The Only Air Fryer Worth Buying, According to 5 Food Pros

Remember when air fryers first hit the scene, promising to make all your fast-food dreams come true, only healthier and sans the frying? Fast forward a few years, and these countertop appliances are ubiquitous in home kitchens. They're not just for making guilt-free french fries anymore, though. They’ve become the kitchen appliance equivalent of a Swiss Army knife. They're helping home cooks whip up everything from crispy Brussels sprouts to juicy hamburgers and perfectly fluffy baked potatoes.

With so many options, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Or, in this case, the crispy from the soggy? I reached out to five food writers who know their way around a kitchen appliance. When it comes to air fryers, they all agreed, one brand rises above the rest.

The 5 Food Writers I Asked

• Lindsay Ostrom: Author and creator behind the popular food blog, Pinch of Yum
• Kristy Still: Creator of Air Fryer Fanatics and Mommy Hates Cooking
• Myo Quinn: Associate Editorial Director at Simply Recipes
• Ivy Manning: Author of 10 cookbooks, including Instant Pot Family Meals and Tacos A to Z- A Delicious Guide To Inauthentic Tacos
• Irvin Lin: Creator of the popular blog Eat the Love and author of Marbled, Swirled, and Layered

The Best Air Fryer, According to Food Writers

When I asked these culinary experts about their top pick of air fryer brands, they all pointed to Ninja, choosing it for a range of reasons, from the versatility and effectiveness of its machines to its capacity and practicality.

Kristy couldn't contain her enthusiasm for Ninja's multipurpose capabilities. "A Ninja can do more than just air fry or 'air crisp,' as Ninja calls it," she explains. "It can also bake, roast, reheat, and even dehydrate. This is what I love the most about my Ninja machine. It has multiple features and functions." But it's not just about the bells and whistles. She raves about its consistency, noting that while other air fryers can be less reliable, her Ninja heats things evenly. 

Ivy is smitten with the Ninja SP201 Digital Air Fry Pro. Set up like a toaster oven, it has a larger capacity than other air fryers, and it executes eight different functions. With this model, she can air fry four to six pieces of chicken at a time, use the sear plate to roast veggies, and leverage the "roast thermometer" that attaches to the control panel, which she uses to monitor the temperature while roasting a pork loin.

"I'm actually using it as an oven a lot of the time," she says, including for broiling. "I can get small casseroles like mac and cheese crispy on top without heating up my whole oven—and my house."

Married to a pescatarian and a member of an Alaskan salmon CSA, Ivy is especially pleased with the way her Ninja cooks fish. It makes "the best air-fried salmon, hands down," she says.

Lindsay, who uses the Ninja Air Fryer Pro 6-in-1 to make a huge batch of fries or her favorite air fryer chicken, developed an air fryer salmon recipe that her family has been making weekly. "I can vouch that it is so ridiculously good that even my salmon-hating kids will eat fish cooked like this."

Even Irvin, who doesn't consider himself an air fryer authority and didn't want to make a recommendation for this story, owns a Ninja model for testing recipes when his readers request an air fryer method. He'll sometimes pull it out, he says, to make the crispiest tater tots and Brussels sprouts.

Myo's only regret with her Ninja is that she didn’t buy it earlier. A self-described "late adopter," she delayed her purchase, thinking a Ninja wouldn't be big enough to feed her family of five. "I was wrong!" she exclaims. "I can cook an entire package of fries and chicken nuggets in the air fryer. They'll overlap because the basket isn't as wide as a sheet pan, but with a few shakes of the basket as it cooks and the big burst of high heat, it still takes less time than cooking in the oven." She bought the 4-quart Ninja at a 30%-off sale for around $60. "That's a great price for a reliable appliance I use almost every day."

What really sealed the deal for her was how easy the Ninja is to clean. She fills the basket with a few drops of dish soap and warm water and lets it sit for a few minutes before rinsing it and drying it upside down on a dryer rack. "It doesn't have funky nooks and crannies for food to get stuck in, which is a big plus"—particularly for a food writer who admits, “I hate doing dishes!”

From expertly-cooked salmon to crispy roasted veggies, the Ninja air fryer delivers consistent, high-quality results across a wide range of dishes. "It also looks nice sitting out on the countertop if you use it every day, like our family does," notes Lindsay.

Ninja’s versatility, ease of use, reliable performance, and sleek looks have won these food writers over, so if you're in the market for an air fryer that can do it all (and then some), you might want to check this brand out. It won't do your dishes for you, but according to Myo, even the cleanup is a breeze!