The best Ninja air fryers of 2024, for easy, healthy meals

The best Ninja air fryers don’t top the kitchen charts by chance. The brand is committed to offering top-quality performance for every kind of kitchen and family. Need a compact option? Dine out on the DoubleStack. Want a family-sized air fryer? The Ninja Foodi Dual Drawer will more than deliver. Searching for an air fryer oven? The Combi has you covered. And that’s just three of Ninja’s offerings.

As soon as you hear about Ninja, you’ll see them everywhere. As an appliances expert, who has tested over 70 of the best air fryers in the last year and a half, I can promise that Ninja air fryers are every bit as good as their reputation promises. I've lived with them in my home, had meetings with Ninja's design team, and conducted lots of customer research. Ninja air fryers really are the best.

Whilst I would happily use any of their offering in my home, different models will undoubtedly be better suited to specific homes. Ninja’s dual-drawer air fryers are perfect for families, serious chefs, and busy kitchens. Their air fryer oven, the Ninja Combi, can cook a whole roast dinner (yes, really), and their smaller, cheaper models will suit even the most compact kitchen. I know, because the woman&home team and I have tested these all out and most of us ended up buying them for our kitchens after using them. In my book, that's the ultimate cooking compliment.

My top 9 Ninja air fryers

The best Ninja air fryers, as tested by our experts

Before we get into the details of the best Ninja air fryers, it's worth having a chat about some of the terminology. Skip this if you're already an air fryer geek, but it can be really helpful to know a few differences before you shop:

• Dual and single zones: once you know what these are, they're pretty simple. A single zone air fryer just has one drawer or basket to cook in. It's like a mini oven. If something is 'dual zone', it has two separate baskets that cook independently.
• Foodi air fryer range: this is Ninja code for an appliance that comes with versatility. Most of these will have the following functions: Air Fry, Bake, Pressure Cook, Sear/Sauté, Slow Cook, Steam, Grill, Yogurt, Dehydrate, Steam Air Fry, Steam Bake, Prove, Steam Meals, Steam Bread, Steam Roast, Probe & Keep Warm.
• Speedi air fryer range: as the name suggests, these Ninja appliances prioritise quick cooking over everything else.
• Similarly the Combi range is all about blending different functions. It's a little bit like the Foodi collection, in that your air fryer will have lots of functions. However, the difference is that some of the Combi's settings will blend air frying with another function. There's combi crisp (which is super quick, almost like air fryer grilling); combi steam (air frying and steaming to keep food tender); combi bake (steaming and baking to keep your dishes moist); combi meals (this lets you complete a three-part meal in one)
• MAX in an air fryer name means that it includes the Max Crisp function, which is designed to cook food from frozen. Essentially, it extends the temperature range of your air fryer up to 240°C (rather than 230°C)
• SmartLid: this is a feature exclusive to Ninja's multicookers, but you'll see the term crop up, because a lot of their slow cookers and multicookers have air fryer functions. Essentially, it means that you can use the same lid for every function (you won't need to change it like you might on other multicookers). This will also automatically release steam.
• Special features: any time Ninja pushes two words together, to make sense of them, you'll need to split them up again. For example, the DoubleStack is so named because it is a double stack of air fryers. There is one drawer that sits on top of the other, rather than beside it. Similarly, the FlexDrawer is a flexibly sized drawer.

Best Ninja air fryer overall

Image 1 of 4

If you were to peep behind the scenes in the woman&home test kitchen, you'd see that this is the air fryer that we live, love, and swear by. All of our magazine recipes are developed in here, our lunches are cooked in here, and lots of the team have these in their own homes, including Kerrie, the woman&home Digital Editor. It's a reliable fryer, what can I say?

If you're keen to know more about the best Ninja air fryer of all time, here's a little summary. The Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer cooks using two drawers. This means that you can have two different foods, cooking on different modes, at different temperatures, for different times, and they'll still achieve perfection. The best way to use them is with a 'sync finish', so you can set your chips and fish fingers to finish cooking at the same time. No food will get cold waiting for the other.

I tested this AF300 by using 'bake' mode to heat up a pie on one side and 'air fry' mode for chips on the other. The results were perfect: the pie was golden and piping hot, while the chips were crispy on the outside and soft within. And best of all, it was just so quick: from start to finish, everything took less than 20 minutes.

I also tested the 'max crisp' function by cooking frozen chips. In less than 10 mins they were, cooked to perfection It is not possible to adjust the temperature when using the 'max crisp' function, so the enclosed recipe brochure was handy for getting the timings right. It also offers plenty of food for thought if you're all out of dinner ideas. I've got my eyes firmly on the halloumi fries recipe if you were wondering.

There were some small downsides: it is quite loud, although, for most people, this noise becomes background kitchen hustle and bustle. It also set the fire alarm off twice the first time I used it, presumably due to the heat it was expelling. However, some ventilation—either through the kitchen fan or a window—should fix that issue.

You can read Kerrie's article to find out more

Best Ninja air fryer for couples

Image 1 of 7

Finding an air fryer for couples, or even an air fryer one person, can be tricky, because lots of brands are developing models that are just bigger and bigger. Luckily for you, Ninja decided to focus on delivering the same crispy, impressive results in some compact options too.

There are a few options in Ninja's range of small air fryers, but the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 wins the award as the Ninja air fryer for couples. The curved edges and compact footprint is relatively subtle on the kitchen counter and yet you'll still get to enjoy a decent 5.7L capacity, which I would say is enough to feed a small family.

Millie, one of our air fryer experts, tested the AF160 on homemade fish and chips and it was delicious: the breaded fish was crispy and flaky, while the chips were perfectly golden. She says "this is where the 'max crisp' mode comes in really handy. Ninja has designed this specifically for frozen food, because it circulates air hotter and faster, so that even ice cold chips can be crip and golden in 15 minutes. And they really were."

When I got this message, I experimented with the other modes: the 'reheat' function brought a slice of pepperoni pizza sizzling back to life, without turning the base to cardboard. I also tried the MAX AF160 out on some frozen breakfast pastries (pain au chocolat, if you're wondering, air fried for about eight minutes), and they were cooked with an even finish and a melt-in-the-middle centre. They did need a moment or two to 'sit' and cool down before eating, though. 

Read Millie's full Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 review

Best Ninja air fryer for a family

Most people would be hard-pressed to get a healthy, hot meal for the whole family on the table in less than twenty minutes. I emphasise most, because the people who can feed a family with those conditions are highly likely to own the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer. It's a big air fryer, with a 10.3L capacity (definitely roast dinner worthy), so make room on your work surfaces. Your dinnertime hero is here. 

Our expert tester and qualified Home Economist, Helen McCue, tested the FlexDrawer, and gave it a full five-star rating, saying: "If you’ve jumped into the air frying craze with both feet, but struggle to fit family size meals in your current air fryer, the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer is the one you need to upgrade to. It handled everything from a loaf cake to a leg of lamb with ease, and is one of Ninja's best-looking air fryers to date."

One of the biggest selling points of this model is its ability to transform the cooking area from one large drawer to two (using a simple divider). It means you can use it for everything from roasting a joint on its own, and then following it up by cooking potatoes and vegetables at the same time. 

It has seven different cooking functions (there really is little it can't do), which might sound scary, but Helen reported the control panel to be really user-friendly. "It’s self-explanatory from the moment you look at it. The big dial scrolls through the seven cooking modes. The screen displays the cook time and temperature with corresponding up/down arrows on either side to adjust the settings." You still get to enjoy the benefits of a dual drawer air fryer, setting different zones with different heat and cooking settings, but when you just want to do a big bake, savoury or sweet, you can make use of one large drawer.

My only complaint is that, even though this can become two separate zones, you have to open them as one, unlike the Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone Air Fryer. This can spoil the food that needed longer to cook, so if you know you'll mostly need to cook two foods at once, I'd advise going for one of Ninja's Dual Zone models.

Read Helen's in-depth Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L AF500UK review for more.

Most versatile Ninja air fryer

Image 1 of 4

Pressure cookers, slow cookers, and multi-cookers haven't always welcomed air frying into their club. However, as Ninja's air fryers expanded to offer up to twelve different settings (check out the Ninja Combi), they launched an appliance that boasts 11 impressive functions — and it's ended up becoming a reader favourite. I get emails asking (and praising it) almost weekly.

Most of Ninja's air fryers can work with very little oil, but Jessica, one of our expert testers said that this was particularly effective. "It worked a charm on my thick-cut chips and breadcrumbed fish fillets," says Jessica, "the spuds were golden, with crunchy jackets and fluffy middles, while the fish was plump and flaky underneath its browned, crumbly crust. Even when I drizzled a teaspoon of oil over them, they tasted like a good pub lunch. I'm beyond impressed." 

I have also tested this and comfortably cooked a meal for three in the air-fry basket, rustled up a jacket potato in as little as 45 minutes, and brought a day-old baguette back to life in no time (a quick splash of water and just 4 minutes on 200C reinstated both its crustiness and warm, soft centre). 

I found the accessories (a pot, air frying basket, and removable rack) helped me to really use this multicooker to its potential, and it was with a sigh of relief I learned they can all be flung in the dishwasher safely, too.

You might think that having 11 functions would make this piece of gear tricky to use, but I found the controls easy to get the hang of – there’s a slider, dial, and arrow keys for selecting function, temperature, and cooking time – and there’s a clear digital display, too. Iloved that the lid is attached by a hinge and that it opens to the side to keep your hand away from any steam or heat that’s built up inside.

I can’t pretend this hunk of a small appliance didn’t take up considerable amounts of space on our countertop, but it works hard enough to justify the sacrifice. 

Find out more in Jessica's full Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 SmartLid Multicooker review

Best budget Ninja air fryer

Image 1 of 6

If you're a first-time air fryer, listen here. This is the model that I recommend to anyone who's on a tight budget or a bit nervous about jumping on the trend. You can't really go wrong here. The AF100 is one of Ninja's cheapest models and it's also one of their most compact, but it still delivers on the check-me-out-I-own-a-Ninja-air-fryer factor for when your friends come around.

Lots of people struggle to tell the difference between the AF100 and the AF160, which is no surprise. They look almost identical. I've put all of the differences in a graph below, because it can get a little confusing when it's all typed out:

Differences aside, I love this compact option for couples, singles, small kitchens, and tight budgets. Helen was our official product tester for the AF100, but I have one of these at home and I use it regularly, so I can testify to how good it is. Where this really excels is on simple tasks. For example, Helen cooked chips from the freezer and was impressed on two fronts.

"I used the 'air fry' mode to blast the frozen chips at 180°C for about 15 minutes. It was the easiest air frying experience that I've had," says Helen, "when the time was up, the AF100 produced some perfectly crispy chips. They were some of the best I've actually made."

Air frying is just one of the AF100's many talents though. It cooks chicken breast until it's beautifully tender and can caramelize vegetables like an expert. Just make sure to keep an eye on the time with the vegetables. The pre-set was really short, so Helen added a few minutes, not believing that they'd be ready to eat. They were, in fact, charred. 

It's worth remembering that the cooking time of a Ninja air fryer is around half that of a conventional oven, so do be sure to check the guidelines to ensure you don't accidentally burn food.

Find out more in Helen's Ninja Air Fryer AF100UK review

Best Ninja air fryer oven

Image 1 of 9

I have made no secret of the fact that I think this is one of the best Ninja air fryers on the market. It's relatively new to their collection and, I think, is quite unassuming. If, like me, you're a little skeptical about the huge dimensions of the Combi, you're right to be. This is their biggest offering by a long way, both in terms of the space that it demands and of its capacity (12.5L). It has that mini-oven aesthetic which makes it look a lot less like an air fryer, but I actually think this works to the Combi's advantage.

For a start, the clear window, that makes this look like an oven, gives the Combi a feature unique from all over Ninja air fryer: you can watch your food as it cooks. Whilst I'm not suggesting that you pull up a stool, Bake Off style, it does help. You can catch your chips before they turn from gently bronzed into burnt beyond edibility. It's saved me a lot of times.

Beyond that, this offers 12 different functions, falling second only to Ninja's 14-function multicooker. These meant that I could cook a whole roast dinner in the Combi, as well as proofing bread dough, air frying meals, baking pizza, steaming fruits, crafting cakes, and roasting vegetables. The 'Combi' name gives you access to a whole menu of combined functions, that will offer two cooking methods in one. For example, I combi-crisp cooked my roast chicken, because this gave it the moisture from steam as well as the crispiness of an air fryer. It takes a little adjusting, but Ninja has a whole recipe book to take you through the different functions.There's no end to what this can do, which is why my oven was left collecting dust for the full three months that I used this.

I love how speedy and energy-efficient this is. So much so, I relatively quickly forgot that it's a behemoth. What I don't want to do is forget about this, because the nearly 13kg Combi isn't something you can just tuck away. I'd recommend mocking up a test box to reflect the space that this will take up in your kitchen, because it is significant.

You can read more in my full Ninja Combi 12-in-1 MultiCooker review.

Best Ninja air fryer for fast cooking

Image 1 of 10