15 best air fryers for quick, healthier dinners, tried and tested

Score: 95/100

Barely dropping a point on test, this air fryer will feed a crowd quickly, and feed them well. Our fairy cakes were evenly baked and ready to enjoy in a speedy 15 minutes, while it scored perfect marks for chicken Kyivs – they were crispy on the outside yet juicy in the middle after 25 minutes. Our chips were fluffy, too.

It's a fairly hefty appliance, so if your kitchen is compact it may not be for you, but you can fill its two drawers with different foods and sync the programmes so everything is ready to eat at the same time – a process we found intuitive on test. A great family fryer.

Score: 95/100

Ninja’s latest air fryer has claimed another winning spot on our list. But this one is a little different from anything we’ve seen before – yep, Ninja is changing the air fryer game once again with its first portable air fryer.

It’s made up of a 1700-watt ‘PowerPod’, which snaps onto one of two glass cooking containers (1.4-litres and 3.8-litres), depending on whether you’re cooking for one or more. Testers found this easy to do and quickly got to grips with the responsive controls. There are only four cooking modes – air fry, re-crisp, roast and keep warm – but this gives you all the versatility you need to cook up a storm (which we did).

Chicken Kyivs crisped up in 10 minutes, but remained juicy on the inside, and, while we could only fit a smaller, one kilogram chicken, it cooked brilliantly within 30 minutes. Our chips came out evenly browned and light and fluffy, too.

Ninja claims the CRISPi uses up to 50% less energy than a normal oven and our experts were thoroughly impressed when they put this claim to the test. When cooking sausages, the air fryer used 0.152 kilowatt-hours – a massive 92% less than when we cooked the same portion in our oven.

It’s not perfect, though. The CRISPi’s small size is limiting, and we found the exterior got quite hot during cooking so make sure you stick to holding the heat-resistant areas when using.

And while it is the most portable design on the market (and would be great for family Airbnb staycations for example), it still weighs 7.1 kilograms, which is difficult to carry around (just ask our writer who used the Ninja Crispi in the office for a week of air fried for her Ninja CRISPi air fryer review).

Score: 95/100

Tying for the winning spot, this Breville machine combines air and steam frying to achieve healthier meals and a range of textures. Our experts tested its steam frying capabilities by popping in a whole chicken and cooking for an hour at 170C. The result? Well-cooked, nicely browned and great-tasting meat.

When air frying, all our chips had a golden, even colour with a perfectly crisp exterior and our cupcakes were a baking triumph too, emerging nicely risen in just 12 minutes.

We would have liked a viewing window to check on our dinner as it cooked and the water tank was slightly awkward to empty. But that’s nitpicking – this is a reliable, efficient buy.

Score: 95/100

Just like our other winners, this Haier air fryer delivered consistently crispy results across the board, making it a great choice for delicious fried feasts without all that oil.

It earned a perfect score for producing golden, flavourful chicken with a beautifully crisp exterior. It also baked light and fluffy cupcakes within 20 minutes. In some cases, the food needed a few extra minutes in the fryer to be perfectly cooked, but that’s just a case of trial and error.

One handy feature with this air fryer is that it reminds you to shake your food mid-cooking. Our testers found this particularly helpful for ensuring even cooking and consistent crispiness. While it isn’t quite as big as the Ninja, its 7 litre capacity should still comfortably serve up enough portions for a delicious family dinner.

Score: 94/100

This latest model from Instant was impressive on all fronts in our tests – it turned a 1.3kg whole chicken into a golden, moist and tender feast, while cupcakes came out beautifully cooked and fluffy.

What makes it unique from Instant’s other models is that it can be switched between two independent 4.25L cooking baskets to one XXL 8.5L basket simply by removing the divider. While each basket has separate controls, they can be paired with the SyncFinish function so all your food will be ready at the same time.

Our chips came out well cooked but – and we’re being picky here – about 20% lacked that golden brown shade we were looking for. The only other thing to note was that the wells in the bottom plate created an uneven surface, which led to some misshapen cupcakes, but those are minor issues.

In almost every other sense, this air fryer is an excellent buy. Our testers loved the handy alert that reminds you to turn your food at crucial cooking points and were pleased with how easy it is to use, programme, and clean (it’s dishwasher-safe).

Score: 94/100

Just like the Instant model above, this Salter air fryer has an adjustable dual basket design for added versatility – you can either cook different foods in each of the two 4L compartments or remove the divider to create one 8L basket. It also has eight pre-set cooking functions, so you’ll never be stuck in the kitchen.

It scored almost perfect marks across the board in our tests, delivering light, crispy chips and succulent chicken, which you can programme to be ready at the same time using the handy sync function. However, it really impressed when baking cupcakes – a task many air fryers struggle with. They came out beautifully golden and risen. Even Mary Berry would find it hard to compete.

It doesn’t have a child-lock and the components aren’t dishwasher-friendly (although they’re easy to wipe clean). But those minor quibbles aside, it’s easy to use and comes with detailed instructions (both physical and via a QR code that takes you to video tutorials). A smart buy for busy bakers.

Score: 94/100

While a predecessor to the VersaZone, this one is no less impressive. You can’t combine the two drawers, but you can sync them to prepare multiple dishes at once, with a total capacity of 7.6L, which is plenty of space for cooking for a family of four.

The results didn’t disappoint either, with a particularly succulent roast chicken. Our chips were fluffy too, but crisped up best when distributed across two drawers, rather than cramming lots into one. Turning them a few times helped as well.

The lack of cooking charts means some guesswork is required to begin with, but you can scan a QR code in the booklet to access lots of recipes online (albeit not very traditional ones).

Handy windows also mean you can easily check ion how your food is doing. Plus, the effective non-stick design made washing up a breeze, which is always a bonus in our book.

Score: 92/100

The roast setting on this air fryer produced beautifully moist chicken thighs as well as that all-important crispy exterior – helped by a baking plate that drained away an impressive amount of fat and grease. But, this machine really impressed when it came to chips. They emerged perfectly cooked; even the smallest portion didn’t burn – a common air fryer pitfall. Finally, it nailed our dessert course too, with well-risen, fluffy cupcakes.

If there's a downside, it would be with the size – the dual basket design means you can’t fit an entire roast chicken inside. However, the option to sync the drawers is handy if you’re cooking for a large group. And this easy-to-use, efficient air fryer has one final party trick: you can switch the internal lights on to check out your food through the viewing window whenever you want to take a peep.

Score: 91/100

It’s giving toy oven vibes and we’re not complaining. This oh-so-cute and aptly named Wonder Oven from Our Place is essentially a six-in-one mini oven designed to sit neatly on your countertop, saving you from needing multiple appliances. It can bake, roast, grill, reheat, toast, and of course, air fry – and it preheats in just two and a half minutes.

An entire 2kg roast chicken cooked in less than 40 minutes on the air fry setting, emerging evenly-browned, with crispy skin. Not all our chips were crunchy on the outside, but they were still golden, well-cooked, and tasty.

Cleaning up after cooking was more faff than we’d have liked as parts can’t go in the dishwasher, but that’s a small niggle for a well-designed, stylish and intuitive air fryer. We just adore the colourways, too!

We’ve also tested this air fryer as a multi-cooker and it scored an incredible 94/100.

Score: 91/100

Equipped with eight preset programmes, this dual drawer air fryer makes it easy to nail tasty family dinners. Our chicken was ready in less than an hour, with testers tucking into golden, crispy skin and juicy meat. Our fairy cakes were also even in colour.

There’s one 6-litre drawer for cooking family-sized mains (including room for a 1.5kg roast chicken) and one 3-litre drawer for sides (we’re thinking roast potatoes and veggies). All this means delivering a full (and delicious) meal in one go is a breeze. But note that testers found the baskets a little tricky to empty as they aren’t removable (so you have to tip the whole drawer or use tongs).

While testers would have liked a child lock, extra credit should go to the timer and shake functions, which they found easy to use and set, so you don’t need to hover over the fryer to monitor cooking progress. There’s an accompanying app full of recipes too, making this air fryer suited to anyone wanting to flex their culinary skills.

Score: 91/100

Not just an air fryer, this multi-cooker also grills, sears, roasts, bakes and slow cooks, making it a smart choice if you’re after a space-saving do-it-all appliance.

It claims to air fry up to 70% quicker than earlier Russell Hobbs models; this wasn’t tested, but it did cook our chicken to succulent, golden perfection in a faster-than-most 30 minutes (simply press the chicken icon on the casing and it presets the optimal temperature and cooking time.)

Simple and modern in design, it couldn’t be easier to set up and use. The buttons are responsive, it’s compact for storage in smaller kitchens and it’s lightweight enough to move around. It scored a perfect ten in our chips and chicken tests, only dropping a few marks for its patchy cupcakes (not all rose well and some came out paler than others) and fiddly iron basket, which proved tricky to remove while wearing oven gloves.

Score: 91/100

At over £100 less than our winning Ninja, this is a more affordable offering from the premium kitchen appliance brand. It also proved its worth on test, with perfectly cooked chicken Kyivs inside and out. Chips were scrumptious too, but we recommend cooking them in smaller batches for best results.

The compact design is ideal for cooking for one or two people. It also has a clear display, is stable in use and lightweight if you’re storing it in a cupboard. But unlike most fryers, the basket doesn’t have a proper handle, which means oven gloves are needed when removing it.

There are also plenty of recipes and food charts included, so you can cook up a storm as soon as you set it up.

Score: 90/100

When we first saw Ninja’s newest air fryer at its pop-up restaurant, in the summer, we were desperate to get testing ourselves and… drum roll please… the results are in!

The unique basket stack design is an obvious bonus if you’re short on counter space but still want a large 9.5-litre capacity. Testers managed to cook a roast chicken in each drawer and both came out beautifully juicy in under an hour. You can split the air fryer up further using the crisper plates and metal racks, which divide the drawers and essentially create four cooking levels.

Testers found that this wasn’t as effective for optimum air frying results though so you may need to play around to find the best set up – on first try, our fish fingers and chips were crispy but unevenly cooked. There’s no viewing window to help with this either, but otherwise, the preset functions did a great job – so much so that we couldn’t fault its performance when it came to cooking frozen chips: simply delicious and oh-so crispy.

Ninja has just announced a new Double Stack model with digital cooking probe (coming soon) and there's a 7.6-litre version for smaller households, so if this model isn’t quite right but you like the sound of the stacked design, keep an eye out for the brand's new releases.

Score: 90/100

Armed with an integrated steam tank and 360 degree air flow technology that delivers golden perfection, this certainly impressed.

There’s only one drawer, but its 6-litre capacity could still tackle a whole chicken (and didn’t drop a mark in the process), and the 11 easy-to-use preset programmes remove all the guesswork from air frying. You just tap the clear and colourful LED icons and choose from the likes of sausages, fries, veggies or cake.

Speaking of cake, ours had slightly mixed results. Most were golden and well-risen but some landed on the pale side. None of this impacted the taste though, with our panel declaring them delicious and moist. Plus, the handy viewing window means you can keep an eye on your fairy cakes as they bake.

Score: 90/100

With air frying and multicooker functionality, plus 14 programmes including bread making, yoghurt making, steaming and slow cooking, the versatility of this Tefal model means you’ll have an array of culinary possibilities at your fingertips.

What’s unique about this air fryer is its stirring paddle, which rotates and stirs the food so there’s no need to shake your chips midway to achieve ultimate crispiness – ours came out beautifully cooked and weren’t greasy.

Our testers loved the speed of this one too – it cooked seven cupcakes in just 5-7 minutes. There were some inconsistencies in colour, but all were well-cooked, light, and fluffy – perfect for a quick sweet treat. Dishwasher-safe accessories mean clean-up will also be no fuss at all.