Here is a review of the Ninja Foodi a pressure cooker and air fryer in one. It also dehydrates, broils, cooks, and more. Let’s dig into the good things and bad things about using a Ninja Foodi.
Meal planning is my jam. I’ve got it down and can quickly come up with a two week meal plan in 15 minutes. As my kids grow and join in on after school activities, getting dinner on the table gets tricker.
I was seeing all the talk about a pressure cooker and being able to cook an entire chicken in 30 minutes. That was so appealing to me because we raise our chickens here on the homestead.
Yet, I wasn’t convinced I needed another kitchen appliance. I didn’t see the difference between a pressure cooker and crockpot- besides it cutting down the time.
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When we remodeld our kitchen and I was able to buy a new stove I figured the convection cooking was my pressure cooker.
But air frying food? That was a whole new thing that was calling me.
And it wasn’t just me, because the Ninja foodi combines it all.
WHAT IS A NINJA FOODI?
The Ninja Foodi is a 6.5 qt. pressure cooker and a 4 qt. air fryer. The combination of using these two together is Ninja’s Tendercrisp foods.
WHAT COMES IN THE BOX
- 1400W Unit, Pressure Lid, Crisping Lid,
- 6.5-
qt . Ceramic-Coated Pot, - Stainless Steel Reversible Steam/Broil Rack,
- 4-qt. Ceramic-Coated Cook & Crisp Basket,
- Cook & Crisp Layered Insert and 45+ Recipe Cookbook
How Does it Pressure Cook & Air Fry?
The unit comes with a second lid that is used when pressure cooking. It’s a pretty heavy duty lid and you will need a place to store it. The lid has a seal valve you turn to close and open.
The Ninja came with two separate racks. The racks allow you to pressure cook different items at the same time. For example I did pototes on the bottom and venison steak on the top of the rack and pressure cooked for five minutes at the same time.
The Air Fryer method has a separate dish you use to air fry foods. This method uses the lid attached to the unit. The
PTFE/PFOA-free basket holds up to a 5-lb. chicken or 3 lbs. of French fries. It is
BONUS FEATURES ON THE NINJA FOODI
Before purchasing a Ninj Foodi read carefully all the functions that come with it. Cheaper ones will not have the deydrate function. My husband got ours at BJs during their 2018 Black Friday sale for $179 and it includes all the goodies.
This Ninja Foodi can also
The amazing options blows a standard crockpot out of the water and earns a step up on the pressure cooker.
What’s Good About?
The good news is already all the functions this thing has. It is simple to use and the recipe book it comes with is a huge help to familiarize yourself with the machine. It cuts down time cooking and allows you to do other things while your food cooks.
I love that you only use one dish to cook multiple foods at the same time.
If you need help meal planning use my favorite Meal Planning app here. Plus it’s only $6!
- Easy Venison Roast with Veggies Recipe in Foodi Ninja
- How to Cook a Whole Chicken in Ninja Foodi
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- Ninja Foodi Mac & Cheese Recipe
What’s Bad About it?
The bad part of it?
If you use it multiple times a week you need counter space to keep it. Because of lifting the lid throughout the cooking process you will need a spot where the steam can vent.
You don’t want it to close to your cupboards when you open the steam valve. That is my only negative. If you have the kitchen space for it go for it.
The price is higher than an air fryer or pressure cooker, but
Our First Foodi Meal
Each Friday I am going to share a recipe I made in the Ninja
I followed the super easy to read recipe in the Ninja Foodi recipe book that came with it.
I used frozen chicken wings and the taste was amazing. You wouldn’t have realized they were frozen. The total time for the chicken wings was 26 minutes. When you pressure cook it takes about six minutes before the pressure builds.
This means you always add on six minutes to the total cooking time when you are waiting.
The recipe said to use 2 lbs. of chicken, and I had no idea. The basket looked small to me but as I’ve cooked multiple meals in it, I realize it holds more than you think.
This is the heavy duty pressure cooking lid you place on top.
Every recipe tells you exactly what to put the settings to. For the chicken wings we hit pressure cook, HIGH and set the time for five minutes.
The timer doesn’t start until the pressure builds. This is where it takes about six minutes on top of your five-minute timer set.
And you just wait. Wondering can it really cook in five minutes?! The first time is super exciting and questionable.
Waiting is the hardest part, so while you wait, check out our chicken posts, pig posts, Debt free living posts or our DIY posts.
WOW! It worked. Five minutes later we have cooked chicken wings. Now the best part of the Ninja is crispy these up. When I make these again I am going to add a few minutes to get them crispier.
The great thing is you can customize all of this to your liking. After you pat the wings dry you add oil and use the lid attached to the unit to crisp.
I put the setting to Air Crisp temperature is 390 degrees F and time is 15 minutes. It is really important to check halfway through and shake the wings.
They were just the right crispiness for the kids and they wanted more and more.
While the kids were eating the wings I started the potatoes.
I used the Potato Wedges recipe in the Ninja book. I pressure cooked the potatoes on low for three minutes.
I added our favorite vegetable seasoning from Wegman’s to the potatoes. My kids liked this flavor better then the recipe in the Ninja cookbook.
If you haven’t tried this oil and you live near a Wegman’s grab it. It’s a must have for when your garden is booming! It could even help you get out of your garden burnout it’s that good.
After the time was up I used the crisping lid and set it to Air Crisp, 400 degrees F temp. and set the time to 18 minutes. The book suggests checking after 12 minutes. I pulled them out at the 12-minute mark because my kids won’t eat it crunchy.
Always check to see how crispy your family likes it.
It was a fun time using the Ninja foodi and I can’t wait to try out different recipes with it. Join me next Friday as we share a new recipe.
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I absolutely love this post! I am still a little jealous that I told you about this and you got it before me. Thanks to Foodi Fridays, I can be teased more and more. Lol. Just kidding. Seriously this thing is friggin great! I want one even more now!
Janelle, you are the reason I got one! I am so thankful for you bringing it up! I had no idea how popular they were, after using it, I totally see why. The best part about waiting is the price may get lower! Maybe this should be on the giveaway list for this year huh? 🙂
Nice . I gotta get one of those
I love this! Thanks for the review!
Thanks Lissa 🙂
Wow , I enjoyed your detail on fixing your meal. I laughed as you looked cute waiting for the chicken to get done. My husband would definitely love me to make chicken wings. I have a Power Pressure Cooker 10 quart, I love it but does not brown or crisp the food. I made an 11 pound Turkey for Thanksgiving and it was delicious. Also made the mashed potatoes in it too as I’m in a 5th wheel and don’t cook with propane.
Ohh yes so you get the food being cooked quickly and everything stays moist! The crisping is really what sold me on wanting the Ninja. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post.
🤔 dsng it now I want one…lol thank you for posting 💕
HAHA yes it is quite the machine!
Wow now I think I want one .
What, cooks in 5 minutes. That’s what I need. That saves a whole lot of time in the kitchen. Love the pic of you waiting for it to be done, your like hmm wonder if it really cooks in 5 minutes. You look a little skeptical 🤨
Yes I really was. The hesitation of frozen chicken wings in five minutes, seemed too good to be true.
Like everyone else, love the look on your face watching it cook, the anticipation, of is it really going to do what it says it will? I am a kitchen gadget junkie for sure and anything kitchen stuff. I do not have this thougj, I do keep telling my hubby we need one but je says, if I get rid of a bunch of the other stuff first that does all the stuff tjis does then I can, just not to tjat point yet. Im working on purging this spring after my daughters wedding and all thats over and I hactually have some time. Thanks for tje review Tasia, loved it.
This might have put me over the edge in buying one! I was on the fence about it, and now i am going to get one. I look forward to your Friday recipes! Thank you!
This sounds amazing! Now the question is…. would one get rid of their instant pot and air fryer?
I would! LOL! It really does both and well, if you have the Ninja Foodi probably won’t be bringing out the air fryer. Unless your Air Fryer is larger capacity than the Foodi. 🙂
Thanks for the article. I got a Foodi for Christmas and it took me a month to get around to opening it because it looked so intimidating! I was wondering if you have used both the layered insert and the reversible rack simultaneously. I can’t find anything about how to use the 2 racks together to increase the capacity of the Foodi. One of the few complaints I have about it is that trying to make a whole dinner for 4 good eaters is almost impossible. It doesn’t cook that much food on one rack, so I’m thinking about purchasing the layered insert (mine did not come with one).
Hello! I have not tried both but I am willing to do it! I agree the one rack is too small. Im so glad you stopped by and I hope you check out more Foodi articles!
I’m really excited about the air fryer! Sounds amazing