Best air fryer in 2023 UK – 18 air fryers of all budgets that we've tried, tested and love

Elevate your cooking with one of the best air fryers, one of which is bound to make your mealtimes quicker and easier. In this round-up, we've prioritised only the top-rated models that excelled during our testing program, meaning that every single one of these buys is guaranteed to be great value for money.

If you're new to the bandwagon, air fryers essentially act as countertop ovens - but are far speedier and less complicated to use. We've been reviewing air fryers for two years now, and have collated all of our favourites below. 

You can click through on each air fryer to read our in-depth reviews, where we've nailed down exactly why that model might suit you. If you're already sure you need a bit more space, we also created a dedicated best dual zone air fryers guide that has a whole host of two-basket fryers for you to browse, as well as a selection of the best air fryers for a family of four. 

We're serious about air fryers, which is why we're continuing to test the best air fryers on the market, to make sure that our recommendations are up-to-date. For appliances that can air fry as well as slow and pressure cook, take a look at the best multi-cookers. For recommendations on the best air fryers on the market, simply keep reading.

Best air fryer - the quick list

Not much time to spare on your hunt for the best air fryer? That's where our quick guide to the 18 models that we've rated as the absolute best comes in, featuring air fryers of all sizes and types.

Best air fryer overall

The concept of the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer is simple, but the execution is nothing less than perfect. Instead of choosing between a dual-drawer or single-drawer model, you get both thanks to this new generation of multi-zone air fryers. 

While your old air fryer might have required you to still turn on your oven, you can totally leave your old built-in appliance behind now with this kind of flexible capacity. 

We found several other reasons to buy this excellent air fryer during our review process. Our expert reviewer Helen mastered everything from a leg of lamb to a toastie during tests, with a perfect cook every time. And seeing as this is a Ninja air fryer, it goes without saying that it’s simple to use, with well-thought-out settings and controls.

It might be too big for single-person households unless you host a lot. And if you have a teeny kitchen, you’ll need to be prepared to find space for it, since it’s quite wide and tall. Furthermore, it’s one of the most expensive Ninja air fryers - a fact that can’t be ignored in your decision about whether to buy.

Having said that, if you’re looking to limit how often you need to turn on your big, power-guzzling oven then look no further than the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer - it's answered every air fryer conundrum out there. 

Read our Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer review for more information. 

Best air fryer under £100

The COSORI Lite takes the crown as our best small air fryer, thanks to its wonderfully affordable RRP and phenomenal performance in our tests. It would suit small to medium families or homes perfectly. 

It's small, super sleek and has a lovely contrasting colour control panel, as well as being available in a number of great colours. The control panel itself holds many jewels, including access to preheat, shake and keep warm functions. 

Everything we cooked in this air fryer emerged perfectly cooked, which was probably helped by the range of different presets that we experimented with. If you're a newbie to air frying, these programs can really help you to get to grips with frying up different foods, and COSORI have more up its sleeve too - with a comprehensive recipe book and access to an app also included. 

Our main drawback with this model? It can hold fingerprint marks on the control panel, and its size isn't optimal for everyone. If you're looking for a standout middle-of-the-road sized air fryer, however, we couldn't be more complimentary. 

Read our full COSORI Lite Air Fryer review for more information.

Best single basket air fryer

The Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer with ClearCook got a rare five-star from Helen McCue, one of our expert appliance reviewers, and from the Ideal Home team during independent testing too.

Helen loved its generous capacity and found that it browned food evenly and quickly. When making chips she was able to get an even crisp in just 25 minutes, and even with the tray full of vegetables, it was able to roast in just 20 minutes. Most impressive of all, frozen chicken goujons took just 8 minutes to cook as opposed to the suggested 20 - yes, we used a temperature probe to check!

This air fryer has a touch screen with a dial to adjust timings and temperatures. The control panel has a bar that shows the cooking progress, and we like that this air fryer pre-heats. Because the touch-screen panel slopes towards you this is a great air fryer to place under kitchen cabinets. 

A really innovative touch is the see-through air fryer drawer, which allows you to simply turn on the internal light to check on your food as it cooks. It has a dishwasher-safe basket and non-stick insert that lifts away easily. Our only real gripes are the control panel and grill tray, the former of which has shiny plastic that can mark easily if you're cooking with greasy fingerprints, whilst the latter has rubber feet that can attract grease very easily, and be a bit tiresome to clean.

Read our full Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 air fryer review for more.

Best cheap air fryer

If you’re looking for a basic no-frills air fryer that doesn’t take up too much space, this one from the makers of Nutribullet blenders will do the job. It’s the perfect air fryer for students or single-person households. Whether or not it has the capacity to cook enough food for two people depends entirely on what you’re cooking and how big your portion sizes usually are.

It’s super simple to use, which will be part of the draw for some. But for others it might not offer enough functionality, and the lack of accuracy in the time and temperature settings can be frustrating. During testing, our expert Helen found that it didn't always crisp foods as fast as other air fryers she'd used, but given its size and the budget-friendly price, waiting a few extra minutes for your dinner isn’t the end of the world.

Read our Magic Bullet air fryer review for more information. 

Best dual zone air fryer

What's better than one air fryer? Two, in one. The Ninja AF300UK Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer comes with two distinct air frying zones that allow you to air fry your fish and chips individually, or bake a side dish such as mac and cheese while you air fry chicken. You can match or sync these two drawers to make sure all elements of your meal are complete at the same time. With all that going on, it's no wonder that this air fryer is the best Ninja appliance on the market right now.

Its Max Crisp setting gave us crispy chips and wedges every time, and always cooked our meat through completely. We even used it to make cauliflower wings, which were an unexpected triumph. The trays can be a little deep to reach into, so make sure you use non-stick utensils to take your food out when it's done. 

The exterior stays cool even when it's cooking at 240 degrees. It is on the large side at 35 x 37.5 x 31.5cm, but if you can spare the space, it's a total game-changer.

Read our full Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone air fryer review for more.

Best small air fryer

The Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer is Ninja's cheapest air fryer, and it's also the smallest. It has a cooking capacity of 3.8 litres and a circular basket, which will be fine with most meals but could struggle if you're cooking bacon rashers or chicken breasts. The air fryer was fast, easy to use, and comes with four pre-sets that won't be too overwhelming for first-time air fryer users.

You can choose to air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate in this air fryer, and because the basket insert can be removed, you can also reheat or cook food that has a bit more sauce or moisture without having to worry about it dripping through the grates. The exterior is simple, small, and grey, which may not be the most attractive addition to your kitchen but it will be very easy to store if you want to put it in a cupboard.

Cooking times with this air fryer were brilliant, with some of the speediest chips we've made. It's a simple model that seems reasonably priced with an RRP of £129.99 - even less if you make use of Ninja Kitchen discount codes - and we were impressed by the cooking times: 23 minutes for homemade chips, and just five minutes for back bacon.

Read our full Ninja AF100UK air fryer review for more.

Best outdoor air fryer

Ninja takes all of the convenience of air frying outdoors with the Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ Grill & Smoker, which has so much functionality packed into its compact size. With the ability to grill up small and large cuts of meat, as well as air fry chips, it's the appliance you need if you're an outdoor entertainer. 

While the traditional methods of the best BBQs can take a long time to come to fruition (like using charcoal), the Ninja Woodfire is a ready-to-go grilling machine, with the ability to cook up 8 burgers, 16 sausages, 2 racks of ribs or a 2kg pork shoulder at a time. And the air frying ability is fantastic as well, with a large basket that quickly reached 200 degrees in our at-home tests, and was capable of doing everything your oven can in a fraction of the time.

If you're looking for a traditional air fryer that you can use year-round, then this won't be the one for you, but if you're looking for a versatile appliance to cook outdoors with in the summer, then the Ninja Woodfire is a winner. Just remember you might need to invest in a cover for it too!

Read our full Ninja Woodfire BBQ & Smoker review for more information.

Best air fryer for 2 people

Instant Brands is known for creating amazing air fryers and smart countertop appliances in the US, so we were first in line to review this new model when it launched in the UK. The Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer not only wowed us with its value-for-money, but it also impressed us in testing. Despite the limited capacity, it was able to air fry our (somewhat crammed-in) chips evenly.

This air fryer is perfect for small kitchens. It has a removable basket liner that can drain away fat from bacon and juices from the chicken, but take it out and suddenly you can bake, roast and even reheat in this beauty.

You can pick up the Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer in a range of fun colours. We tried it in red, but the blue option is pretty fetching. There is also a white for clean kitchens, and a failsafe matte black. The display is very intuitive, and can be controlled with touchscreen settings and a tactile dial. The only con? It's too small for families.

Read our full Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer review for more.

Best Ninja alternative air fryer

This pick is a real contender to the Ninja Dual Zone for the crowning glory of being the best dual basket air fryer out there, with a design that is understated, clever and actually better looking than the Ninja (or so we think).

The front of both baskets has those magic see-through windows that allow you to check on the progress of whatever is inside without losing any heat, a feature that the Ninja actually doesn't have. The interface is a dream to work with - and during testing, we've loved how easy it is to set up.

Like the Ninja, this air fryer has five other functions, and all of them are perfect for everyday cooking. The bake function is ideal for bread, the reheat function works for leftovers and you can even dehydrate fruit or veg inside with the ability to set the temperature low for a long period of time (up to 12 hours). 

This is the air fryer that our Ecommerce Editor Molly now uses every single day, saying that it is a miracle for midweek meals. User reviews agree that this air fryer is a genius buy too, with many saying that they are impressed with the high quality of the appliance, as well as the range of different foods they can experiment with cooking inside.

Read our full Instant Vortex Dual Zone air fryer review for more.

Best affordable dual zone air fryer

This air fryer offers plenty of bang for your buck. It’s a great price, especially given that it includes features like the viewing windows in the doors. Admittedly, it took our reviewer Helen slightly longer to cook some foods in it compared to her usual air fryer, but otherwise she had only a few complaints.

Her main niggle after testing was that the control panel is less intuitive than others on the market. But that being said, after she'd tried it out for over a week, she started to get used to it and felt it was a minor negative that was outweighed by the value for money this air fryer offers.

It’s worth remembering that it lacks any cooking modes other than air fry and the baskets can’t go in your dishwasher. But if that doesn’t bother you, it’s a great dual-basket air fryer.

Read our full Lakeland Dual Basket with Easy View Air Fryer review for more information. 

Best air fryer to clean

If you want the best air fryer for a small kitchen or two-person household, the Philips Essential Air Fryer is the one for you. In terms of the cooking quality, it was pretty much on par with some of the larger and more premium brands in this guide. There's plenty of cooking modes, including fish, meat, frozen food and reheat, and you can choose your temperature manually too.

The basket and drawer can both be washed in the dishwasher, which makes cleaning that much easier. We found the controls a little confusing at first but they're fine once you're used to which button indicates which cooking mode.

One complaint we had was the price, which was pretty high when compared to other small air fryers. It is clearly designed for smaller kitchens and homes though, with grooves that make it easy to carry and store, and a lightweight design.

Read our full Phillips Essential Air Fryer review for more.

Best air fryer for chicken

The Tower Vortex 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer is more of an American-style air fryer. It's designed to look like an oven and comes with a drip tray and multiple shelves to cook your food as you would in a regular oven. There are some perks to this design though. Our favourite was the rotisserie function which made some of the most delicious chicken we've ever made. A game-changer for roast dinners.

The shelves need to be taken out and switched around mid-cook if you want to achieve an even crisp, which is not ideal and can be a little fiddly. The oven did a great job of creating crispy food though, especially when it came to the frying setting. It can also bake and roast like you'd expect in a regular oven.

A nice touch is the door, which you can see straight through. There is a button to illuminate the fryer as it cooks which allows you to look in and check on your food without opening it. It's a large option, but a versatile one too. Our top tip for using this air fryer? Using foil on the shelves will save you a lot of time when it comes to cleaning up.

Read our full Tower Vortex 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer review for more.

Best family sized air fryer

If you need your air fryer to be a reliable, dependable workhorse for family meals, then you won't go far wrong with the Zwilling Air Fryer, which is as competent as it is stylish. 

The things that set it out as a family-suitable model from the rest of the crowd include exceptionally straight forward LED controls and preset programs, meaning that you can get dinner going with the touch of a button. Whatever our reviewer Rachel threw at the Zwilling air fryer was air fried with ease, from burgers and chips to corn on the cob and halloumi. 

It favours a classic basket design, with 4 litres of space. That's plenty of room to cook dinner for a family whilst also not being overly obstructive in size. Our reviewer thought the build quality of this Zwilling pick was second to none, and that the cleaning process kept things very low maintenance too. 

Read our full Zwilling air fryer review to find out more. 

Best large capacity air fryer

Challenge yourself to see just how much you can fit into this generously sized air fryer, with a seven-litre capacity capable of whipping up six portions of food at a time. 

Our Ecommerce Editor Molly tested this air fryer at home for a number of months and was consistently impressed with its fuss-free performance. OK, it's not the prettiest, but it's sturdy and intuitive to use, and it's never let us down when it comes to cooking veggies, fish, sausages and more. 

One of the reasons it's so reliable is the presets located on the top panel. If you're cooking chips for example, just select the appropriate illustration on the top, and simply wait for the air fryer to adjust to the temperature and time you need to cook for. It really couldn't be easier.

Best slim air fryer

Is countertop space at a premium in your home? It's a common problem for shoppers looking for an air fryer, especially in flats or shared accommodation. That's why the design of the Instant Slim Air Fryer is genius, with a long chamber for cooking that maintains a sizeable capacity (5.7 litres) whilst also fitting excellently into smaller spaces.

We love Instant air fryers at Ideal Home, with both single-drawer and dual-drawer options consistently topping our 'best of' lists. We tried cooking asparagus, bacon, vegetarian nuggets, and chips in this and all of them were cooked pretty much to perfection. 

It's got a great amount of power, and finishing touches that make it feel worth the investment, including a preheat setting and a progress bar so that you can keep an eye on how your dinner is coming along. With an RRP of £99.99, we also think this is a standout choice for those on a budget of under £100, with the kind of quality you'd expect for a much higher pricetag. Our one gripe? The cooking trays proved difficult to clean in our tests, with rubber feet that become a magnet for grease. Cleaning might be improved by using a dishwasher with this one. 

Editor's note: We have tested the Instant Vortex Slim-5.7L Digital Health Air Fryer.

Best for efficiency

As an air fryer that comes in at under £100, the Dreo seriously impressed us during testing. It's also no bigger than it needs to be on a countertop, and has great controls for everyday use, especially with those handy presets. Likely, it'll also save you money once you've calculated your personal savings when it comes to how much it costs to run an air fryer too. 

It's a small thing but the included recipe book will go far for those users who aren't familiar with their air fryer yet. The basket size isn't tiny either, meaning that more than 2 portions at a time is most definitely achievable. I ultimately found the Dreo to be an outstanding affordable option and one that'll make those midweek meals a bit easier to manage.

Read our full Dreo air fryer review for more information. 

Best for 1 person

If you regularly cook for one, whether you’re a single person household, student, or everyone in the house eats at different times, this compact air fryer from Lakeland is a great option. It means you can save money and energy by avoiding turning the oven on for just one portion of food at a time.

Likewise, if you’re short on space, this is one of the smallest air fryers you can buy and that’s certainly a big selling feature. For many foods, it’s just a bit too small for more than one person, but it did throughout ace at our home tests for small portions. Additionally, you’ll have to consider that it is slightly more expensive than some of its compact competitors.

Overall though it performs well and is easy to use, the decision comes down to price vs size and which is most important to you. 

Read our Lakeland Digital Compact Air Fryer review for more information.

Best for the health conscious

If you want a large air fryer and you’re more likely to use the steam and grill functions than the components that can help you make fried chicken and chips, this might just be the one for you. During testing, we found it to be a good multi-functional addition to a kitchen, with good results across the board.

If however, you don’t think you’ll get much use from the steam and grill functions then it may be unnecessarily bulky. Given the capacity it’s fairly priced, especially if it's going to be used by a whole family. 

You’ll only really get the best from all the functions if you’ve got the confidence to experiment, because the instruction manual is sparse and lacks detailed guidance, so trial and error is necessary until you get the hang of it. After that though, you’ll have a great appliance that can be used for all manner of foods.

Read our full Tefal EasyFry 3-in-1 air fryer review for more information.

How we test air fryers

Every air fryer in our roundup has been tested hands-on by the Ideal Home team for a minimum of two weeks, or using four thorough recipes, in line with our testing protocol. 

This allowed us to compare air fryers directly when compiling our top 15 list, and it also helped us when deciding which air fryers will be the right pick for different living situations. Because all air fryers claim to do very similar things, it's important to us that we put them through their paces before recommending any air fryer to our readers. We used a standard recipe for air fried chips, bacon, broccoli and asparagus across all air fryers, recording the cooking timings and considering how evenly the chips came out, and how well cooked they were.

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Bacon cooks brilliantly in air fryers, allowing fat to drip away and leaving crispy rashers in the basket. We used the speed and evenness of cooking as a way of measuring how well an air fryer distributed heat and how fast it circulated hot hair. Based on our findings, we gave every air fryer a rating out of five and then sorted them into a top  list (some did not make the list!) to recommend to our readers. Below you can find out more about exactly which members of the team tested the air fryers within this round-up.

Millie Fender

Our Head of Reviews Millie has undergone a five-step certification to become a qualified Customer Advisor when it comes to air fryers. She's been testing air fryers for two years now, meaning she was well ahead of the curve when it comes to product recommendations. 

She's familiar with absolutely every air fryer out there, having tested the majority of them at Future's dedicated facility, and always has one eye on new releases to see the kind of features we should be putting to the test. 

Molly Cleary

Molly is the Ecommerce Editor for Ideal Home and is always on the lookout for the next must-buy product for your home. She's also a certified Customer Advisor when it comes to air fryers, having completed her five-step plan to become a true expert in these exceptionally useful appliances.

She regularly joins Millie at Future's Test Facility in Reading to thoroughly put products through their paces. She's always up to date with the newest releases from brands such as Ninja, Instant, COSORI, Tower and more. The air fryer she loves best and uses at home every day is the Instant Vortex Dual Basket. 

Is there an air fryer you're thinking about buying and would like to see a review of? Send her an email (molly.cleary@futurenet.com) to see if we can test it before you buy.

Freelance Writer/Home Economist

Freelance Writer/Home Economist

Helen McCue

Helen is a freelance contributor who trained as a Home Economist. After starting her career in the food industry, she moved into home appliance reviews, utilising her cooking skills and experience to put all kinds of products to the test, and over the years has reviewed hundreds of home and kitchen appliances for a variety of publications.

Having completely renovated her current house, Helen reviews kitchen appliances from her open plan kitchen at home in a beautiful Berkshire village. When she’s not working, Helen can be found enjoying the local countryside or dreaming about her next house renovation project.

From this guide, Helen has tested out the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer with ClearCook, which instantly earned the top spot in this list following her review. She loved the viewing window and intuitive controls, as well as the array of functions to choose from.