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02 Jan 2025

Air fryers and more: Which Ninja kitchen appliance is right for you?

Ninja kitchen appliances have a big reputation - but are they any good? We give you the low-down on Ninja, including its air fryers

Which? Team

Ninja kitchen products have built a big reputation in recent years, with their air fryers proving particularly popular.

The US brand which also owns Shark - of vacuum cleaner fame - has caught the eye in the crowded kitchen appliance market, thanks to the sleek look and multi-functional capabilities of its air fryers, multi cookers, blenders and barbecues.

But many of Ninja’s kitchen products are on the pricier side. So are they any good and are they worth splashing out on?

Jump to the Ninja kitchen product you're looking for:

What is the best Ninja air fryer?

Ninja air fryers have single or dual drawers and a minimum of four cooking functions - such as frying, roasting, dehydrating and reheating - which means you can cook chips or reheat pizza or quiche.

Ninja air fryers we have reviewed include:

The AF100UK Air Fryer is a basket model at the cheaper end of the Ninja range.
The more expensive Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone AF400UK, is a dual model with a useful sync function that ensures the food in both drawers is ready to serve up at the same time.
The Ninja Foodi Max AG551UK Health Grill and Air Fryer is a pricey but popular model with meat-lovers, with its integrated digital temperature probe helping to determine the perfect cooking time for juicy cuts.

So are Ninja air fryers any good and which is the best one for you?

Fran Roberts-Thornton, Which? air fryers expert

Think about how many people you’re cooking for and how much space you have in your kitchen. If you're cooking for yourself or one other person only, an air fryer with one smaller compartment might be enough for you. It will also be easier to find it a permanent spot on your kitchen counter if you live in a smaller house or flat. However, if you’re cooking for a larger household and have the space to accommodate a bulkier appliance, going for a dual model or a large model with a single compartment might be a better idea. This way you won’t need to cook in batches, which can make savings bigger.

Read our air fryer reviews to find out if Ninja makes the grade or if there are any cheaper alternatives that perform even better.

What is the best Ninja multi cooker?

Ninja Foodi Max 15-in-1 Smartlid Multi Cooker

Given that you can air fry in many multi cookers - including Ninja’s - you might be wondering about the difference between the two.

Air fryers are normally the more compact models, with fewer functions - although in Ninja’s case, that is still quite a few.

Its multi cookers, needless to say, have even more. For more about the pros and cons of both appliances, read our piece on air fryers vs multi cookers.

The Ninja Deluxe Foodi Max 15-in-1 OL750UK Multi Cooker has an exhaustive list of functions including slow cooking, pressure cooking, air frying and steam functions, saving you the need to invest in other appliances. Our reviewer described it as the Swiss army knife of the kitchen worktop. By incorporating all of these functions however, the cookers take up a lot of space.
The Ninja Speedi 10-in-1 Rapid Cooker ON400UK cooks crispy chips and mouth-watering roast chicken quickly. However some functions have long preheat times – though they still work out faster then other multi cookers overall .

Sarah Hiscock, Which? market analyst

Multi cookers are great time savers as they are pre-programmed to perform each function. They can also save you space if you want to cut down on the amount of single-use appliances on your worktop. Ninja models, in particular, have scored favourably in our tests. All the models we’ve tested have an air fryer function, so it may be worth looking into a multi cooker as an option if you are keen on giving air frying a go.

How do Ninja’s multi cookers compare with other brands? Read our reviews of the best multi cookers to find out.

What are the best Ninja blenders, soup makers and food processors?

Ninja offers a range of blenders, from the petite Ninja Blast BC151UK portable blender, which can be used to make smoothies, soups and pesto, to larger-scale jug blenders, such as the Ninja BN750UK 2-in-1 blender with Auto-IQ.

Due to the number of functions, the bigger Ninjas are, again, rather hefty - one of the brand’s drawbacks - but our surveys have found people are happy with their Ninja blenders.

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Ninja food processors are bigger again. The ones we have tested include:

The Ninja BN650UK Food Processor, which comes with what Ninja calls ‘Auto-iQ’. These are preset programmes that allow you to chop, puree, slice and mix at the touch of a button, although you can't whisk or whip with this machine.
The Ninja BN800UK Food Processor, which also comes with Auto iQ. This machine lets you mix cakes, knead doughs or make smoothies (and crucially crush ice - something some of the smaller blenders struggled to do) but again does not whisk or whip.
The Ninja Foodi Power Nutri CB350UK, which is hugely versatile although it does require a fair bit of bench space.

Sam Morris, Which? blenders expert

While Ninja are known for being expensive in other areas, their blenders are competitively priced.

If you need something lighter and more portable, then Ninja makes multiple mini blenders that are perfect if you’re always on the go, or if you just love to indulge in creamy smoothies.

Alternatively, if you find you love to cook and want to create larger quantities for friends and family, a jug blender may be ideal, but also give a Ninja food processor some consideration. With this, you’ll get the ultimate food-prepping machine, capable of blending in larger quantities as well as a machine that’s able to knead bread and create batter mixtures.

How does Ninja stack up in our blender tests? Read our expert reviews of top blender brands to find out. We also have reviews of the best soup makers and reviews of the best food processors.

What are the best Ninja pressure cookers?

Because Ninja’s products are so multifunctional, there can be some crossover.

The Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 Multi Cooker OL750UK (which we mentioned in our multi cookers section) also scored highly in our testing both as a pressure cooker and as an air fryer.

It fell at the more expensive end of our higher-rated pressure cookers, meaning you could buy a pressure cooker from another brand for less money that would be just as good - or even a little bit better. You’ll have to read our reviews to find out which ones.

However, the big appeal of pressure cookers is that they can save you money in time, allowing you to tenderise tougher cuts of meat and cook dried pulses relatively quickly.

Read our reviews of the best pressure cookers to find the right one for you.

Ninja Foodi slow cooker

The Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker 8-in-1 Slow Cooker MC1001UK has an ingenious design with a serving spoon rest on top of the handle and a stylish blue-grey colour. It can slow cook for up to 12 hours, as well as searing, steaming and simmering, among other functions. You can even prove and bake bread in it. It also comes with a removable cooking pot, allowing you to transfer meals to and from the oven.

Jonny Martin, Which? slow cookers expert

The spoon rest is so useful that other slow cooker manufacturers must be kicking themselves that they didn’t think of it. It’s a lovely premium slow cooker that has lots of other useful features you’ll want to try.

See if the PossibleCooker scooped a Best Buy award in our reviews of the best slow cookers.

The Ninja Creami

Ninja Creami Ice Cream Frozen Dessert Maker

The Ninja Creami Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Maker brands itself as 'so much more than an ice cream maker', and you can make milkshakes and smoothies in it, too.

On the downside, it was taller than some of the other models we tested and noisier too.

Sabrina Sahota, Which? ice cream maker expert

The Ninja Creami is the priciest freeze-first ice cream maker we tested. It’s large, as with other Ninja models, so if you aren’t going to use it regularly, make sure your kitchen cupboards are tall enough to fit its 41cm height. It’s also slightly different to other freeze-first ice cream makers, which require you to freeze the bowl before adding your ingredients to make ice-cream. With the Ninja Creami, you freeze your ice cream mixture and the tub for 24 hours before churning.

But did it make good ice cream? Read our reviews of the best ice cream makers to find out.

What about other Ninja kitchen appliances?

Ninja has broadened its kitchen range to offer health grills (all of which incorporate air fryer functions) such as the Foodi, Foodi Max (which we've also reviewed as an air fryer) and Foodi Max Pro models, with the Max Pro having the most cooking functions.

And, there's even a mini chopper, the Ninja NJ1002UKBK Professional Stackable Chopper, which (unusually for Ninja) is light and easy to store. It can carry out a range of tasks, including pureeing baby food. You can find these on Ninja's website.

Sarah Hiscock, Which? market analyst

The small domestic appliance world is anything but small. The number of products out there can be overwhelming. Consider whether you will realistically make good use of the appliance. Some of the more specialised products could make good gifts.

Why would you buy a Ninja mini oven?

You can also find mini ovens among Ninja’s kitchenware.

Mini ovens look similar to microwaves but have many more functions, such as roasting, baking and grilling. They can complement an existing oven, to give you extra capacity, or they can be used as a main oven - but do check you have enough space on your bench first. One space-saving advantage of Ninja's Foodi 8-in-1 Flip Mini Oven is that it will flip to an upright position when not in use. And the Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 Multifunction Oven has the functionality of a bigger oven alongside the ability to air fry. But you'll need to read our review to find how well it performed in our tests.

Sarah Hiscock, Which? market analyst

We’re more frequently seeing products that can perform more than one function. Consider your circumstances, if you live in a small household, a multi cooker, or mini oven could be an attractive (and cheaper) alternative to turning on a larger oven.

Read our reviews of the best mini ovens we have tested.

Which is the best Ninja BBQ?

The Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker 0G701UK is a tabletop barbecue with lots of cooking options. As with other Ninja products, it’s quite large for a small barbecue but has all of the functionality you’d expect - cooking food reliably and giving it a good flavour. According to Ninja, you can fit eight burgers or 16 sausages on this model.

Ninja has just released a new - and larger - BBQ - the Ninja Woodfire Pro XL Electric BBQ. It has air frying, roasting, reheating, grilling and smoking capabilities and Ninja claims it has enough space to fit up to 10 burgers, 40 hot dogs or two 3kg chickens. The air fryer crisper basket can fit up to 1.8kg of food.

It’s an electric barbecue, but your food is flavoured by burning real wood pellets in an integrated smoker box with a convection fan. It also has a smart cook system, where you select your food type and desired cook level using the digital display, then insert the built-in thermometer to ensure perfectly cooked meat and fish.

Chris Brookes, Which? barbecues expert

The Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill and Smoker doesn’t just excel as a barbecue; we were really impressed with its performance as a smoker and air fryer too, producing tender pulled pork and lovely potato wedges. We even baked a cake in it, which didn’t take on any residual smokiness from previous cooking.

If you wanted to splash out more, you could invest in a Ninja Woodfire Electric Outdoor Oven, Artisan Pizza Maker and BBQ Smoker OO101UK.

As with several of the larger Ninja models, this was quite a heavy oven. One slight anomaly was that it required plugging in but could only be used outdoors, which may restrict its use with some households.

But our experts found it easy to use and intuitive - you'll need to read our reviews of the best pizza ovens to find out if it cooked us the perfect pizza though.

Brands can't buy their way onto our testing and there are no freebies given here to influence what we write. See what our experts found out in our barbecue reviews.

Ninja toasters and kettles

Ninja’s toasters and kettles come in matching colours - you can choose from black or stainless steel.

We liked the kettles - the Perfect Temperature Kettle KT200UK and the Perfect Temperature Kettle KT201UK - finding them user-friendly, easy to clean and with variable temperature settings, which might be useful if you like to blend your tea.

Ninja toasters are not simply toasters. Models such as the NinjaST200UK Foodi 3-in-1 Toaster, Grill and Panini Press can, as its name suggests, stand upright to pop your toast or flip down to grill cheese on toast or press paninis. But did they stand up as a Which? Best Buy? You’ll need to read our review to find out.

Read our kettle reviews and toaster reviews to see how Ninja compares to the rest.

Ninja knives

Ninja’s knife sets come in chunky blocks, such as the Ninja Foodi StaySharp Knife Block. The blocks are - as you would expect with Ninja - multifunctional, containing a built-in knife sharpener to keep your blades in top condition and come in five-piece and six-piece sets, all the way up to 14-piece.

Sabrina Sahota, Which? knives expert

The knife sets we test start from £25 and go up to £600, so they can be a big investment. The Ninja Foodi StaySharp Knife Block 5-piece set is mid-range, so not super pricey but certainly not budget. You get your money’s worth with five knives from 3.5 inch up to 8 inch, which should cover all food prep tasks. The 6-piece set also comes with a pair of scissors. Plus, with both sets, you get an easy-to-use, integrated sharpener to keep the blades in excellent condition.

Read our reviews of the best knife sets to see how Ninja fared when set against other brands.

Ninja pots and pans

As you would expect from Ninja, each piece of cookware claims to do the job of several pans, such as the Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 PossiblePan, which Ninja says will replace your frying pan, steamer, skillet, saucepan and roasting dish among others (if, indeed, you have all of those pans).

The Ninja PossiblePans come in an attractive range of colours and have an integrated spatula. There's a range of deeper PossiblePots, for curries and casseroles, to accompany them.

We haven't tested Ninja's PossiblePans yet but they're available on Ninja's website or at the retailers below.

Ninja claims its Zerostick range allows you to cook with little or no oil, thanks to its tough coating. Our testers loved the fact the Zerostick aluminium frying pan - which you can buy in sizes ranging from 20-30cm - was easy to heat and clean - but they did find a Best Buy for less than half the price from a well-known retailer.

Read our reviews of the best non-stick frying pans to find which one it was.

We also liked the Ninja Zerostick Stackable 3-piece set - a space-saving nest of saucepans.

Jonny Martin, Which? cookware expert

If you're buying a new set of pans, consider how well they stack. Some sets are designed to stack efficiently and take up less space in your kitchen cupboards. While some non-stick pans say they are dishwasher safe, the non-stick coating will always last better if you hand wash the pans with a non-abrasive sponge.

Read our reviews of the best saucepan and saucepan sets.