7 Best Air Fryers in 2024, Tested and Reviewed by Kitchen Experts

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These top performers quickly made crispy potatoes and perfectly moist chicken wings.These top performers quickly made crispy potatoes and perfectly moist chicken wings.

Whether you’re craving a healthy midnight snack or you don’t have the energy to prep and cook a full meal after work, an air fryer can be your saving grace. If you’re in need of something quick (but tasty!) to cook, one of these best air fryers can make crispy fries in minutes or delicious chicken wings with minimal effort. It’s not all salty snacks with air fryers, you can cook nutritious, healthy dinners too — even vegetarian recipes.

We’ve rounded up air fryers of different styles, sizes and prices to help you find the perfect fit for you. This list includes basket-style and oven-style air fryers, a toaster oven air fryer and a pressure cooker with air frying capability. Each of these models are more or less suitable for different foods and individuals, with some including special features for additional cooking options, like broiling and sauteing.

Our top picks:

• Best Overall: Ninja Air Fryer Max XL
• Best Value: Instant Vortex Plus ClearCook
• Best Small: Dash Compact Air Fryer
• Best Toaster Oven: Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven
• Best Pressure Cooker: Instant Pot Duo Crisp Ultimate
• Best Large: Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker & Air Fryer
• Best with Steam: Dreo ChefMaker Combi Fryer

At the end of this round-up, learn more about how we test air fryers, discover tips on how to clean an air fryer and check out our favorite air fryer recipes.

The 5.5-quart, basket-style Ninja Air Fryer Max XL was the top performer in our air fryer test. It scored the highest marks across the board for ease of use, thanks to its intuitive, easy-to-read buttons and clear and useful owner’s manual. During our tests, the air fryer basket slid in and out easily, which made handling a breeze.

We’re fans of the basket’s slick, ceramic nonstick interior, and we like that the removable tray fits snugly and securely in the bottom of the basket so you don’t have to worry about it falling out when you turn the food out onto a plate. Both the basket and tray are dishwasher safe and easy to clean, even if you choose to hand wash.

In addition to being easy to use, the Ninja Air Fryer Max XL scored the highest in performance. It produced crispy and evenly cooked frozen fries and homemade fries as well as chicken wings that were moist on the inside. The model we tested comes with a broiling rack for even quicker and juicier results — and a fast way to create melty cheese.

It also features several cook settings, which are programmed with unique maximum and minimum temperatures — including Max Crisp and Air Broil (which reach 450˚F) and dehydrate (which reaches a low of 105˚F). Another unique feature is the timer, which counts down to the second.

This model — a steal when on sale but a great value even at full price — particularly stands out for its see-through window design, which allows you to peer inside without pulling out the basket. It also has a light inside that turns on automatically right before the timer goes off — and you can turn it on manually whenever you want to see what’s going on in there.

In our tests, chicken wings came out crispy, golden and juicy in just 20 minutes, and frozen fries were moist but crisp and evenly cooked without shaking midway. This 6-quart ClearCook model has a preheat function built in. It takes about 3.5 minutes to reach 400˚F and chirps when it’s at the right temperature.It does not require you to press Start again after it preheats, which is helpful if you want to add your food from the beginning and walk away. It also alerts you halfway through cooking, should you want to shake or turn the food.

The digital control panel is highly responsive, and the knob makes it easy to program the temperature and time quickly. It has six settings that are preset with recommended (but adjustable) cooking temperatures and times, including air fry, bake, roast, reheat, broil and dehydrate.

The Dash Compact is a good air fryer for people who cook for one or for someone who’s new to air frying and wants to try it out. At 2 quarts, it can quickly cook small portions of food. It takes up less room on your counter, and its compact, nonstick basket is dishwasher safe for easier cleaning. The cooking basket is non-stick and the overhead heating fan doesn’t touch food, so it doesn’t get dirty often.

This model has a dial timer, which makes it a little tricky to program to the exact minute. The temperature is also set via a dial and doesn’t offer many options, but we found the Dash was still a nice pick since we use its maximum temperature of 400˚F to air fry most foods. In testing, we noted that homemade fries did not cook evenly. We love that it comes in an assortment of colors that pop, unlike most air fryers on the market. The aqua, pictured here, is a fave.

Cuisinart was one of the first brands to introduce a toaster oven air fryer that allows you to toast, bake, air fry and convection bake. We tested this digital version, which made not only the crispiest air-fried food in the shortest amount of time out of all the air fryers we tested, but also some of the most evenly colored toast in our toaster oven test.

Since foods cook quickly using the Air Fry setting, we recommend using a lower temp and keeping a close eye on food to help prevent burning.

The rectangular 15.5 x 16-inch air fry rack offers a large cooking surface (especially compared with basket-style air fryers) and sits atop a drip/crumb tray for easy clean-up.

Instant, the same brand that makes the Instant Pot brand multicookers, shows up on our list again, because it’s created an appliance that delivers on both pressure cooking and air frying. It’s a space saver if you don’t want to dedicate counter space to two separate units. And it also performed well in our Lab tests with its other functions, including slow cooker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, roaster, mini oven, broiler, dehydrator, yogurt maker, sous vide and bread proofer.

We found it simple to switch between the Duo Crisp’s 13 different cooking methods, but there’s no chart displaying easy directions of cooking times and temps. When you want to air fry, just flip the multi-use tray to the proper side and remove the protective cover that keeps the air frying element clean (it’s removed for some settings and popped on for others).

We also liked the large LCD display that provides helpful instructions. The 6.5-quart cooking pot, steaming/air frying rack and pressure cooking cover are all dishwasher safe for easy clean-up.

Though the Ninja Speedi Rapid Cooker and Air Fryer looks different from — and is somewhat larger and bulkier than — most air fryers on the market, it’s worth making room for on your counter. The 12-in-1 appliance air fries well (and quickly!) and can sear, sauté, bake, roast, broil, steam, slow cook, proof, cook sous vide and even dehydrate. It can also steam and bake/air fry at the same time for the juiciest and most flavorful results.

One of the most impressive things it can do is cook quick one-pot meals by cooking the base — like pasta, rice or quinoa — on the bottom of the square basket and the toppings — like chicken, shrimp or meatballs — on the top level by inserting a rack. The rack is used for air frying and steaming in the lower position and crisping/broiling in the upper position. The tray and 6-quart basket are ceramic coated, like the other Ninja air fryers, so they’re easy to clean by hand or in the dishwasher.

We found the Speedi simple to program and liked the clear control panel. The user guide is loaded with helpful instructions, tips and colorful recipes so you can learn how to make the one-pot meals.

While it comes with a high price tag, this new model from Dreo impressed us in our Lab tests. The small water reservoir allows users to steam while air frying for crisp and moist results.

The unit also includes a probe that you can use when cooking in “chef mode,” which lets you select your protein and doneness to achieve an ideal cook. This mode made perfectly cooked salmon in our tests. It performed particularly well with chicken wings producing attractive browning — and while it needed a little longer than our standard testing time for grilled cheese, we were very pleased with how crunchy and gooey our sandwich was in the end.

The digital interface is attractive and helpful, but it’s somewhat unique (with basic air frying accessed via the “classic cook” menu), so there is a small learning curve compared with most air fryer control panels. The one caveat here is that the misting steam chamber and fancy interface do come with a steeper price tag than some other models.

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What to look for when shopping for the best air fryer

✔️ Style: There are several styles of air fryers on the market, including microwave air fryer combos and electric ranges that have air fry capabilities, but we’ve focused on countertop models, like:

• Traditional air fryers are what you probably think of when picturing an air fryer. With a pull-out basket, bucket or tray, these typically compact air fryers can cook small foods like fries, veggies and mozzarella sticks. They’re also called “basket-style” air fryers.
• Air fryer ovens are a bit bigger than traditional models and can air fry food on multiple shelves to cook foods in an even layer, but they require more monitoring and food often needs to be rotated during cooking.
• Air fryer toaster ovens can perform multiple cooking functions — like toasting, baking, roasting, broiling and sometimes even rotisserie — in addition to air frying.
• Pressure cookers with air frying capability can also provide a slew of cooking functions beyond air frying and pressure cooking, including rice, slow cook, sauté and even yogurt or dehydrate.
• Air fryers with steam cooking can air fry food and steam at the same time to achieve a crispy outer texture with a juicy inner layer (or a crunchy yet gooey grilled cheese sandwich). There is typically a rack used for air frying and a water reservoir beneath for steaming.

✔️ Size: How many people are you cooking for at one time? A compact size (around 2 quarts) is good for one to two people, while a bigger size works better for three or more. You should also consider what kinds of foods you cook. Do you need room for a dozen egg rolls, or do you just want to cook a piece of salmon for yourself?

✔️ Price: Digital air fryers tend to cost more than mechanical air fryers, as do stainless steel options versus plastic. And models that provide more functions, like steam cooking or slow cooking, will also cost more than those that are focused on air frying.

Are air fryers worth it?

Air fryers are worth it if you like to cook foods quickly with minimal clean-up. Sure, some are bulky and may usurp a lot of your counter space, but most people who use them see the benefits right away. They’re especially great for prepackaged frozen foods and leftovers, like French fries or dumplings, that would normally get soggy or rubbery in a microwave.

In the Kitchen Appliances Lab, we like using ours for quick dinners. All types of proteins, like chicken, pork chops and salmon, cook up quickly and become golden brown and juicy; veggies become nicely blistered or caramelized. We especially like air frying root vegetables, like mini potatoes and diced butternut squash and beets. And an air fryer can stand in for a toaster at times as well, producing crispy frozen waffles and even toasted bagels.

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How do air fryers work?

Most air fryers pair a heat source at the top of the appliance with a large fan that circulates the hot air. This design causes food to cook quickly, as do other elements like the use of perforated trays, which help increase airflow, and a small-capacity design, which helps create a high-heat environment.

Through our Lab tests, at-home use and recipe development, we’ve found that most foods cook best at high temps, like 400˚F, for short periods of time. Small food items don’t typically need to be tossed or flipped, but they can be for more even results; larger foods generally do benefit from turning for the most even cooking.

How to best clean an air fryer

1. Turn off and unplug the air fryer and allow it to cool completely.
2. If the basket or tray is dishwasher safe, place it upside down in the top rack and run a cycle. If it’s not dishwasher safe or you don’t have a dishwasher, place the removable parts in warm soapy water, gently scrub the vents and nooks and crannies of the tray (being mindful of the metal or nonstick finish), rinse well and dry thoroughly.
3. Use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe down the fixed parts of the interior as well as the outside of the machine. Dry well before plugging in and using again.
4. If there’s a drip tray, empty any oil (but do not flush it down the sink; empty it into a sealable can, jar or bag that you can toss when it’s full).

Air fryer recipes

Once you choose the air fryer that’s right for you, it’s time to get cooking.Here’s a few of our favorites recipes: