The best air fryers to save money and energy (with some tasty results)
We tested the best air fryers on the market to see if they can really save you money while using less oil for healthier food
Why are air fryers all of a sudden so hard to come by? They seem to be selling out everywhere. This time-saving kitchen gadget only entered the market a decade ago. They caught on fairly quickly ($412 million dollars were spent on them in the US in 2019), and saw a surge of interest during lockdown, when influencers on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok showed how they could reduce the amount of oil used in cooking.
That persuaded health-conscious 20-somethings that they were worth a look. But now there's a second, even bigger boom in air fryer popularity and this time it's not just millenials but parents and grandparents. This time, the killer app is money-saving.
If you already know how air fryers save you money, here's a quick glance at our top six. To find out exactly how air frying cuts your energy bills, and for our reviews in full, keep scrolling down.
At a glance: the best air fryers
- Best overall air fryer – Tefal ActiFry Air Fryer
- Best Ninja air fryer - Ninja AF100UK
- Most affordable air fryer – Tower T17023 Air Fryer
- Best air fryer for cooking meat – Ninja Foodi MAX PRO Health Grill, Flat Plate & Air Fryer
- Best air fryer for family-size meals – Philips Essential Air Fryer
- Best air fryer for one-pot cooking – Instant Pot Duo Crisp & Air Fryer
Why does an air fryer use less energy than an oven?
It's down to two factors: size and time. Sitting on your kitchen worktop, air fryers are considerably smaller than conventional ovens. They generally range from around two to eight litres in volume (although air fryers as large as 24 litres do exist). The less air there is, the less energy is required to heat it up.
Then there's the clever convection technology which ensures the heat and vapourised oil is very evenly distributed to every part of your food. Taken together, these features mean that air fryers can typically save you around 30 minutes in cooking time. A meal cooked for an hour in a typical 2,000 Watt electric oven would use two kiloWatt hours of energy but if you could cook the same meal in half an hour in a 1,000 Watt air fryer, it would use just half a kiloWatt hour.
This is suddenly very relevant. The first time we reviewed air fryers, during lockdown, one kiloWatt hour of electricity cost just 18p. The current price, under the government's Energy Price Gaurantee is a scary 34p. (Costs vary by supplier, tariff and region, but we use the cap price by default in our reviews.) That's why we've revisited our review and will continue to update it as availability changes and new air fryers come onto the market.
All other things being equal, it is still cheaper to cook with gas, which at the time of writing cost 10p per kiloWatt hour, although the size and age of your gas oven may make still make it less efficient than the best modern air fryers.
How I tested the best air fryers
Air fryers vary in energy use and some, particularly the large ones, may not save you as much money as you would hope. I've estimated the running costs below. But what I wanted to know is if they actually work; because for every air-fryer super fan, there is a detractor and critic, who say they cook unevenly, have a small capacity and produce dry, slightly rubbery results.
I cooked the same food in each model: chips, roasted vegetables, sausages and fish fingers. I was looking for tasty, healthy, appetising results (everything took a little experimentation to get right) but I also wanted to see how easy each machine is to use, how much space it takes up and how easy it is to clean.
Prices for air fryers vary considerably. Having lived with them for several weeks, here’s my verdict on the best air fryers on the market…
Best air fryers
1. Tefal ActiFry Air Fryer
Best for cooking chips, 9/10
We liked: the crispy results
- Air fryer only
- 1400 Watts (estimated 48p per hour to use)
- 1.2kg food capacity
It may look a little like a spaceship (and take up just as much workspace), but this Tefal air fryer performed best in my tests. It heats up in minutes; chips were crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle with just a small amount of oil (from a pre-portioned scoop), sausages and fish fingers were perfectly cooked, and even my “roasted” vegetables were fairly tasty.
It has a 1.2kg capacity, so there’s space for six portions of food. The noise while it’s operating is similar to that of a hairdryer, so I don’t think it could be described as ‘quiet’; but in relative terms, it was again best in test.
The basket automatically rotates inside the fryer, so you get even results, and it has a clear lid so you can see the progress of your food as it cooks. It’s controlled via a semi-smart LED timer. Once finished, the removable bowl is easy to clean and dishwasher safe.
The only ‘con’ I can identify is the price, but compared to similar models from Philips and Ninja (reviewed below), I would say the ActiFry actually offers fairly good value for money. It was the closest I got to genuinely deep-fried-standard chips.
2. Ninja Air Fryer AF100UK
Best Ninja air fryer, 9/10
We liked: it can go in the dishwasher
- Air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate settings
- 1550W
- 3.8l food capacity
This AF100UK is Ninja's bestselling air fryer and one of the simplest to use on this list. You have four buttons of the front, with the option to air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate, as well as temperature and time controls, and a power and start/stop button. It's a simple drawer operated air fryer with a ceramic-coated cooking grate insert, inside the non-stick cooking section. It heats up quickly but I've found the best efficiency by preheating for two minutes before cooking.
I cooked chips inside in around 16 minutes, thanks to the fast airflow which is better than most other brands. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, though slightly dry (the downside to most air fryers). I've also managed to cook meat and vegetables in there in half the time as my oven, though there are definitely some vegetables to avoid: broccoli, which turns crisp and ashy and spinach, which turns into a smattering of veg crisps. That being said, I have roasted a whole chicken in this air fryer to great and tasty success.
There's lots of talk about air fryers being a passing fad, but the most convincing argument I can make in this Ninja's favour is that I now reach for it more often than I turn my oven on. It is pretty bulky and wants putting away when not in use, but it's the second cheapest on this list and it's a worthy investment. It also uses less money per half hour in energy costs than a conventional oven (around 26p compared to 36p).
- Air fryer only
- 1000 Watts (estimated 34p per hour to use)
- 2.2 litre food capacity
I wasn’t expecting the cheapest model (by far) on this list to come out near the top of my testing, but the Tower Air Fryer is a budget powerhouse. It’s very easy to set up and clean, with a simple drawer design, and the end results were as good as those from air fryers three times the price. It heats up in seconds and cooked chips in 20 minutes, sausages and fish fingers in 12-15, and vegetables in just six.
My chips weren’t quite as crispy as the Tefal model above, but they cooked quickly and evenly, and it excelled on sausages and fish fingers. It has a simple manual dial for time and temperature, so lacks smart tech, but I actually found that made it easier to use than some of its fancier competitors.
It has a compact footprint and isn’t too loud, so I would say it’s the best choice for small kitchens (and it’s certainly the one I’d keep in my tiny flat). Despite being smaller, it still has a decent 2.2l capacity from the deep, dome-shaped basket. The only downside is the lack of digital display or pre-set cooking programmes, but to be honest, you wouldn’t expect that at this price.
By the way, if you're looking for ways to save money in the kitchen, read my guide to the best kettles. The cheapest is under £15 and costs you a quarter of a penny to make a cuppa.
3. Ninja Foodi MAX PRO Health Grill, Flat Plate & Air Fryer
Best for cooking meat, 9/10
We liked: the combined air fryer and grill function
- Air fryer, grill and oven
- 2,460W (estimated 84p per hour to use)
- 3.8 litre capacity
It may be the most expensive on this list, but this impressive gadget is what would happen if you combined an air fryer and a maxi-sized George Foreman grill. It's very popular indeed thanks to Tik Tok and word of mouth and is often sold out at some retailers, although stocks do get replenished. I would point out, though, that as the name ‘MAX’ suggests, this is for larger kitchens. It weighs a hefty 12kg, is 44cm long and serves up to six people.
For that, though, you get an impressive range of features. It acts as a grill, flat plate and air fryer and can roast, bake, dehydrate and reheat – a total of seven cooking functions. This review will focus on its air frying capabilities, for obvious reasons, but it’s worth noting that the Foodi MAX PRO comes with a digital cooking probe for perfectly cooked steaks, burgers, and skewers. Given its size, you could easily roast a whole joint of meat in there.
Onto frying. It doesn’t produce the crispiness of my top choice of air fryer, but it does cook very quickly and evenly – 20 minutes for chips or sweet potato fries and just six minutes for vegetables. The chips were tasty and not dried out; they were just softer than I would have liked, without that irresistible crispiness. However, the Ninja Foodi MAX PRO does come with the best recipe booklet of any of the models I tested, with a broad range of meat, fish and vegetarian recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and even air-fried desserts.
4. Philips Essential Airfryer with Rapid Air Technology
Best for family-size meals, 8/10
We liked: how quickly it cooks
- Air fryer, oven and grill
- 2,000 Watts (estimated 68p per hour to use)
- 6.2 litre capacity
This beast of an air fryer is the one I’d opt for if I had a larger family to feed, as it has a 6.2 litre capacity. For that reason, it’s not the best choice for small kitchens. You may baulk at the price, but it’s a clever four-in-one gadget that can bake, grill and roast as well as effectively air fry. It also has a handful of clever extra features, including a ‘favourite’ option for quick access to your favourite recipes.
I found that the end results were crispy, but more similar to a convection oven than the two air fryers above. Chips were decent, but didn’t quite have that deep-fried crunch. However, sausages, fish fingers and roasted veg were all cooked to perfection in less than half the time it would take in the oven (with a teaspoon of oil, or less).
It has the same ‘drawer’ design as the Tower fryer above, which is handy for checking the progress of food halfway through. The sheer size of the basket meant I found it slightly more arduous to clean, but the parts are dishwasher safe. There's an even bigger, 7.3-litre XXL model (£299.99, Amazon) big enough to fit an entire chicken inside, although that's a lot of money to gamble if you've never tried air frying before.
5. Instant Pot Duo Crisp & Air Fryer
Best for one-pot cooking, 7/10
We liked: the wide variety of cooking modes
- Air fryer, oven, grill, pressure cooker, sous vide, slow cooker
- 1,500 Watts (estimated 51p per hour to use)
- 8 litre capacity as pressure cooker, 4.5 litre fryer basket
The instant pot is a combination of two of the most popular kitchen gadgets out there – an air fryer and a pressure cooker – in a single beast of an appliance. It has a lot going for it. It’s a hugely versatile gadget, with 11 cooking modes (including steam, boil, sous vide and slow cook, as well as pressure cook and air fry) that make it perfect for one-pot meals. And, thanks to the large 8 litre capacity, you could geniunely feed a whole family. It's big enough to fit a whole chicken. It also comes in 5.7-litre size.
However, unfortunately the air fry function just wasn’t as effective as the models above. The chips it produced definitely couldn’t be described as crispy, and during cooking it was loud and rattly. You have to remove the (heavy) domed lid to check the progress of your food, and when you put the lid back in place, I found the machine was slow to restart. Plus, you'd need a very large kitchen cupboard in order to house this massive machine and all its accoutrements – the fact that it has so many accessories means it’s trickier to store.
It’s not for me. But if you’re interested in pressure cooking, or need a one-pot solution for a large family, it could be for you. It certainly has a lot of fans, particularly in America.
FAQ
How do air fryers work?
Air fryers use technology almost identical to a convection oven, but on a smaller scale. A heating component heats air, which is circulated by a powerful fan around the food to cook it and produce a ‘frying’ effect with minimal oil. It’s quicker, too – the small chamber of an air fryer only requires a couple of minutes of pre-heating.
They almost always come with a basket or drawer, to hold the food you’re cooking, a timer and pre-programmed settings for different foods. Depending on your budget, they’ll be controlled with either manual buttons or a touchscreen display.
"We call them air fryers, but what it's really a small convection oven," says McGrady, former personal chef to The Queen and Princess Diana and now the owner of catering company the Royal Chef. He's a confirmed fan of air fryers.
"At an event where, say, we're cooking 200 portions of beef but there are two people who have requested salmon, I can air fry two salmon cutlets within eight minutes, so it's perfect. You can cook healthy things in there too, not just chips." McGrady uses his air fryer for sweet potatoes, fish, meat, and Victoria sponge cake (see video evidence below). His university-age daughter even uses it to make perfect "air boiled" eggs, he says.
Are air fryers healthier than regular frying?
Yes. “Air fryers require less oil and so help reduce the calorie content of the overall meal; it’s definitely a healthier way to cook whilst preserving taste and texture,” confirms nutritionist Jenna Hope. It’s also markedly less messy than regular frying.
Manufacturers make bold promises about being 75 per cent healthier than conventional fried food, and in my tests I never used more than one or two teaspoons of oil. For some dishes, I needed none at all.