.
Best Air Fryer Toaster Oven
Best Deals On Air Fryers From This Guide
Air fryers have developed a sort of cult following and are some of the most popular products sold on Amazon. They’re convenient, easy-to-use, and can make foods that are traditionally deep fried like French fries, chicken wings, and more. Air fryers are regularly discounted throughout the year. As you might expect, we typically see the best deals during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Prime Day. Some of our picks even see discounts of over $50 during the holidays â the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, for example, dropped to an all-time low of $130 last year.
However, we see deals on air fryers every week, and, while rare, some markdowns match those during deals holidays.
Here are the best deals we found on our air fryer picks.
Also Check: America’s Test Kitchen Deep Fryer
