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Flashback to January 2020: I had just moved into the condo that I am living in. It was everything that I could ever dream of and more. This condo was in the perfect location. It was less than 3 miles from work and half a mile from church. Plus, It had ample space for a good price. There was only one hiccup. When I moved in, the oven was not working.

As someone who cooks all of my meals, this was something that was a bit of a travesty. I could microwave food, but in terms of making things that requires more than a microwave, it was not going to get anything done. I was going to be unable to bake until I got a new one. This was difficult because baking is what I love to do in my sparse free time. But fortunately, there was one newly purchased device that helped me from that time. It was my Ninja Foodi.

About a month earlier, I purchased this product, and I did not set it up yet because I knew I was moving. It was a God-send as this multi-purpose kitchen device allowed me to make all sorts of meals without needing my oven. After using it, I became obsessed with my new favorite kitchen gadget as it does everything.

When I first started this blog, I was a graduate student blogging for fun, and for those of you who have been with the blog since then (before I took an extended break to focus on my teaching career), you know how much I loved my rice cooker. I have a few old posts on recipes that you can make with a rice cooker.

• 15-minute rice cooker spaghetti
• rice cooker burgers

My Rice Cooker and Air Fryer were tools that were huge in my kitchen, both physically and metaphorically. The Ninja Foodi allowed me to consolidate both of those gadgets into one device which was perfect since I moved into a place with slightly less counter space.

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The Ninja Foodi is a multipurpose gadget with great functionality to prepare a large variety of dishes through various means. Even looking at the featured image, you should be able to see various different options which I can use in order to prepare almost any sort of food you can think of. (Go ahead, look at the image. I will wait.) I am sure that you can now see how much of a useful gadget this was when I did not have a functioning oven. It could even replace features that I still had access to such as the stove (which was interestingly enough still working, but only 1-2 of the burners). As I have been using it religiously for the past year, I wanted to give a few reasons why this kitchen gadget deserves a place in your kitchen now.

1. pressure cooking and steaming

I think that the main functionality of this device is pressure cooking, but perhaps, that is because that is how I use it the most. In many ways, the pressure cooker feature has made my life so much easier. Going on Pinterest, you can find hundreds of thousands of Pressure Cooker Recipes. This whole world of pressure cooking was opened to me. It did not matter to me that I no longer had a rice cooker because with the pressure cooker feature, I was able to make rice that was just as good as before.

The other recipes that I made were not impossible either. Additionally, I could make many other recipes such as perfect appetizer meatballs, the best meatloaf I have ever eaten, chicken recipes, easy spaghetti, and so much more. It is so easy to do as well. I experiment all of the time with the pressure cooker feature, and it typically goes well when I try new things in the pressure cooker.

As for the steamer option, it is so astronomically easy to steam things. A few weeks ago, I impressed all of my coworkers with my completely homemade steamed dumplings recipe. The rice cooker meals that I made are essentially able to still be made with these two functions. Steamed shrimp has become a staple that I add to my pasta dishes because it is something that is so simple, but it adds so much. These functions give me so much more time because I do not have to be constantly hovering over it. I can come when I hear the beep indicating that the food is done giving me more time to do other things.

2. air frying

“My air fryer has changed my life.” This is an excited exclamation from my coworker from a conversation that we had last month.

I love air frying so many foods. It is simple. It doesn’t really need oil making the foods much healthier. And, I makes the foods so crisp with a nice crunch. I would be lost without my air fryer, so I was more than happy to find out that this device also allowed me to air fry foods. It was so amazing to be able to try out so many awesome recipes. Air fried shrimp is a special treat. (This may be the point where you realize how much I love shrimp.)

My air fryer that I had before was great, but like the rice cooker, it took up so much space. I was so excited to consolidate these two gadgets into one device that adds so much to it. Air fryers are amazing! I even use them for frozen fries which makes them so crispy. Let’s not forget bacon. Cooking bacon becomes a breeze with the Ninja Foodi air fryer. You get super crisp and tasty bacon with little work

3. searing and sautéing

No longer will you worry about cleaning the oil popping from cooking something on a stove top with the sear option on the Ninja Foodi. This is an amazing replacement for using a frying pan on a stovetop. Many times when I want to cook something (like shrimp) on a stovetop with butter or oil, I will simply do this in the Ninja Foodi. What I love most about this feature is that, unlike a frying pan, it has very tall height which helps protect from anything popping out towards you. It is so great for browning meats too. I have made taco meat completely in the Foodi using this feature.

It takes 4 easy steps with the Ninja Foodi in order to make mouth-watering tacos in minutes.

1. Press the sear/sauté button and set the temperature to High.
2. Add a bit of oil and the meat into the Ninja Foodi.
3. Break up the meat and stir, allowing the meat to brown completely. While it is cooking, add whatever seasoning you wish. You can add taco seasoning if you would like, but I prefer to stick with salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and garlic powder.
4. When the meat is brown, drain it, and serve with either hard or soft shell tacos.

After you have made this dish, all you have to do is clean the Ninja Foodi pot and whatever you used to drain the excess liquid from the meat. An entire meal, made so simply in the Ninja Foodi.

4. slow cooking

This is a fabulous feature which lets me throw some stuff in a pot and walk away for a while. I have even left the house while food was slow cooking before. It is so fun to do very little for cooking and have such an amazing result. I have put meatballs in their with sauce for 4-6 hours and just let them cook without doing much of anything afterwards other than maybe an occasional stir.

To make my easy appetizer meatballs in the Ninja Foodi, follow a few easy steps.

1. Add frozen meatballs into the Ninja Foodie.
2. Add 2 cups of barbecue sauce and 2/3 cup of grape jelly.
3. Turn on slow cooker, and let it cook for at least 4 hours.
4. Stir after 2 hours or so to make sure everything has been covered.

The meatballs are frozen, so as some of the ice crystals melt, that creates more liquid to maintain a sufficient amount of liquid in the Ninja Foodi. You can alter the amount of sauce and jelly that you include, but there should be a base amount of liquid in order to make sure that the meatballs won’t burn. The heat will cook the sauce which will cook the meatballs. As time goes on, it seems to work similarly to a steamer. Therefore, those meatballs on top are also getting cooked. But, they may not be absorbing those same flavors from the sauce, so make sure to get any that are not covered in the delicious sauce.

For those who are learning how to slow cook, this recipe is a perfect way to start. It is hard to mess up, and it is such a hit. People love these delectable appetizers whenever I host a small event with people. I serve them right out of the Ninja Foodi.

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5. keeping warm

After a food finishing cooking for certain options, the Ninja Foodi will automatically move to keep warm. This is perfect for when I am slow cooking, pressure cooking, or steaming. It turns down the heat, and it keeps the food nice and warm. Sometimes, I get wrapped up in a task while food is cooking, so this is perfect when I am working when food finishes cooking.

If there is a food that I am making for an event that I made in the Ninja Foodi, this is such a great tool because it stays nice and warm until I am ready to serve it. I mentioned the meatballs above that I make for some of my small events. I leave the keep warm feature on and serve it from the Ninja Foodi because I know regardless of when someone gets food that it will still be warm.

6. baking and roasting

Interestingly enough, this is one of the features that I have not tried, but I have done much research on. If you type in “bake/roast in Ninja Foodi” in Google, the first few options that appear are all pot roasts. Pot Roasts are something that I eventually want to try, but I have never felt the need to prepare much to make one. After all of my research, this would have been the perfect when my oven was not working. I have seen so many pictures of delicious looking rotisserie chickens, roast beefs, and other meat-related dishes. I really think that there is something to be said for this feature. This would be perfect for making something for a larger family gathering. I can imagine having family over and making a nice pot roast for them or rotisserie chicken which will serve a family of 8.

need to try dehydrating

There is one feature on the Ninja Foodi that I have yet to try, dehydrating. I have never found a need to use it, and I have never been brave enough to experiment. It seems like such a cool feature though, so if trying it out is something that you are interested in, share and comment letting me know to give you recipes using the dehydrator. I can imagine using it to dehydrate fruit for decoration. For example, you could dehydrate lemon slices to add to the top of a lemon cake.

final thoughts

This device lets me see that we truly are living in the future. We have devices that do most of the cooking work for you. I think that the Ninja Foodi belongs in every household because it is truly a technological wonder. I have been able to cook while lesson planning on my couch because the Ninja Foodi makes cooking so easy. If you are just learning to cook, this device is for you. Even my brother who does not cook would be able to make culinary masterpieces with the Ninja Foodi. I have been using it for over a year, and I have no plans to slow down using it now. What are you waiting for?

Buy your Ninja Foodi on Amazon here.

Until next time,

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