Air Fryer Oven + Recipes

I told my husband years ago, “I don’t want kitchen appliances for Christmas gifts. Get me jewelry or something special…a kitchen appliance isn’t really just for me.” However, I ate my own words last year when I asked for an air fryer. I’d heard from several friends that an air fryer was the best appliance they had in their kitchen. So, I researched the most convenient, easy-to-use, efficient, and practical one on the market. I found the Ninja Foodi Digital Air Fryer Oven was the best one to meet my needs. And, my husband disobeyed my rules (thankfully), and surprised me on Christmas morning with this kitchen appliance. Since then, my entire family has been using it as an oven, toaster, and air fryer every day. 

Here are some of the reasons why I love it: 

1. Sleek design: it flips up and can fit underneath my kitchen cabinets, so it doesn’t take up a ton of space. 
2. Easy to clean: it has a removable air fryer basket, sheet pan, back and bottom panel that can be easily cleaned.
3. Cooks fast and evenly: it has a 60-second preheat (so much quicker than your typical oven), with even cooking results from smaller portions to family size meals.  
4. Easy to use: it has several functions from air crisp, roast, and broil to bake, dehydrate, keep warm, and toast/bagel. My entire family can use it safely, including my children. 

Here are some of our favorite recipes:

Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp sriracha sauce
• ¼ c honey
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger zest and lime juice
• 2 ½ lbs fresh uncooked chicken wings

Directions:

In a bowl, stir together all ingredients except chicken wings. Coat chicken wings with half the sauce in a large resealable plastic bag; reserve remaining sauce. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Select Air Fry, set temperature to 400 and set time to 25 minutes. Press start to begin preheating. Place the air fry basket on the sheet pan. Then arrange chicken wings in basket, making sure they are not crowding each other. When unit has preheated, slide both the basket and pan into the oven at the same time. The basket will slide into the top rail while the pan fits directly on top of the wire rack to catch any grease during cooking. After 10 minutes, use tongs to flip wings. Return pan to oven and cook an additional 10-15 minutes until crispiness is achieved. When cooking is complete, toss wings in reserved sauce and serve immediately with your favorite dressing and cut up carrots and celery. 

Spicy Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, and Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 lb uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

• 3 Tbsp oil, divided
• 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
• 1 head broccoli, cut in florets
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, toss chicken with 1 Tbsp oil and cajun seasoning. Place chicken, sweet potatoes, and broccoli on the sheet pan. Drizzle sweet potatoes and broccoli with remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Select Air Roast, set temperature to 415, and set time to 20 minutes. Press start to begin preheating. When your air fryer is preheated, place a pan in the oven. After 20 minutes, check the chicken for doneness. Cooking is complete when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 and sweet potatoes are fork tender. If cooking is not complete, return the pan to the oven and cook for 2 more minutes. When cooking is complete, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 2 minutes before serving. Serve with brown rice.

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