This Air Fryer Kept Me Fed Through College, Plus It’s on Sale for Black Friday

If you’re anything like me, mealtimes are a logistical nightmare. When I was in college, I would create elaborate plans for meals I wanted to cook for myself, but that would also require me to accurately time my sides and main dishes so that everything would be done at once. Reality usually set in after coming home from a long day of classes; I was rarely in the mood to put in the time and mental energy necessary to plan my meals. This resulted in me spending way too much money on takeout or just eating snacks from my pantry. My mealtime experience changed for the better once the Ninja Foodi 13-in-1 air fryer found its way into my college home. 

One of my roommates brought the air fryer home, and just like that, my cooking experience was changed. Essentially, I began treating this air fryer like a second oven. No longer was I doing very questionable math to figure out temperatures and timings to accommodate multiple things in one oven (or just giving up on cooking altogether). This air fryer was able to act as a whole separate oven right on my countertop. That eliminated part of the mental energy that cooking requires, and I found that I started cooking more. 

With the air fryer’s multiple options, I found I could get even more specific with what I was cooking. If I wanted to crisp up some tofu, I would use the air fryer setting, but if I wanted to roast some veggies, I would use the bake or air roast options. It can even toast, which was an absolute must-have during college. I could even switch up the method in the middle of cooking. If I was baking something in the oven, I would air-fry it for the last few minutes of cooking time, giving it a bit of extra crispiness. 

The only thing that bothered me about the Ninja Foodi 13-in-1 air fryer was that it’s a little small, and the pans I’d usually put in my oven wouldn’t fit in the Ninja Foodi. It does come with a SearPlate, a basket and a rack, but if you plan to use it frequently, you might want to invest in some extra pans. (These baking pans should fit just fine.)

The air fryer is on the pricier side, but it’s currently on sale for Black Friday. It’s CNET’s top pick for the best air fryer toaster oven. The Ninja Foodi 13-in-1 air fryer is $170 right now, a $160 discount from its original price. Personally, this was the only countertop kitchen gadget I needed, and it saved me tons of money since I was cooking food that I actually wanted to eat, instead of eating out. In my opinion, it’s well worth the price.