Category: Challenges

Buzzfeed Tasty’s YouTube channel has this series which I adore called Chef Out of Water. The talented chef has to make a 3-course meal with a gadget or appliance of the producers’ choosing. They have had it all on there: air fryer, microwave, toaster, iron, dishwasher, and more. I wanted to challenge myself to this task, but with a device much easier to handle. I made a 3-course meal in a Ninja Foodi.

When I first moved into my condo, it was the perfect fit. It was almost everything that I wanted that my old apartment did not have. However, there was one issue when I moved in though; the oven did not work. I found this out one day when trying to make a meal, but fortunately, I had bought a cool device to make this easier, the Ninja Foodi. I prepared many of my meals with this device. It was a God-send to have purchased this a mere few weeks before learning of my oven not working. It saved me from having to spend excess money eating out. If you do not know what the Ninja Foodi is, please check out my post about the 6 reasons why you need to get a Ninja Foodi ASAP.

the challenge: 3-course meal in a Ninja Foodi

This challenge has 3 parts: appetizer, main course, and dessert. I cannot use any other appliance to prepare food which includes but is not limited to, stand mixers, blenders, microwave, oven, toasters, and griddles. I must use the Ninja Foodi in all three of the dishes. The purpose of this is to see if I would be able to make it if every other appliance in my kitchen was rendered unusable.

The hardest part of this challenge was coming up with recipes to make. I was able to come up with recipes for the appetizer and main course with ease, but the dessert was difficult to come up with one. I choose to do this with the Ninja Foodi because of how versatile it is. With all of the different modes, there were so many recipes to choose from, but the challenge was making it my own. I’m not a professionally trained chef. I am self-taught, and all I know comes from books, YouTube, and experimentation.

I also wanted all three dishes to be coherent-ish. In the following sections, you will get access to recipes that I made for this challenges to hopefully give you some inspiration for your next event. Your guests will never believe that you made everything with only one appliance. If you want to see more of these challenges, leave a comment below, and I will make it more challenging with focusing only one one mode.

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appetizer: homemade tortilla chips in a Ninja Foodi

This recipe produces a decent portion of crisp tortilla chips. It is such a quick and easy snack. After making the recipe for this challenge, this has become an after-work snack. If I have corn tortillas, I will make some chips while I am doing work at home. I emphasize corn tortillas because I did try to make it with flour tortillas once, and the flavor is not that great. Do yourself the favor, and buy corn tortillas when you try this recipe.

you will need

• 7 corn or white corn tortillas
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of pepper
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
• Olive or Canola Oil Spray

tortilla chips recipe

1. Cut all of the tacos into eighths.
2. Then, set the Ninja Foodi to Air Crisp at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
3. Put the chips into the air fryer once it reaches 12 minutes.
4. Before closing, spray the chips with the oil spray and cover with spices. Move the chips around to make sure they are all getting covered with pray and spices and all sides.
5. Close the top and let it crisp for 12 minutes. Open it even 3-4 minutes to move the chips around so that they all get equal heating.
6. Check on them around 10 minutes to see if they are finished. If not, let them finish for the remaining 2 minutes.
7. Remove from the air fryer and serve.

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main course: tacos in a Ninja Foodi

I will be the first to admit that I am a picky eater, and my tacos are rather minimalistic. This is my preference for tacos, but feel free to add and subtract whatever you want from this recipe. It is so easy to add lettuce, tomato, or other toppings that you like for your tacos. Additionally, you could swap the meats out. This recipe also transfers well to burritos if you buy large soft shells. Tacos are a super customizable recipe, and this is meant to be a template for you to customize.

rice

you will need

• 2 cups of white rice
• 2 cups + 4 tablespoons of water

rice recipe

1. Begin by adding your rice and water to the pot.
2. Put on the pressure lid, making sure the vent is sealed.
3. Use the Pressure Cook feature and set the time for 4 minutes.
4. When the four minutes have finished, let it natural release for 10 minutes.
5. After the 10 minutes of natural release, do a quick release by turning the knob from seal to vent.
6. Fluff with a fork and serve.

notes on rice

• It’s okay if your doing stuff and you forget to quick release, I have forgotten to quick release many times before, and the result is still great.
• If you want a bit more flavor to the rice, add a pinch of salt. I chose not to because each of the other components of the tacos are all lightly salted.

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beans

you will need

• a can of black beans
• a pinch of salt

beans recipe

1. To start, set the Ninja Foodi to Sear/Sauté (High temperature).
2. Then, add in your beans and pinch of salt. Stir well.
3. When you see or hear little bubbles start to form, drain immediately.

corn “salsa”

you will need

• A can of whole kernel sweet corn
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• Green onion, sliced to taste

corn recipe

1. Start by setting the Ninja Foodi to Sear/Sauté (High temperature).
2. Then, add in your corn and stir well.
3. When you see little bubbles start to form, drain and mix in your spices.
4. Slice some green onion, and add to your corn.

taco meat

you will need

• Ground Beef
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Paprika
• Chili Powder
• Cumin

I do not give measurements for this recipe because I always change it based on my personal taste and how much meat I use. Use your judgement to how much of the spices you should use for the amount of meat that you use. My measurement recommendations for the spices will be in the notes below.

taco meat recipe

1. Firstly, set the Ninja Foodi to Sear/Sauté (High temperature).
2. Pour the olive oil into the pot.
3. Next, add in your meat to the pot. Break up the meat to allow it separate and cook faster and more evenly.
4. Measure out and combine your spices together. In the middle of cooking, add half of the spices to the meat.
5. Let the meat cook completely, stirring every few seconds until it is fully browned.
6. Then, drain the excess liquid from the meat.
7. Lastly, add in the remainder of the spices and stir.

notes on the taco meat

• If you prefer, you can use store-bought taco seasoning instead of your own personal spice mixture. Similarly, you would just want to add all of it in and mix well when you would add in the first half of the spices.
• For half of the container of meat, I use about…
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of pepper
  • 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons of paprika
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 2 teaspoons of chili powder

from soft shell to hard shell tortillas

you will need

• Soft Shell Corn or Flour Tortillas

hard taco shells recipe

1. First, set Ninja Foodi to Air Crisp function at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 minutes.
2. Place the soft shell upside down on the reversible rack to get the correct shape. Make sure that the shells are not touching the bottom of the pot.
3. When the Ninja Foodi says there are 5 minutes remaining, place the reversible rack with the taco shells into the Ninja Foodi.
4. Serve with style. Fill your taco however you want to!

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dessert: monkey bread in a Ninja Foodi

I fell in love with monkey bread my freshman year of college when one of the vendors at our weekly campus farmer’s market had this amazing homemade monkey bread muffins. Every week, I would go to purchase their monkey bread. This recipe reminds me of that stall with the amazing and sweet bread. This recipe is so simple and has amazing results. After making this for the first time, I was super impressed with how amazing the result turned out. One thing with foods that is important to mean is the ability to reheat it. I was able to put this in the microwave for a few seconds the following days, and I still loved how it tasted afterwards as well. Monkey bread was never something I made before, but now, this will be something I serve at my events or gift to my friends and colleagues.

you will need

• 1 roll of biscuit dough
• 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
• A dash of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of butter (1/2 stick), melted
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• parchment paper

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monkey bread recipe

1. First, cut your biscuit dough into fourths.
2. Mix together the granulated sugar and the dash of cinnamon.
3. Put all of the biscuit dough into a large Ziploc bag along with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
4. Next, coat all the pieces of dough thoroughly.
5. Put the air frying basket into the Ninja Foodi and set it to Air Crisp at 330 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
6. While this is preheating, mix together your melted butter and brown sugar.
7. Once the time reaches 25 minutes, line the air frying basket with parchment paper.
8. Put it your biscuits covered with sugar. Then, spoon the butter-brown sugar mixture on top of the biscuit dough.
9. Close the lid, and let it cook for 25 minutes.
10. Finally, put it onto a plate and serve. You can either cut slices or pull apart pieces that you like. (For the glaze that I poured onto it, see the notes below)

notes on monkey bread

• For my recipe, I personally did not want a strong cinnamon taste, but if you want one, feel free to add more cinnamon. Nutmeg and Allspice may also pair well also.
• I added a glaze to mine which is optional. In order to make it, combine 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Pour this over the monkey bread while it is still hot.
• If you notice the little yellow flakes in the biscuit dough, this is because I used a “butter flavored” biscuit dough. Feel free to use regular, buttermilk, or other variations of biscuit dough. This may also work well with cinnamon roll dough too where the cinnamon and sugar is already added as well as the glaze being included.

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final thoughts

For my first time doing this challenge, it was not overly difficult because I was using a device which has multiple functionalities. I think that this speaks to the versatility of this gadget. I learn more and more about the Ninja Foodi as time goes on which makes me love using it more. These recipes were individually rather simple to make, but that does not mean that they are not amazing.

Additionally, each of these recipes have great uses in hospitality. You could serve tortilla chips with salsa at a low key social event like a game night. You could have a taco bar when inviting some friends over for dinner to allow them to customize their tacos however they like it. Let’s not forget the monkey bread. This quality treat is the perfect edible gift to wrap up and give to a loved one.

There are a plethora of recipes to be made with the Ninja Foodi. So, what are you waiting for? This gadgets needs to have a place in your home. It is an amazing tool for your ease. With the Ninja Foodi, spend less time cooking and more time with the ones that you love. If you want to see more Ninja Foodi recipes, let me know in the comments below.

If you want to purchase a Ninja Foodi, click here.

Until next time,

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