Not buying an air fryer has been an intense exercise in restraint. My New York City kitchen is especially prohibitive when it comes to storing appliances, and most air fryers are too large to fit on my counter—which means I have lived without one for years.

What I have lived with is major FOMO. Heating frozen food looks so easy, and post-cooking cleanup seems like a breeze. The sheer amount of air fryer recipe ideas on our website alone has tempted me more than once. But the bulkiness has kept my air fryer fantasies at bay.

My prayers were finally answered with Ninja released their newest kitchen appliance: the CRISPi. Instead of a massive countertop convection oven, this portable air fryer system takes up far less space and features multi-purpose components. It’s a game changer for small spaces, but just how well does it work? I decided to test it for myself.

How Does The CRISPi Work?

ninja crispipinterest

Gabby Romero

This isn’t your average air fryer. Instead of a large countertop appliance with a removable basket, the CRISPi’s heating mechanism is their portable PowerPod. It’s effectively a lid with a heated fan that can be plugged into any three-pronged outlet

This heated fan has either three or four settings, depending on what model you buy. The lowest, Recrisp, revives leftovers at a temperature between 380 and 400°F. But if you want the crispiest results possible, the Max Crisp setting can reach up to 450°F.

ninja crispi powerpodpinterest

Gabby Romero

In lieu of a single air fryer basket, the CRISPi lid works with Ninja’s line of tempered glass dishes. The dishes are more than just cooking vessels. Beyond being able to withstand high temperatures during the cooking process, they also come with storage lids. So if you end up with leftovers, you can simply cover them and put the dish straight in the fridge. And a bonus: they’re dishwasher safe!

Each CRISPi comes with two dishes in different size, which is what makes this product particularly unique. A common gripe about classic air fryers is the hassle of cleaning out the basket when you’re taking turns cooking different foods. With this appliance, you can simply move the PowerPod heating mechanism to a different dish.

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Gabby Romero

It is, however, important to note: the CRISPi is only compatible with Ninja’s tempered glass. Opting for any other vessel can be messy and dangerous (think broken glass, melted plastic, and potential burns).

How Well Does The CRISPi Work?

Now that we know how the CRISPi should work, it begs the question: how successful is it at delivering on those lofty promises? I decided to test it out with everyone’s favorite frozen snack: pizza rolls.

I heated pizza rolls according to the package instructions in three appliances—the CRISPi, a traditional air fryer, and an oven—to compare and get a better sense of how effective each method is.

Ninja Crispi™ 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System

Ninja Crispi™ 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System

The verdict? There isn’t a massive difference.

The oven-baked pizza rolls were marginally crispier, but only in the spots that had direct contact with the baking sheet. It is also worth noting that I baked them in the Delish test kitchen’s industrial ovens—so your mileage will likely vary in your home kitchen. And on top of the added hassle of preheating the oven and a longer cook time, it’s not the ideal route for this application.

The pizza rolls that came out of both air fryers were both sufficiently crispy and golden on the outside a lot less effort than the oven approach. In fact, each appliance yielded near identical results.

I was surprised to see how effectively the CRISPi worked in the glass dish. The pizza rolls even started leaking melty cheese at the corners (fellow frozen food connoisseurs know that this is the hallmark of a well-cooked pizza roll).

cooked snack in a black air fryer basketpinterest

Gabby Romero

I do have a small gripe, though. The dishes that come with the CRISPi feature handles on each side that only extend out by about an inch. The rest of the dish gets hot, and the compact handles don’t exactly offer the most protection (especially in comparison to the sturdy handles of traditional air fryer baskets). I advise handling these dishes with caution and oven mitts—as well as keeping the appliance away from children.

A CRISPi isn’t materially better at air frying food than traditional machines. It is, however, better for storing in small spaces. There’s no need to invest in this appliance if you already have an air fryer that you like. But if you’re like me and you’re one of the last remaining air fryer holdouts, this is an option that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Headshot of Gabby Romero

Expertise: TikTok Trends, Drinks, Pop Culture

Education: B.A. in Journalism and B.S. in Communications from NYU, Culinary Arts degree from The Institute of Culinary Education

About Me: As an associate editor at Delish, Gabby works on everything from features to recipes to content on our social media channels. Before joining the team, she wrote for StarChefs Rising Stars Magazine, Mashed, and Food52. When she’s not developing cocktail recipes, she’s making cocktail-inspired dishes like and . Her features cover online trends like the , rank everything from to , and answer some of your most pressing food safety questions. You can also find her posting content on Delish’s TikTok, including her about cooking like influencer Nara Smith that garnered over 3M combined views.  She loves eating spicy food, collecting cookbooks, and adding a mountain of Parmesan to any dish she can. 




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