I'd been thinking about getting an air fryer or a food dehydrator all year; but I couldn't quite get myself to commit on price for unit features for a single use appliance. The Ninja Foodi at my local Costco ($189.99 regular, $149.99 holiday sale) was already significantly below the retail price that can be found at Target ($229.99 regular), Amazon (currently $189.99 holiday sale), or my local Kroger-owned grocery store ($299.99 regular, $239.99 holiday sale). Shopping in Oregon saved me $12.60 in retail sales tax; and I picked up the unit a week before Thanksgiving.
Item number: Ninja Foodi OP305CO
Product review:
The appliance itself is pretty big at 6.5 quarts. It's like having a columnar-shaped, medium sized microwave oven on the counter top. It stands tall enough to not fit inside nor under any of the kitchen cabinets; and the base unit is heavy enough to not want to move it from the kitchen counter. That said, if you can spare the counter space, it'll be a good complementary appliance for liquid-based cooking, "baking", air frying, and dehydrating. I have yet to try the dehydrating or slow cooker functions on the Foodi. And, I have no desire to make yogurt. That said, given the number of appliances that this replaces, it's good for homes or apartments with a small kitchen. Though, it might be a stretch to say that the Ninja Foodi is a multitool for your kitchen if you already have an oven/stove.
The hardest part about using the Foodi? Figuring out how the pressure cook lid fits onto the unit. like which way the lid turns and such. Probably took me a half hour to figure it out after unboxing.
Making food in the Foodi requires attention to detail and timing. Most pressure cooked or air fryer recipes need you to be attentive to timing for natural or quick release, and also to flip or stir the foods if air frying. It's not a single-use, set it and forget it appliance.
Time saved:
You are not going to save any time on ingredient prep. If you don't count that as part of how long it takes to make a recipe, you are deluding yourself into thinking that this appliance (and others like it, e.g., Instant Pot) will help you cook meals faster.
It saves some time but not much; and it depends on what you are cooking. When you are making soft boiled eggs, it takes 7 minutes plus whatever time the unit needs to warm up and/or come up to low pressure. So the eggs that might take 10 minutes by stove method, might actually take 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. But you get perfectly cooked eggs in the Foodi and the eggs don't break or explode from the radical change in temperature from the fridge to boiling water like it does sometimes in a pot on the stove. Also, pay attention because even after the timer stops, the eggs will continue cooking as the unit cools down. Yes, you can burn eggs (in shell) if you leave the eggs in the Foodi and forget to quick release.
Beef stew by stove top has a cooking time of about an hour. In the Foodi, it still took an hour.
Clean up:
The primary cooking bowl and air fryer basket are both nonstick surfaces and are easy to clean off with a soft rag and warm soapy water... if you wash immediately after removing food that has just been cooked. Clean the stainless steel racks that come with the Foodi if any food gets burnt or stuck on. Like most things in life, don't wait so long that cleaning becomes an actual chore.
Diversity of recipes:
Not so much. You would think there'd be more with Instant Pot debuting in 2010. Though, we have to thank the creative genius behind Instant Pot marketing for how popular these appliances are today. No longer are pressure cookers associated with the Boston Marathon or domestic terrorism. Now you can create delicious food in half the time with a pressure cooker.
Just simple American recipes are out there, in cookbooks, on recipe blogs, and from manufacturer's websites.You can almost use Instant Pot and Ninja Foodi pressure cooker recipes interchangeably. You'll want to refer back to the food temp/cooking charts from Ninja. Apple sauce in an Instant Pot calls for more water than apple sauce in a Ninja Foodi. Also, most air fryer recipes will work with the Ninja Foodi Air Crisp settings. If using the crisping basket, this more volume than a standalone air fryer basket.
The Ninja Foodi is not a replacement for any food dish requiring the burnt/charred look for toast, baguettes, creme brulée, steak, or anything grilled via fire. Yes, it can do a frozen steak by pressure cooking and air frying; and it'll be cooked to medium-raw; but it won't have that just-got-off-the-grill look with the air fryer.
The more water-based your dish is, the more you're going to appreciate the cooking features of the Foodi.
Ninja Foodi Beef Stew
Taste-wise, this beef stew is spot on and comparable to what you'd get at a restaurant or knew what you were doing in the kitchen. Not sure what meat cut was used for this beef stew, typically leaner/tougher cuts are used for stew as it tends to cook longer. But, longer cooking does not make meat tender. It's the fat and marbling that makes that happen; and appropriate heat/time used to cook it. The texture of the beef is okay; cooked but not tender.
Ingredients
1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
15 oz organic tomato sauce
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 organic carrots, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp beef bouillon (I use "Better than Buillon Beef Flavor")
2.5 c filtered water
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dry vermouth, optional
dried herbs: parsley, thyme, basil, paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Soup thickener:
2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp cold water, mixed together
Total cooking time: about an hour
Directions
1. Sear the meat in olive oil either stove top or using the saute function in the Ninja Foodi. Brown all the edges of the meat then transfer to the Ninja Foodi cooking pot.
2. As you are preparing the vegetables, set the Ninja Foodi to Saute. Add vermouth to deglaze the pot, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.
3. Select "Pressure" and "Hi" on the cooker. Set the timer for 25 minutes.
4. Natural release 10 minutes, then quick release.
5. Stir in cornstarch mixture. It will thicken before serving.
Makes: 2 quarts
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| TheFoodening Blog: Ninja Foodi Beef Stew |
1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
15 oz organic tomato sauce
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 organic carrots, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp beef bouillon (I use "Better than Buillon Beef Flavor")
2.5 c filtered water
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dry vermouth, optional
dried herbs: parsley, thyme, basil, paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Soup thickener:
2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp cold water, mixed together
Total cooking time: about an hour
Directions
1. Sear the meat in olive oil either stove top or using the saute function in the Ninja Foodi. Brown all the edges of the meat then transfer to the Ninja Foodi cooking pot.
2. As you are preparing the vegetables, set the Ninja Foodi to Saute. Add vermouth to deglaze the pot, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.
3. Select "Pressure" and "Hi" on the cooker. Set the timer for 25 minutes.
4. Natural release 10 minutes, then quick release.
5. Stir in cornstarch mixture. It will thicken before serving.
Makes: 2 quarts
Ninja Foodi: Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings (from raw frozen!)
This was the first item I made in the Ninja Foodi using both the pressure and air fryer features. In retrospect, it tastes as though I should have marinated the frozen chicken wings first, as they were bland and tasteless without the BBQ sauce that I added later in the air crisping step of this recipe. The crazy part is cooking frozen meat to perfectly cooked in the Ninja Foodi.
The cooking times on this recipe needs additional testing. After the pressure cooking phase, the wings were done. Any air frying would have added additional heat and time, making these somewhat dried out but "looking" the part of being broiled or fried. Total cooking time is too long if you want the outcome to be tender but crispy chicken wings.
Recipe adapted from the basic Ninja Foodi cookbook that came with the unit.
Recipe: Fail
This is a fail because total cooking time is 40+ minutes -- the same amount of time that an oven-based recipe uses to get chicken to a minimum 165 F.
The original recipe calls for frozen chicken breasts which much denser than chicken wings. The cook time could have been halved for each step: PC and AF. And, the chicken, while frozen and raw, could have been marinated at least a half hour before cooking. The "fixed" directions, time, and temps are noted below.
Ingredients
2 lb raw chicken wings
1-2 c BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Sriracha BBQ sauce)
1 c water
additional sriracha sauce, optional for more spicy
Add 1 c of bbq sauce and chicken wings to a resealable plastic bag or food storage container. Let the wings marinate for 30 minutes or longer in the fridge. In my first attempt, I did not marinate before cooking and applied the sauce at the Air Crisper step.
Pressure Cooker Directions
Place fry basket in pot. Add water to pot and chicken to fry basket. Select "Pressure" and "Hi". Set timer for 10 minutes. Start.
10 minutes natural release, then quick release.
Remove pressure cooking lid.
Air Crisper Directions
Select "Broil", Temp to 400 F, and Time for 10-15 minutes.
Toss or use a silicone pastry brush to apply more BBQ sauce to the wings.
Check at 5 minute intervals to see how crispy the wings are getting. Serve with additional BBQ sauce.
The cooking times on this recipe needs additional testing. After the pressure cooking phase, the wings were done. Any air frying would have added additional heat and time, making these somewhat dried out but "looking" the part of being broiled or fried. Total cooking time is too long if you want the outcome to be tender but crispy chicken wings.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Ninja Foodi Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings |
Recipe: Fail
This is a fail because total cooking time is 40+ minutes -- the same amount of time that an oven-based recipe uses to get chicken to a minimum 165 F.
The original recipe calls for frozen chicken breasts which much denser than chicken wings. The cook time could have been halved for each step: PC and AF. And, the chicken, while frozen and raw, could have been marinated at least a half hour before cooking. The "fixed" directions, time, and temps are noted below.
Ingredients
2 lb raw chicken wings
1-2 c BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Sriracha BBQ sauce)
1 c water
additional sriracha sauce, optional for more spicy
Add 1 c of bbq sauce and chicken wings to a resealable plastic bag or food storage container. Let the wings marinate for 30 minutes or longer in the fridge. In my first attempt, I did not marinate before cooking and applied the sauce at the Air Crisper step.
Pressure Cooker Directions
Place fry basket in pot. Add water to pot and chicken to fry basket. Select "Pressure" and "Hi". Set timer for 10 minutes. Start.
10 minutes natural release, then quick release.
Remove pressure cooking lid.
Air Crisper Directions
Select "Broil", Temp to 400 F, and Time for 10-15 minutes.
Toss or use a silicone pastry brush to apply more BBQ sauce to the wings.
Check at 5 minute intervals to see how crispy the wings are getting. Serve with additional BBQ sauce.
Matcha Madeleines
It's a wonder why there isn't a higher rate of heart disease in France than there is in the US. Perhaps it's our lacking embrace of saturated fat from animal products such as dairy, cheese, butter fat, etc. There is really no reason why these little cakes are so pricey at coffee shops like Starbucks. You're literally eating just a tablespoon of cake batter. So anyways.. onto the recipe. Oh, and one other thing, when using AP flour, if you use unbleached/unbromated flour the cakes will be darker than when using "white" flour.
Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 oz or 113 g)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp whole milk
1 c all purpose flour (120 g)
2/3 c organic granulated sugar (133 g)
1 tbsp powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
Directions
0. Prepare the Madeleine pan(s) with butter and a dusting of flour. Set aside.
1. Melt the butter. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, matcha powder, powdered sugar, baking powder and sea salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk/egg mixture and fold in with a spatula. Let the batter rest for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.Remove from oven and let cool. Gently remove madeleines to a rack.
At this point after the cakes have cooled to room temperature, you could dust them with powdered sugar and eat.
Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick or 4 oz or 113 g)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp whole milk
1 c all purpose flour (120 g)
2/3 c organic granulated sugar (133 g)
1 tbsp powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
Directions
0. Prepare the Madeleine pan(s) with butter and a dusting of flour. Set aside.
1. Melt the butter. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, matcha powder, powdered sugar, baking powder and sea salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk/egg mixture and fold in with a spatula. Let the batter rest for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.Remove from oven and let cool. Gently remove madeleines to a rack.
At this point after the cakes have cooled to room temperature, you could dust them with powdered sugar and eat.
Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea, Cold-Brewed
This ratio came out tasting rather well. Though, I wonder if it's better to add all the sweetener (in this recipe, just organic granulated sugar) when mixing the base or after the fact and just sweeten per serving. This write-up reflects the latter. I had half a quart (2 cups) of Strawberry mash in the fridge. I was going to make more strawberry ice cream with it but after a week of it just sitting in the fridge, this is what it went into.
There are actually four recipes on this page. Stop and go wherever you'd like.
Ingredients - Strawberry Syrup Mash
1 lb fresh strawberries, core/stem removed
1/2 c sugar
Mash the strawberries, use an immersion blender, or blend it all together in a food processor.
(optional) Add 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice if you want to preserve the red color of the strawberries.
At this point, you could skip the lemonade part of this recipe and add a 14-oz can of coconut milk to make coconut strawberry ice cream. But, that's an experiment for another day.
Ingredients - Strawberry Lemonade
1/2 fresh lemon juice from 2 large lemons
Directions
Add the lemon juice to the strawberry syrup mash. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For one 12 oz serving:
add 1/2 c Strawberry Lemonade base
fill mug with filtered water (or cold-brewed iced black tea for a Strawberry Arnold Palmer)
add sweetener, to taste (for this I added 1 tbsp organic granulated sugar)
Cold-brewed Black Tea
4 tsp English Breakfast tea (or 4 black tea bags)
4 cups of water
1 quart mason jar w/ lid
Combine in the mason jar and let sit overnight in the fridge.
Side note:
You can use a vegetable peeler to peel just the yellow part of the peel from the lemon and put the peels in a clean jar filled with vodka.. to make lemon extract. You can then add a simple syrup to that extract (1:1 ratio) to make limoncello. Then compost the peels when all that is done.
There are actually four recipes on this page. Stop and go wherever you'd like.
Ingredients - Strawberry Syrup Mash
1 lb fresh strawberries, core/stem removed
1/2 c sugar
Mash the strawberries, use an immersion blender, or blend it all together in a food processor.
(optional) Add 1-2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice if you want to preserve the red color of the strawberries.
At this point, you could skip the lemonade part of this recipe and add a 14-oz can of coconut milk to make coconut strawberry ice cream. But, that's an experiment for another day.
Ingredients - Strawberry Lemonade
1/2 fresh lemon juice from 2 large lemons
Directions
Add the lemon juice to the strawberry syrup mash. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For one 12 oz serving:
add 1/2 c Strawberry Lemonade base
fill mug with filtered water (or cold-brewed iced black tea for a Strawberry Arnold Palmer)
add sweetener, to taste (for this I added 1 tbsp organic granulated sugar)
Cold-brewed Black Tea
4 tsp English Breakfast tea (or 4 black tea bags)
4 cups of water
1 quart mason jar w/ lid
Combine in the mason jar and let sit overnight in the fridge.
Side note:
You can use a vegetable peeler to peel just the yellow part of the peel from the lemon and put the peels in a clean jar filled with vodka.. to make lemon extract. You can then add a simple syrup to that extract (1:1 ratio) to make limoncello. Then compost the peels when all that is done.
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