Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL Review

Pros: Good air frying performance, clear interface, can also pressure cook
Cons: Expensive, crisping lid can be hard to clean
Manufacturer: Ninja
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
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Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL | |||||
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Awards | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Price | $270 List $191.99 at Amazon | $120 List $119.95 at Amazon | $130 List $99.99 at Amazon | $149 List $61.09 at Amazon | $150 List $65.69 at Amazon |
Overall Score ![]() |
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Star Rating | |||||
Pros | Good air frying performance, clear interface, can also pressure cook | Fantastic cooking performance, easy to clean, easy to use, great temperature accuracy, multiple cooking functions | Great cooking performance, user friendly, excellent temperature accuracy | Great cooking performance, relatively easy to clean, inexpensive | Good cooking performance, easy to clean |
Cons | Expensive, crisping lid can be hard to clean | On the expensive side | Not the easiest to clean | Mediocre temperature accuracy | No digital readout, lower temperature setting somewhat inaccurate |
Bottom Line | A great choice for anyone that wants to both pressure cook and air fry | A high-performing and multi-functional device that leaves very little to be desired | Can cook the widest variety of foods well, and is quite easy to use | Can cook some great dishes yet costs significantly less than most competitors | A capable cooker, but better value can be found elsewhere |
Rating Categories | Ninja Foodi Deluxe... | Instant Vortex Plus | Ninja 1550 Watt | 3.7 Quart... | BLACK+DECKER Purifry |
Cooking Performance (35%) | |||||
User Friendliness (25%) | |||||
Ease Of Cleaning (20%) | |||||
Temperature Accuracy (20%) | |||||
Specs | Ninja Foodi Deluxe... | Instant Vortex Plus | Ninja 1550 Watt | 3.7 Quart... | BLACK+DECKER Purifry |
Outside Dimensions | 16.1" x 14.57" x 14.29" | 11.5" x 13.25" x 12.75" | 13.6" x 11" x 13.3" | 12" x 8" x 8" | 11.1" x 9.8" x 11.5" |
Capacity | 5 qt | 6 qt | 4 qt | 3.7 qt | 2.1 qt |
Accessories | pressure cooking pot and crisping basket | none | multi-layer rack for dehydrating | none | basket divider |
Manufacturer Warranty | 1 Year Limited | 1 Year Limited | 1 Year Limited | 1 Year Limited | 2 Year Limited |
Power Consumption | 1760W | 1700W | 1550W | 1400W | 1200W |
Our Analysis and Test Results
If you're looking for both an air fryer and a pressure cooker, we think the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL is one of the best options on the market.
Performance Comparison
Cooking Performance
The Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL was one of the frontrunners in our cooking tests. It displayed some minor weaknesses, but for the most part it offers above average air frying performance.
Our favorite dish we prepared with the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL was onion rings. Time after time the onions came out tender and fully cooked while the breading on the outside was crispy and golden brown. While you generally can't expect air fried foods to replicate the experience of deep frying, these got closer than most.
This device also excelled in making doughnuts. Here again they came out fully cooked with a nice crispy crust. There were some minor inconsistencies in the overall texture, but for the most part we loved these sweet treats.
Both the chicken breasts and the tater tots we air fried with this machine got a bit dried out. This resulted in a texture that felt more crunchy than crispy. We still enjoyed eating both, but other models achieved a slightly better overall texture.
Sweet potato fries have long been a torture test for our air fryers, as it is very hard to get them properly crispy using such a technique. The Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL was able to get these fries crispier than most, but significantly lagged behind the top models.
As a pressure cooker, the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL performed as well as the dedicated pressure cookers we've tested. We also had great luck pressure cooking things like chicken or brussel sprouts, and then adding a nice crisp to them with a quick air frying cycle.
User Friendliness
Overall we found the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL to be quite easy to use. The dual functionality does require that you deal with some small idiosyncrasies, but in our opinion those things are far from deal breakers.
Devices that offer many functions are often plagued with clunky interfaces that make accessing those functions annoying at best and downright frustrating at worst. The Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL completely avoids this issue with a well designed control panel that allows for seamless switching between and adjustment of its various cooking modes.
If you're cooking for a large family or you like leftovers, you'll likely appreciate the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL's titular larger size. It offers 8 quarts of cooking space when in pressure cooking mode. If you're making an air frying specific recipe that requires the fry basket, that space shrinks a bit to 5 quarts.
The one unavoidable annoyance of this machine is the large crisping lid. It is permanently attached, which means it can get in the way when stirring or serving from the pot. It also makes the unit quite tall. In fact, it couldn't fit underneath the cabinets in some of our smaller kitchens. However, in our opinion, the functionality added by the crisping lids far outweighs the downsides.
Ease of Cleaning
Here again the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL is generally quite easy to clean, but the permanently attached crisping lid does present some challenges.
We found both the pressure cooking pot and the air frying basket of this device to be quite easy to wipe down and get clean. Both are also safe to put in the dishwasher.
The crisping lid generally stays relatively clean when air frying. However, sometimes recipes will splatter or pop a bit, depositing grease and grime on the lid. Since the lid is permanently attached you must scrub and clean it in a somewhat awkward position, and you can't rinse off the soap in the sink. Again, this is certainly annoying, but we still feel the added functionality is worth the trouble.
Temperature Accuracy
Despite its larger size, the Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL was one of the most accurate air fryers in our temperature accuracy tests. At lower temperatures, our calibrated thermometers consistently measured the internal temperature to be within 5˚ of the set temperature. When set all the way up to 400˚ the larger cooking chamber did cause the machine to run a bit cooler, but we didn't see any negative impacts in the cooking results.
Value
The Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL is fairly expensive. In fact it is about the same price as buying both a dedicated air fryer and a dedicated pressure cooker. However, it does perform very well in both capacities. Therefore, if you plan to use both functions and want to save counter space it is a worthwhile investment.
Conclusion
The Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL is a great device for those that want to add both air frying and pressure cooking functionality to their kitchen. The dual function design does have some minor drawbacks, but we think those are outweighed by the saved counter space and the unique recipe opportunities presented by being able to pressure cook and air fry in the same chamber.
— Max Mutter and Michelle Powell