Best air fryer 2023: quick and healthy cooking tested by experts

Air fryers are a household essential for quick and healthy meals. They're miniature convection ovens which whip up crispy, delicious results without any added oil. These energy-efficient appliances will also save you from turning on your oven or your stove every time you want to cook, saving a small fortune on your energy bills. 

While we're big fans, air fryers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have lots of different features. It can be tricky to see through marketing gimmicks and work out which model is best. That's why we've put the best air fryers to the test, pitting them against each other to find the very best. Just as we've done with the best toaster ovens, we trialled dozens of recipes, testing every step of cooking, including cleaning up after your meal. 

Our reviews show that the best air fryer is the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in 1 (opens in new tab), but we've also assessed top air fryers from Ninja, Philips, Cosori and more, finding the fastest, best value, and easiest-to-use air fryers you can buy. 

Best air fryers 2023

Best air fryer you can buy

Why you should buy it
The best air fryer in the world. 

Why we love it
The Instant Pot Vortex Plus 6-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer made the best homemade fries of any air fryer I tested. They had a fluffy interior and crispy exterior, with evenly browned edges and consistent cooking throughout.

Because there is a removable air fry insert, you can also use the Instant Pot Vortex Plus 6-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer to reheat foods like rice and pasta, which would usually fall through the slots in the air fryer tray.

The six-quart capacity is perfect for families, and it will easily cook for 5 or 6 people. My bacon was rendered perfectly, and the innovative OdorErase technology isn't just a gimmick — it hugely reduced unwanted smells in the kitchen. This is also one of the quietest air fryers I've tried, and I found that the control panel is sleek and attractive, though be prepared to wipe away finger smudges. 

My Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase review has more details.

Best air fryer for large servings

Why you should buy it
The best air fryer for big meals 

Why we love it
With an 8-quart capacity that's split across two drawers, this Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer is perfect for families and those who want to cook a whole meal in one appliance.

The fries I made in this air fryer were amazing, and they were already starting to brown after just 10 minutes of cooking. We had to shake them up to get an even finish, but they were some of the crispiest fries we've made, and only took 22 minutes.  In the other basket, I made breaded fish, which also came out deliciously crisp. The two baskets are 4 quarts each, which is perfect for cooking an entire meal for two people or a batch of fries or roasted vegetables for an entire family split across the two baskets. Of course, if you're only cooking something small for a lunchtime salad topper, you can just use one drawer at a time. 

Choose SyncFinish mode to cook your meal at two different times, modes or temperatures, but to finish at the same time. SyncCook will take the settings you've applied to one drawer and copy them across to the second drawer. Both are easy to use, and the touch controls will make adjusting your timings mid-cook easy.

Good to know
The only important thing to bear in mind with this air fryer is that it takes up a lot of space on a countertop. It's more than a square foot, so you might not be easy to store. Like the Dual Basket above, cleaning obsessives will find that this air fryer smudges easily. 

My Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket Air Fryer review has more information.

Best multicooker air fryer

Why you should buy it
The best multicooker with an air fryer function

Why we love it
The Instant Pot Pro Crisp beat its predecessor to go straight in at #1 in our picks of the best Instant Pots. It truly does it all, with 11 different functions. Unlike some other Instant Pots, this appliance has a single lid for every function, halving the space you need for storage and making this appliance incredibly easy to use. 

It certainly impressed home economics expert Helen McCue, who found that this Instant Pot helped to create one of the best macaroni cheeses she's ever cooked. Even better, it did it all in one pot, hugely cutting down on cleaning afterwards. 

There's also a stress-free pressure cooking function, which takes all the worry out of cooking by releasing steam automatically. It has 13 functions in one appliance, so you can cook everything from whole roast chickens to curry or mashed potatoes. Helen was particularly pleased with the air fryer mode, which crisped perfect rashers of bacon in just seven minutes. 

Good to know
The only problem Helen found is that the stainless steel pot isn't non-stick, so you might need to put a little extra effort into cleaning to get it back to looking its best. 

Helen's full Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid review has all the detail.

Fastest air fryer

Why you should buy it
The fastest air fryer on test. 

Why we love it
The Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 XL 2-Basket Air Fryer is incredibly versatile. There are six modes: air broil, air fry, roast, reheat, dehydrate and bake. I found that the air fry mode is great, especially when you use the removable crisper plates, and you can use one in one drawer to air fry chicken while baking or roasting vegetables in the other drawer to make fajitas or simply a balanced meal. 

This air fryer was a consistent performer, with a high-temperature limit which meant it was one of the fastest air fryers I tested when cooking bacon and frozen chicken. I enjoyed the fact that you can sync the two drawers so every element of your meal will finish together. When you're done you can place both drawers and the crisper insert into the dishwasher, so not only is it easy to use, but it's easy to clean, too. 

You can choose between smart finish, which allows you to cook at two different modes simultaneously with them finishing at the same time, or match cook, where the settings in drawer 1 are automatically applied to drawer 2. 

Good to know
There's no pre-heat , so it loses marks for precision. It also takes a little getting used to, as it's easy to confuse the 'match' and 'smart finish' functions. 

My Ninja Foodi DZ401 6-in-1 XL 2-Basket Air Fryer review covers all the detail.

Best value air fryer

Why you should buy it
The best budget air fryer in the world.

Why we love it
When Drew Barrymore came out with her own line of appliances, we were first in line to review them. The Beautiful 6-Quart Digital Air Fryer looked just as, well, beautiful in person as it did online, with a Sage Green finish (it also comes in black, white, blue, and other shades) and a matte exterior that resists scuff marks. 

The Beautiful 6-Quart Digital Air Fryer has modes for dehydrating, roasting, air frying, and reheating food. It's got a smart touchscreen control panel that increases the temperature in 5-degree increments, up to an impressive 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  

The six-quart basket is great for families, but it also worked well on smaller servings of snacks. In her tests, expert tester Camryn Rabideau baked bagels, made French fries, and dehydrated slices of apple, and everything came out well-cooked and evenly crisped. For the price, this is a brilliant and stylish pick. 

Good to know
Camryn found that the materials felt a little cheap, but bear in mind that this is true of most air fryers, as they're largely made of plastic.

Camryn's Beautiful 6-Quart Digital Air Fryer review has more details.

Best air fryer for ease of use

Why you should buy it
This air fryer has better pre-set functions than any other. 

Why we love it
I was floored by the air frying in the Philips Essential Airfryer XL. It has a unique 'starfish' base that makes sure the air circulates around the entire basket for evenly cooked results. Our homemade fries came out very crispy and evenly cooked, and they finished about 10 minutes ahead of when we'd usually expect them to be ready. The bacon was cooked in just five minutes, and the vegetables came out with the crispiest finish of all the air fryers I tested alongside the Essential Airfryer XL. 

This is thanks to the Philips Essential Airfryer XL's smart preset cooking modes. Admittedly, these were a little confusing at first, and they all have specific timings. That's tricky if you're  cooking very different sizes of cuts of meat in one mode. However, once you've mastered this you hardly need to think about what you're cooking. The pre-sets take care of everything and turn out perfect food every time.

Good to know
Smaller households or those with less kitchen space to spare will love the Philips Essential Airfryer XL, but it is expensive for its capacity and the façade is a little cluttered. This option seriously impressed me with its cooking ability, but I found that it was one of the noisier options I tested at 72dB.  

My Philips Essential Air Fryer XL review has more information.

Best toaster oven with air fryer

Why you should buy it
The best combination air fryer and toaster oven. 

Why we love it
Toaster ovens and air fryers work using similar physics, so it's no surprise that our pick for the best toaster oven is also one of the best air fryers. KitchenAid's Digital Countertop Oven pretty much does it all — dehydrate, proof, bagel, toast, bake, broil, keep warm and, of course, air fry.

The air frying function is the best of the bunch thanks to a generous air frying  basket which our tests found was perfect for fries, tater tots and fried chicken. It was especially great with turkey bacon, making well-rendered bacon with no grease, which is great if you need to watch your cholesterol. 

Good to know
Ironically, this toaster oven is weak at toasting, making uneven slices of toast and quickly burning it when on the highest setting. 

Jaclyn's full KitchenAid Digital Countertop Oven with Air Fry review covers further details. 

Best basic air fryer

Why you should buy it
Incredible taste at a low price

Why we love it
This is a basic air fryer that nails all of the essentials. The name is no surprise — this simple and inexpensive air fryer is a good choice if you're living in an apartment or have a small kitchen. Despite only one function (air fry, unsurprisingly) it aced our taste test. Our tester Alex found that this air fryer produced 'among the best-cooked asparagus I've ever had in my life'. It was crisp on the outside and soft and juicy in the middle, and it was a similar story with French fries. It's the smallest air fryer on this list, so it's easy to store, and it's incredibly quick, one of the fastest air fryers on the list, second only to the Ninja Foodi 6-in-1. 

Good to know
This air fryer is so efficient that it's easy to overcook your food, and because there's no presets or transparent window, it can be hard to tell when your meal is ready. Only having one function despite a similar price to Drew Barrymore's Beautiful air fryer is another drawback, as is the small capacity. It's great for singletons and couples but won't work for big families. 

Best smart air fryer

Why you should buy it
The best smart air fryer 

Why we love it
This ingenious air fryer has a handy app and Alexa connectivity, so you can chose from more than 100 preset recipes and control it with your voice. The app lets you control the time and temperature from your phone, and get notifications about how your food is cooking. You can even scan products' barcodes to learn exactly how to cook them, saving time and effort.

It has a dual heating system which I'd not seen before - one heating element above your food and one below, which Cosori claims stops you from having to turn over ingredients as they cook. At first, I was worried that the heating element in the base might scorch my countertop, but I found that the exterior keeps cool, and it was safe to use even on wooden countertops.

Unlike other Cosori products, it feels incredibly sturdy, and it's easy to control. If you don't want to use the app, there's a choice of 12 cooking presets that take the pressure out of cooking a wide range of dishes. Cosori fryers are often on sale on Amazon too, so they come at a great price.

Good to know
However, bear in mind that this air fryer is very noisy. I also found that this machine doesn't cook as quickly as other air fryers, which is surprising given the dual heating elements.

There's more detail in my full Cosori Dual Blaze Air Fryer review.

Best compact air fryer

Why you should buy it
Compact for storage but perfect portions for couples.

Why we love it
Despite being one of Ninja's smaller air fryers, the Max XL really impressed me when I put it to the test. For a start, it's lightweight and easy to move around the kitchen, and its small frame won't dominate the kitchen counter. 

The 5.5-quart capacity is smaller than some, but it's perfectly sized to make two portions of homemade fries or a platter of snacks for easy entertaining. Everything I made at higher temperatures crisped up beautifully, from bacon to roasted vegetables, and the cooking time sped up significantly because of the circular, more compact basket

The control unit has modes for max crisp, air frying, roasting, baking, reheating, air broiling, and dehydrating, and there are also easy controls for temperature and timing to toggle as your food cooks. There is also a pause button, which I really like.

Good to know
However, unlike air fryers from Instant which will pre-heat before telling you to add your food, this one has a countdown timer from the beginning.  I also found that it wasn't as strong when cooking at lower temperatures. 

My full Ninja Max XL Air Fryer review has more info. 

How I tested air fryers

When testing, I took into account the following factors:

Noise: The noise of an air fryer can impact your ability to use it. Perhaps you like to cook while listening to the TV, or you live in a smaller home and the noise of an air fryer running would distract you as you work. If an air fryer is noisy, I make a note of it. 

Speed: Air fryers promise to speed up cooking times, so when testing them I used standardized recipes to see how long they will take to cook classic recipes. While potato fries would typically take around 25 minutes in the air fryer, the speediest air fryers we tested have taken as little as 12 minutes to make crisp, evenly-cooked fries. 

Looks: It's going on your kitchen counters, so it has to look the part. You might not mind a less attractive air fryer as much as some other users, but any bulky features or unattractive elements such as smudging or busy display panels were noted during testing. 

Cleaning: Cleaning an air fryer should be easy. Most have baskets that can go in the dishwasher, and it's rare to find one without a non-stick interior. If I ran into any difficulties cleaning, I marked it down. 

Some of the air fryers in our guide have been reviewed on other Future Homes websites, but they have all been reviewed by me, so I can still bring you all my inside knowledge even if you can't click through to read the full review on Homes & Gardens. 

For more insight, our review guidelines explain more about our product review process.

Our expert testers

Meet our professional testers. All our reviews are carried out by our dedicated in-house writers and experienced freelancers. We've tested dozens of products over the years and we insist on first-hand experience of the products we feature.

Millie Fender

Most of the air fryers in this guide to the best air fryers were tested by our resident testing genius and Head of Reviews, Millie Fender. Millie tested these air fryers for weeks in her kitchen at home as well as our dedicated test kitchen, so she can directly compare taste, user experience, cooking times, and ease of cleaning.

Helen McCue

Helen is trained in Home Economics, and has focused on food and cooking throughout her 20-year career. She is a freelance writer specializing in home appliance reviews, and most at home when trying out the latest kitchen gadgets.

Camryn Rabideau

Camryn has been reviewing kitchen appliances for years, and she has reviewed everything from bread makers to juicers for Homes & Gardens. 

Camryn reviewed the Beautiful 6-Quart Digital Air Fryer from her home in Rhode Island, finding 'a great entry-level air fryer for anyone who wants a more attractive appliance'. 

Jaclyn Turner

Our former Ecommerce Editor, Jaclyn has tested dozens of top kitchen appliances to help you find the very best.

Air fryer FAQs

Different types of air fryers

There are a few different types of air fryers to choose from, but all of them work in a similar way. You can choose between two main types:

Drawer air fryers have inserts with handles that can be easily lifted out of the cooking unit and shaken up to evenly cook your fries or chicken without having to turn using a spatula. 

They are a very popular design because they often have an insert that elevates your food to allow air to circulate inside the air fryer basket as it cooks. You can sometimes even lift this filter out of the main basket, which contains oil and juices as they drip away from your food, to make sure none of it ends up on your plate. 

Toaster oven air fryers are the second and less common type. We feature many of them in our guide to toaster ovens because they come with layered designs that can be used to bake and roast as well as air fry. 

Some even come with rotisserie functions that can be used to cook kebabs or whole chickens, but because they don't have a drawer that can be easily pulled out, they can be more fiddly to operate, but they most closely resemble a smaller-scale oven. We explain in more detail in our guide to air fryers vs toaster ovens, and our explainer of air fryers vs convection ovens. 

Final thoughts

You can see above that the very best air fryer you can buy is the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in 1 Air Fryer (opens in new tab). However, it won't work for everyone. Larger families should opt for the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Basket (opens in new tab), and if you need a little speed, the Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 (opens in new tab) is a good option.