The best air fryers, tried and tested (2024)

Fried favourites cooked more healthily may sound a little too good to be true but, thanks to the nifty air fryer, you can serve up classics such as fish and chips using little to no oil.

In fact, this increasingly popular appliance can cook everything from chicken to cupcakes (and much, much more) in a few simple steps, making it a great multi-purpose gadget to have in the kitchen. If you want to know just how versatile they are, we suggest checking out our cooking team's favourite air fryer recipes.

Interested? Well, the Good Housekeeping Institute has tested the leading models to find the best air fryers to buy now:

If you’re replacing an existing air fryer, there are plenty of places for you to safely recycle your old one. Find your nearest electrical recycling point, or read our guide on how to donate or dispose of your appliances and tech for extra guidance.

How do air fryers work?

In a nutshell, air fryers use an alternative cooking method to deep frying. Rather than submerging food in oil, air fryers use very little – in our tests we used one tablespoon of oil as standard – to bake food quickly.

They work by blasting hot air around the basket or oven instead, producing crispy and fluffy chips or moist chicken that’s healthier than if the food had been coated in oil.

Are air fryers energy efficient?

You may have read that an air fryer can save you money on your electricity bills. They certainly are time and energy efficient; the cheapest when roasting a small chicken on test was the Tower T17100 Vortx Vizion Dual Basket Air Fryer, which used just 17p of electricity over 30 minutes of cooking time.

However, if you need to use an air fryer multiple times to make enough food to feed your household, you’re probably better off cooking everything in one go in the oven. Not to mention, most air fryers are an expensive initial investment, which means it will take a while for savings on your energy bill to cancel out their cost.

How to choose the best air fryer

Not all air fryers are created equal – there are a few different designs to choose between.

Basket-style air fryers have one or two drawers where you place your food for cooking. Those with two drawers are particularly handy if you want to cook different foods at the same time, but they can take up a lot more room in the kitchen than their more compact counterparts.

There are also oven-style air fryers that often come with rotisserie accessories, so you can roast a full chicken for example. Again, these tend to be fairly weighty appliances.

Some on our list, such as the Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer, are actually multi-cookers, giving you multiple appliances in one, including a slow cooker or dehydrator as well as an air fryer. We’ve also included one machine that doubles as a health grill.

Lastly, it’s worth thinking about clean-up – most of the products on our list have dishwasher-proof baskets and air fryer accessories, while the two oven air fryers we’ve featured have removable doors to help you keep your machine as clean as possible.

What size air fryer do I need?

There’s no set rule on how many people each air fryer will serve – it all depends on what you’re cooking and, of course, how hungry you are! But, if you’re planning to use it to cook an entire meal, for example, you’ll probably need a larger capacity to prepare your main and a side at the same time.

As a rough guide, a one- to two-litre model like the Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer should be sufficient for one or two people, while a medium-sized model like Salter’s 4.5 Litre Digital Air Fryer should feed three to four.

If you’re catering for more, then look for a model with a larger capacity of around six litres, like our winning air fryer from Ninja – this sizeable model has two baskets for cooking plenty of portions.

The largest air fryer on our list has a 20-litre capacity, which is enough for five to six main portions or an entire three-kilogram roast chicken with room to spare.

It’s also worth noting that if you need to run your air fryer more than once for dinner, it’s probably more cost effective to cook with your oven.

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The experts at the GHI cook up a small feast to find the best air fryers. Depending on the capacity and type of fryer, they either roast a whole chicken or cook chicken Kyivs, monitoring how long it takes for the chicken to reach 75C. Then they judge (and try!) the results, looking for crispy, golden skin and moist meat.

Chips are next – they look for quickly cooked, well-browned and crunchy skins that house fluffy interiors. Finally, they make fairy cakes, to judge how well the appliance can bake and how evenly air circulates – the better baked and fluffier the cakes, the more efficient the air flow.

Each air fryer is then scored overall according to its performance, ease of use, design, instructions and accompanying information. See our top-rated picks below.

Score: 95/100

Barely dropping a point on test, this air fryer will feed a crowd quickly, and feed them well. Our fairy cakes were evenly baked and ready to enjoy in a speedy 15 minutes, while it scored perfect marks for chicken Kyivs – they were crispy on the outside yet juicy in the middle after 25 minutes. Our chips were fluffy, too.

It's a fairly hefty appliance, so if your kitchen is compact it may not be for you, but you can fill its two drawers with different foods and sync the programmes so everything is ready to eat at the same time – a process we found intuitive on test. A great family fryer.

Key specifications

Score: 95/100

Tying for the winning spot, this Breville machine combines air and steam frying to achieve healthier meals and a range of textures. Our experts tested its steam frying capabilities by popping in a whole chicken and cooking for an hour at 170C. The result? Well-cooked, nicely browned and great-tasting meat.

When air frying, all our chips had a golden, even colour with a perfectly crisp exterior and our cupcakes were a baking triumph too, emerging nicely risen in just 12 minutes.

We would have liked a viewing window to check on our dinner as it cooked and the water tank was slightly awkward to empty. But that’s nitpicking – this is a reliable, efficient buy.

Key specifications

Score: 95/100

Just like our other winners, this Haier air fryer delivered consistently crispy results across the board, making it a great choice for delicious fried feasts without all that oil.

It earned a perfect score for producing golden, flavourful chicken with a beautifully crisp exterior. It also baked light and fluffy cupcakes within 20 minutes. In some cases, the food needed a few extra minutes in the fryer to be perfectly cooked, but that’s just a case of trial and error.

One handy feature with this air fryer is that it reminds you to shake your food mid-cooking. Our testers found this particularly helpful for ensuring even cooking and consistent crispiness. While it isn’t quite as big as the Ninja, its 7 litre capacity should still comfortably serve up enough portions for a delicious family dinner.

Key specifications

Score: 94/100

This latest model from Instant was impressive on all fronts in our tests – it turned a 1.3kg whole chicken into a golden, moist and tender feast, while cupcakes came out beautifully cooked and fluffy.

What makes it unique from Instant’s other models is that it can be switched between two independent 4.25L cooking baskets to one XXL 8.5L basket simply by removing the divider. While each basket has separate controls, they can be paired with the SyncFinish function so all your food will be ready at the same time.

Our chips came out well cooked but – and we’re being picky here – about 20% lacked that golden brown shade we were looking for. The only other thing to note was that the wells in the bottom plate created an uneven surface, which led to some misshapen cupcakes, but those are minor issues.

In almost every other sense, this air fryer is an excellent buy. Our testers loved the handy alert that reminds you to turn your food at crucial cooking points and were pleased with how easy it is to use, programme, and clean (it’s dishwasher-safe).

Key specifications

Score: 94/100

Just like the Instant model above, this Salter air fryer has an adjustable dual basket design for added versatility – you can either cook different foods in each of the two 4L compartments or remove the divider to create one 8L basket. It also has eight pre-set cooking functions, so you’ll never be stuck in the kitchen.

It scored almost perfect marks across the board in our tests, delivering light, crispy chips and succulent chicken, which you can programme to be ready at the same time using the handy sync function. However, it really impressed when baking cupcakes – a task many air fryers struggle with. They came out beautifully golden and risen. Even Mary Berry would find it hard to compete.

It doesn’t have a child-lock and the components aren’t dishwasher-friendly (although they’re easy to wipe clean). But those minor quibbles aside, it’s easy to use and comes with detailed instructions (both physical and via a QR code that takes you to video tutorials). A smart buy for busy bakers.

Key specifications

Score: 94/100

While a predecessor to the VersaZone, this one is no less impressive. You can’t combine the two drawers, but you can sync them to prepare multiple dishes at once, with a total capacity of 7.6L, which is plenty of space for cooking for a family of four.

The results didn’t disappoint either, with a particularly succulent roast chicken. Our chips were fluffy too, but crisped up best when distributed across two drawers, rather than cramming lots into one. Turning them a few times helped as well.

The lack of cooking charts means some guesswork is required to begin with, but you can scan a QR code in the booklet to access lots of recipes online (albeit not very traditional ones).

Handy windows also mean you can easily check ion how your food is doing. Plus, the effective non-stick design made washing up a breeze, which is always a bonus in our book.

Key specifications

Score: 92/100

The roast setting on this air fryer produced beautifully moist chicken thighs as well as that all-important crispy exterior – helped by a baking plate that drained away an impressive amount of fat and grease. But, this machine really impressed when it came to chips. They emerged perfectly cooked; even the smallest portion didn’t burn – a common air fryer pitfall. Finally, it nailed our dessert course too, with well-risen, fluffy cupcakes.

If there's a downside, it would be with the size – the dual basket design means you can’t fit an entire roast chicken inside. However, the option to sync the drawers is handy if you’re cooking for a large group. And this easy-to-use, efficient air fryer has one final party trick: you can switch the internal lights on to check out your food through the viewing window whenever you want to take a peep.

Key specifications

Score: 91/100

Not just an air fryer, this multi-cooker also grills, sears, roasts, bakes and slow cooks, making it a smart choice if you’re after a space-saving do-it-all appliance.

It claims to air fry up to 70% quicker than earlier Russell Hobbs models; this wasn’t tested, but it did cook our chicken to succulent, golden perfection in a faster-than-most 30 minutes (simply press the chicken icon on the casing and it presets the optimal temperature and cooking time.)

Simple and modern in design, it couldn’t be easier to set up and use. The buttons are responsive, it’s compact for storage in smaller kitchens and it’s lightweight enough to move around. It scored a perfect ten in our chips and chicken tests, only dropping a few marks for its patchy cupcakes (not all rose well and some came out paler than others) and fiddly iron basket, which proved tricky to remove while wearing oven gloves.

Key specifications

Score: 91/100

At over £100 less than our winning Ninja, this is a more affordable offering from the premium kitchen appliance brand. It also proved its worth on test, with perfectly chicken kievs inside and out. Chips were scrumptious too, but we recommend cooking them in smaller batches for best results.

The compact design is ideal for cooking for one or two people. It also has a clear display, is stable in use and lightweight if you’re storing it in a cupboard. But unlike most fryers, the basket doesn’t have a proper handle, which means oven gloves are needed when removing it.

There are also plenty of recipes and food charts included, so you can cook up a storm as soon as you set it up.

Key specifications

Score: 89/100

The medium-sized chicken we cooked in this air fryer was practically faultless; its crispy skin browned evenly, and the meat itself was juicy. In fact, you’re in for a real feast with this easy-to-use appliance. Chips were light and fluffy and vegetable kebabs were crisp yet still moist. Even cupcakes baked well, despite losing some marks for uneven colouring.

There are seven pre-sets to help you on your way to air-fryer mastery along with a detailed instruction manual. Testers loved how simple it was to adjust the temperature and timer, but the lack of a viewing window meant they couldn’t check-in on food without opening the drawer – plus there’s no reminder to shake or turn your dishes, so you’ll need to pay attention when cooking.

But, it’s a good choice for medium-sized households that are after delicious air-fried food without much fuss.

Key specifications

Score: 89/100

If you don’t have much space on your counter but still want a large capacity air fryer, then this cleverly designed model may do the trick. It has two baskets that can sync to finish cooking at the same time, but instead of sitting side by side, the five-litre oven section and six-litre drawer are stacked vertically to save space.

Our chicken Kyivs cooked beautifully and two small frozen pizzas came out nicely crisped after 20 minutes in the bottom section. Chips had a slightly uneven colouring, but this didn’t affect their taste and testers loved the bagel function, which rivalled some of the best toasters.

Note, the accessories aren’t dishwasher safe and there’s no child lock, so it might not be right for young families. But for small kitchens with big cooking dreams, it’s a savvy buy.

Key specifications

Score: 88/100

Ninja’s new 10-mode multi-cooker stands out for its innovative “Speedi Meals” function, which allows you to cook your grain of choice at the same time as meat and vegetables, thus quickly preparing a full meal for up to four people at once.

Impressively, every part of our trial meals cooked correctly and retained their flavour, with both chicken and salmon turning out moist and tender. It also cooked chips in a respectable 22 minutes (two minutes faster than the promised 24) and delivered fluffy fairy cakes.

The lid is hinged, rather than removable, which our tester found slightly awkward to use, and may make under-cupboard storage tricky. However, the control interface is intuitive, the troubleshooting advice is clear and it comes with a recipe booklet packed with tasty inspiration for each setting.

Key specifications

Score: 88/100

This smart fryer has ample room to prepare a family dinner and boasts a whopping 13 cooking modes, including steak, seafood and frozen food.

It took a while to roast a chicken but, 45 minutes later, it came out golden and moist, while our fairy cakes were just right. When cooking chips, it dropped just half a mark – they were exceptionally evenly cooked.

We like how it comes with an extensive recipe book and detailed instructions too, while its accompanying app lets you control the machine remotely for helpful flexibility.

Key specifications

Score: 88/100

As well as air frying, this machine works as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, sauté pan, steamer, sous vide and food warmer with extra settings for roasting, broiling, baking and dehydrating!

On test, it delivered delicious chips and scored perfect marks for its fairy cakes, although we were unable to bulk bake as we could only fit five in at a time.

As a result of its multi-purpose design, it wasn’t the most intuitive model we tested for air frying, but its online instructions should help you get set up quickly.

The capacity of its air frying basket was also fairly small – we managed to cook two chicken Kyivs and three portions of chips. One side of our chicken stuck to it, too. That said, this is worth investing in if you’re only looking to cook for one or two and need a multi-tasking machine to save on storage space.

Key specifications

Score: 87/100

Tight on cupboard space? This slim air fryer should slot in nicely. We were able to cook two chicken Kyivs in it at once and the end results were crispy, while our chips were well-browned. Our fairy cakes cooked evenly, too.

The digital display didn’t always respond well to our touch and we’d have liked an indicator light to show the fryer was heated and ready to cook. As a basic air fryer, though, it did a reliable job at producing tasty food.

Key specifications

Score: 87/100

Does the world of air fryers seem daunting? Well, this dual-basket machine comes with clear instructions and food charts, which make getting started simple. The display is easy to follow and setting up each drawer is straightforward. It’s also one of the more compact dual air fryers we tested, making it suitable for smaller kitchens.

Heat distribution was mixed though; food positioned in the front half of each drawer cooked better than that at the back. Luckily, this didn’t impact the finished dishes too much – our chicken was juicy and our chips were the perfect texture inside, if a little unevenly browned.

Some cupcakes were undercooked, but this shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for an otherwise beginner-friendly machine.

Key specifications

Score: 87/100

Boasting a three-litre basket, this air fryer has ample room if you’re cooking for the family. It barely dropped any points in our chips and cupcake tests, with both emerging evenly cooked thanks to outstanding air circulation. And while the chicken Kyivs lost some moisture from the middle, they were crisp.

The outside of the appliance stayed cool during cooking and, overall, it was easy to use thanks to clear instructions and recipes. Coming with a two-year guarantee, this is a great value buy.

Key specifications

Score: 86/100

With its simple-to-use design, this is a great beginner-friendly buy. Its eight pre-set functions are easy to program and cooked chicken Kyivs and chips effectively. It’s not big enough for an entire chicken, though.

Despite there being no dessert pre-sets, it excelled when baking cupcakes – they were golden-brown, well-risen, and crisp on the outside with a beautifully fluffy centre.

The countdown timer is on the top of the appliance rather than the front, which makes it harder to check progress at a glance. And it plays a tune when switching on, starting and resuming, which could get tiresome. Otherwise, our experts found it a good addition to the kitchen.

Key specifications

Score: 86/100

This nifty little air fryer is a great affordable choice. Its controls are clear and responsive, the machine is stable in use, and it’s effortless to clean thanks to a trusty non-stick coating. The cooking performance also impressed, with our chicken, chips and cupcakes hard to fault.

Despite its one-basket design, you can cook multiple meal components at once thanks to the “Group-Fry” function. It took some trial and error to get this right on test, but eventually we figured out the perfect size to chop our vegetables so they stayed moist while the steak finished cooking.

This air fryer is a good alternative if you’re cooking for one or two, or don’t have room for a dual-drawer model.

Key specifications