I Tested the Ninja Crispi Pro Air Fryer by Cooking Fries, Wings, and More

I have a confession to make: Before this review, I’d never used an air fryer. Chalk it up to being stubbornly anti-trend, or perhaps to ignorance. But now, I’ve seen the light: I tested the new Ninja Crispi Pro 6-in-1 Glass Air Fryer by cooking French fries, chicken wings, salmon, and loads more. I was gobsmacked by how quickly it cooked food and how crispy-crunchy, golden-munchy the results were. And this comes from a skeptic!

The Tests

• Frozen French Fries Test: I air-fried six ounces of frozen crinkle-cut fries. I used the six-quart glass basket and set the air fryer to 390°F for eight minutes, per the bag’s instructions, shaking the fries halfway through. 
• Chicken Wings Test: I used the six-quart glass basket to air fry a pound of chicken drummettes and wings tossed in salt, pepper, and oil. I set the air fryer to 400°F and cooked the wings for 20 minutes, flipping them halfway, per Ninja’s instructions. I also used the Recrisp function to reheat a couple of wings for lunch. 
• Salmon Test: I air-fried two six-ounce portions of salmon, noting how quickly and evenly they cooked. I then cleaned the air fryer basket and crisper plate by hand. 
• Broccoli Test: I cut up a crown of broccoli into florets and air-fried them, shaking the basket halfway through. 
• Daily Use Test: I used the Ninja Crispi Pro in my daily cooking routine, making such delicacies as air-fried eggplant, crispy halloumi (try it, it’s amazing), and simple salt-and-pepper delicata squash rings. I also hand-washed the baskets and crisper plate, and ran appropriate pieces through the dishwasher. 

What We Learned

The Ninja Air Fryer Was Easy to Use

One of my major pet peeves with many appliances is complicated user interfaces: Call me old-fashioned, but give me a dial and a button and I’m a happy gal. The Ninja Crispi Pro air fryer keeps it simple, with four buttons (power, temperature, time, and light) and one dial. To get started, just press the power button, select the temperature, then use the dial to adjust; repeat with the time, then press the dial to start cooking. You can also choose from six presets: Max Crisp, Air Fry, Bake/Proof, Roast, Recrisp, and Dehydrate. I used the Recrisp preset to enliven some leftover wings, and they became golden and crunchy once more. 

It Air-Fried Crispy, Crunchy Results—Fast

As we’ve explained in our review, air fryers work by quickly and powerfully circulating hot air throughout the compact basket, ensuring even browning and crisping. It’s not magic, and it’s not actually frying—it’s thermodynamics. In short, as the air quickly circulates around the food in the basket, it wicks off moisture as it heats it. Moisture is the enemy of browning, as anyone who’s tried to sear a damp piece of meat can attest (give it a pat with a towel, or better yet, dry brine it with salt to draw out the moisture). A good air fryer has a compact enough basket and powerful enough fan to rapidly cook, crisp, and brown what’s inside. 

And the Ninja is one powerful air fryer. In my tests, it produced golden brown, crackling results in minimal time (and without any preheating). Chicken wings were gloriously amber and crunchy in 20 minutes, and fries in eight. It made gorgeous, crunchy halloumi puffs, and delicata squash rings were tender and browned. Considering its powerful convection, it was surprisingly quiet too, emitting a low whirring sound similar to my Breville air fryer toaster oven. 

I ate a thick slice of humble pie after using this machine, and now I get why people go ga-ga over air fryers. 

The Glass Basket Makes It Easy to Keep an Eye on Your Food

One of my favorite things about my air fryer toaster oven is its glass window: I can peer inside and see how a roast chicken’s faring or act fast if I accidentally lit parchment paper on fire (it’s happened). So I absolutely loved the glass baskets that come with the Ninja Crispi Pro; I knew exactly when to toss the fries or if the wings could use a turn. Intuitive cooking is all about visual cues, and this made it easy to rely on my senses. 

It Has a Few Fiddly Flaws

My biggest qualm with the Ninja Crispi Pro is that it’s difficult to insert the baskets. There’s a removable modular base that you slide into the bottom of the machine or into one of the two other notches above it, depending on whether you want to use a bigger or smaller glass basket. The set I tested came with two glass baskets, six and 2.5 quarts, which double as food storage containers—nifty! To insert the basket, I had to tilt it to get it to notch onto the modular base before sliding it on, which tousled my carefully arranged layer of chicken wings. It was even more difficult to get the basket inserted when the base was on one of the higher rungs—at one point, I slid it in and tried to start the air fryer, but it didn’t recognize that the basket was inserted. I had to fiddle with it to get it to finally lock properly in place. 

One other teensy flaw: Instead of an assertive ding or clean beep, the Ninja emits a wobbly, tinny sound to alert you when food’s up, or there’s an error. It sounded more like a dying wind-up musical toy than a close to $300 appliance. Is this a major flaw? No. Is it mildly annoying? To me, yes.

The Verdict

The Ninja Crispi Pro air fryer is fast, powerful, and easy to program. I loved its glass baskets, which let you visually monitor food, and that it pauses the timer when you remove the basket to give it a shake mid-cook. Everything I made in the air fryer came out crispy and golden—and it’s super fast, with no preheating needed. It’s compatible with three basket sizes, which makes it more versatile than a standard air fryer. While inserting the baskets was finicky, overall, this is a great air fryer. 

Pros 

The Ninja Crispi Pro is easy to use: It has four buttons, a dial, and six presets. The temperature is adjustable in increments of five, which gives you precise control. While presets can be handy, I liked that I could use the air fryer successfully without them—all too often, presets dominate electric appliances and limit your ability to adjust settings. 

The glass baskets let me keep an eye on what I’m cooking and double as food storage containers, so any leftovers can go straight into the fridge. The air fryer is compatible with a variety of basket sizes thanks to its moveable modular base, so you can cook a single serving of fries for yourself as easily as you can roast a small chicken to feed four. 

Finally, the Ninja Crispi lives up to its name—it produced golden brown, crispy, perfectly cooked results every time. The recrisp feature was handy for leftovers, too. 

Cons 

My one big qualm with the Ninja Crispi Pro is that it’s tricky to insert the baskets. They need to be angled just right to slide neatly onto the modular base, which can mess up your food layout. 

Air fryers work great when you have a single layer of food. But when I air-fried a large amount of Brussels sprouts in the six-quart basket, they were blistered and golden on the outside but still slightly raw on the inside. This wasn’t a flaw of the Crispi Pro so much as it’s something to know when you’re cooking with an air fryer. 

Finally, the other small complaint I had was that its beeps and alerts sounded a bit like a dying android, but I’m splitting hairs. 

Key Specs

• Basket sizes: 2.5, 4, and 6 quarts
• Dimensions:11.8 x 12.2 x 11 inches
• Temperature range: 80 to 450°F (dehydrate setting is the lowest)
• Time range: 1 to 60 minutes
• Presets: Max crisp, air fry, bake/proof, roast, recrisp, and dehydrate
• Warranty: 1 year
• Watts: 1800

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly is a senior editor at Serious Eats. 
• She’s tested hundreds of items, including air fryer toaster ovens and steak knives. 
• To test the Ninja Crispi Pro Air Fryer, she made chicken wings, French fries, salmon, and broccoli, and used it throughout her daily cooking routine.