Ninja Foodi FD401 LP3: 12-in-1 Pressure Cooker & Air Fryer (8QT)

This ninja is remarkably outstanding, I use this ninja to cook everything it is efficient,and fast is easy to use. I am lost for words ,its magnificent I love it

UPDATE: Amazon gave me a credit!!!!

The product is well worth the price but imagine my disappointment that I paid $219 and less than one week later the price is down $50.00. Can I get a coupon for the difference? Happy to change my review to 5 star if so. Won’t hold my breath.

What's not to like here? I really like this machine. It's changing the way I cook so many things. The air fryer is much better than the Corsori I had been using and by far easier to clean. Salmon and chicken cooked in this is so much better than oven baked or broiled. I bought this on the recommendation of a good friend and I'm so glad I did. This thing it great. I call it my little R2. If you're on the fence about this, buy it, you won't regret it.

I'm a busy mother of 3. Full time job, 3 young children and my oldest 40 year old man child whom they call dad. I HATE to cook... Always have, always will. I purchased this in hopes of making healthier meals other than my gourmet, signature Hamburger Helper, also known as "A Box" here in this household. My first meal attempt with this Foodi was Chicken Parmigiana on a bed of Penne noodles. The ease and beauty of the finished product could have fooled anyone into believing I was a chef by trade! Just to be sure this was no fluke, the next days dinner was my 20 minute pressure cooked 10 LB TURKEY (because why the hell not in 105 degree July???) The results were as expected considering my new found 5 Star cooking abilities. Despite the quality of food that this cooking machine produces Every. Freaking. Time...., I am unfortunately, disappointed. The lack of pots, pans and utinsils when using this causes me great sadness since I now have no leg to stand on when I feel like yelling about dirty dishes being left in the sink because my "job" to cook doesn't equal out to the required chore of dish washing! And to top it off... This has not changed my deep rooted loathing for cooking and yet, my family now expects this type of upscale cooking for every meal! No longer are the days I can just swing by and grab Happy Meals on the days "I just don't wanna" cook....My two 8 year old twins looked at me like I grew 3 heads when I attempted to pull THAT on them last week. (Soooo sooorrry I spent $25 at McDonals instead of $8 on ingredients for a home cooked feast). Despite the amazing qualities of this fine piece of cooking machinary, I still HATE TO COOK and I feel that if Bill Cosby can use the courts to his advantage and walk free... So too can I for the emotional pain and suffering this Ninja Foodi has caused me.

And just to further prove my point, I was unable to start tonight's bratwurst dinner and get this written BEFORE they were done and I had to pause my perfectly good review to feed the beasts before I could finish this!

I have had a number of electric pressure cook brands over the years, and the Ninja Foodi pressure cookers with the air crisp lid is my favorite. First of all, to me, it doesn't make sense to buy a 6 quart pressure cooker since the quantity you cook is limited to the capacity of the cook. With an 8 quart pressure cooker, you can as easily cook smaller quantities as larger ones. I always opt for the larger size since cookers I have had in smaller sizes were never used.

I also have had the Ninja OP301 pressure cooker with the air crisp lid for over two years. I use it almost every day and it still works and looks like new. I like it so much, when I saw the Ninja FD401 unit on sale during the Amazon Prime days, I jumped on it. I wanted an extra in case the one I have fails. From experience, I have learned this usually happens in the middle of making dinner.

I have looked into the differences between the two units, and I'm not sure whether I prefer the OP301 unit to the DP401 unit. The OP301 is describes as a 9-in-one and the FD401 is described as a 12-in-1. The OP301 actually has 7 cooking functions to choose from and the FD401 has 8 functions to choose from. Some functions are combined to come up to the 9-in-1 for the OP301 and 12-in-1 for the FD401. The following is the differences between the two units.

- Cooking functions - The FD401 added Yogurt to the Slow Cook function.
OP301 - Pressure, Steam, Slow Cook, Sear/Sauté, Air Crisp, Bake/Roast, Broil, Dehydrate
FD401 - Pressure, Steam, Slow Cook/Yogurt, Sear/Sauté, Air Crisp, Bake/Roast, Broil, Dehydrate
- Cooking function selection - The FD401 uses the Start/Stop knob to scroll through the functions for selection and to increase or decrease time and temperature. The OP301 has buttons that can be pressed for each function. Personally, I prefer the selection buttons on the OP301 to the dial used for selection on the FD401.
- Time and Temperature - On both units there are default settings for both, but time and temperature can be easily changed on both by pressing the up/down buttons on the OP301 or using the dial on the FD401.
- Accessories - Both come with the same accessories: reversible rack, cook/crisp basket, etc.

I use my Ninja Foodi almost every day, and bought a couple accessories to increase the uses . Since I grow a number of veggie greens in my basement, I bought a steamer basket from Amazon for an 8 quart pressure cooker that I use to steam the veggies. The thicker leaves require 8-10 minutes of steaming, and the thinner leaves, like spinach, require only 2-3 minutes of steaming. I also bought the Ninja Foodi Skewer set that works wonderfully for cooking and browning BBQ'ed chicken wings, chicken thighs, and brochettes using chicken, fish, shrimp, or beef. The air crisping lid is used for the chicken wings and thighs after cooking them with the baking function.

As a pressure cooker, this Ninja Foodi saves so much time, and the results are always wonderful. For example, a pork shoulder roast needs to be pressure cooked for only 55 minutes, and the liquids left make a wonderful gravy. To do this, put 2 cups of beef broth in the bottom of the cooking pot, add 1 large onion cut into wedges, 5-6 garlic cloves (or to taste), and seasonings. After the pork shoulder is done, remove it and cover with tin foil to keep warm. Set the cooker to sauté low, use in immersion blender to blend the onion and garlic, add a mixture of 1/4 cup water and 2 tbsp. corn starch, and cook until the gravy thickens. Using the pressure cooking function, I have also made pot roast with potatoes and carrots, corned beef and cabbage, short ribs, beef stew, and more. All have come out perfect, and all were done in 1 hour or less.

In conclusion, both units supply basically the same cooking functions, and both are excellent cooking appliances with multiple cooking functions that will enhance the cooking abilities of anyone using them. Personally, I prefer the button selection of the OP302 over the FD401 unit simply because pushing a button for the desired function is much easier and faster than scrolling to the desired function with a dial.

As for storage of the Air Crisp lid, there is an option available on Amazon to store this lid on top of the pressure cooker. I have this, and now store my Air Crisp lid on top of the pressure cooker.

Another important point to mention is that many of the newer appliances use wattages from 1500 to 1800 watts. This unit is rated at 1760 units. We have a 40 year old home and most of the circuit breakers were 15 amps. This could handle 1 appliance if nothing else was running at the time of the appliance. I was having a problem with circuit breakers popping when using two appliances at the same time and sometimes when I was using only one. This made cooking dinners very frustrating as the cook times were lost when the breaker popped. We finally had an electrician come to the house to upgrade our circuit breakers to 20 amp and many of the outlets in my kitchen were wired to separate circuit breakers. This made dinner cooking a lot easier for me, but it came at a cost of over $3000. If you have only a couple of the newer appliances, including this one, you may have a problem if you have 15 amp circuits and anything else is running on the same circuit at the same time.

I hope this review was helpful for you. I will update my review if my opinion changes or I can add more information.

Yes, it's true: the "Ninja FD401 Foodi 8-Quart 9-in-1 Deluxe" is awesome! Yes, you can cook delicious and crispy chicken, bake cupcakes, etc. Here's the thing: the instructions in the recipe book aren't that clear, especially for "newbies."

#1 example: The yogurt function. I dare you to do an internet search for "Ninja Foodi Yogurt." You will definitely come across web posts and comments in video content sites with people describing how they ended up with "burnt milk" instead of yogurt. Some people added vanilla extract and honey too soon in the process. The good news is that you will only be using one lid (the pressure lid) and you will keep the vent open for the whole process.

I suggest that before you try to make yogurt that you watch videos and read viewers' comments. (The video that was produced by Ninja Foodi has overly loud music playing the background, so try other videos.) I found the video made by the man with the southern accent "How to Make Greek Yogurt Homemade Ninja Foodi" the best. The main thing to watch out for is that the recipe book that comes with the Ninja Foodi Deluxe is not clear enough. Although I agree with all 5 steps, the third sentence in Step 1 says "Select YOGURT and set time to 8 hours." *UM, NO!* It's not necessarily that easy.

*PROBLEM*: A new user might not know that they have to push "Function" then turn the knob so it says "YOGURT" then set the time, etc. A lot of people accidentally end up SLOW COOKING MILK for hours, instead of making yogurt. My instructions might not be clear so how do you know if you started off correctly?

Once you see the word YOGURT on the display and you set the time for 8 hours, you should see the word "BOILING" and a series of dashes on the screen. After a short while (my time estimate: 15 minutes but someone else said about 1 hour) you will hear a beeping sound and you will see a message saying "COOL." If all of this happened, you're on the right track.

The recipe tells you to wait until the milk finishes cooling in the Ninja Foodi but, if you don't feel like waiting, you have options. *Do this at your own risk.* I followed the advice I found online: place some ice and water in your sink. Carefully (with appropriate gloves and be careful not to get steam in your face) remove the pot from the Ninja Foodi and place it in your sink. Use your thermometer to check your milk until it gets to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. *It only takes a few minutes to get from 185 down to 110.* Take your pot out of the ice water. Dry it up. Place it back in the Ninja Foodi and put the pressure lid back on (keep the pressure vent open).

After a few minutes, the Ninja Foodi will think the milk has cooled enough. Then you will hear a beep. You will see a message saying "Add & Stir." You will carefully remove the pressure lid again and add and stir in the three tablespoons of plain yogurt with live cultures. Make sure you use a nylon whisk to mix the yogurt with the milk. You can follow the rest of the instructions from there.

The main thing is: be careful. You want to make sure you are selecting the right options. You also want to make sure you are not adding honey or vanilla extract (if you plan on doing so) until Step 5, which is 8 hours after you put the yogurt in the refrigerator.

It does take a long time to make yogurt. Once you remove it from your refrigerator, you can also use cheesecloth to drain the whey from the yogurt so the yogurt is less watery and is more like "Greek yogurt." Plus, you can save and use the whey in other recipes (smoothies, bread).

*You can also freeze some of the yogurt you made and use it to make more yogurt in the future.*

I added two pictures: one picture shows my results: plain yogurt. The other picture shows what my yogurt looks like when I mixed in strawberry preserves. (Might not look beautiful but tastes so good!)

Good luck and enjoy!

Update 10/23/21 - Still loving it, the one thing I have learned is not to pressure cook veggies for more than a few minutes or they get mushy.

After contemplating buying a new toaster over and a new crock pot, I decided to try the Ninja Foodi. So far, I’m loving it. It cost a little more than buying the other two appliances but takes up less space and does more. It’s s a tight fit under the cabinet so I pull it forward when in use, which is a good thing to do anyway since you don’t want to release the ‘pressure’ on the underside of the cabinet anyway.

So far I have tried slow cooking, roasting, baking and air frying. Be prepared to experiment with it, cooking with this has been a new experience for me. Use the books included to gauge cooking times and have a meat thermometer handy to verify internal temperature. This cooks faster and more evenly than my full size oven! And don’t be afraid to use two different cooking methods on one dish. Definitely stir and flip when using the air fryer or roaster to ensure even browning/crispness. I did a test run on a whole chicken, a 4,5 lb chicken fit in there just fine and cooked in less than an hour. I followed the instructions in the book, I have never used a pressure cooker before so I was skeptical it would be done so quickly but it was. I then took a whole cut up chicken and tried a few pieces using different methods, roasting, airfying, pressure cooking all came out really good. With this you can slow cook and give a quick crisp at the end of the cooking cycle. Everything slow cooked doesn’t have to be mushy!

I store my racks inside the pot (see pic) and keep the extra lid in the cabinet under the sink, which is very accessible.
Clean up is a breeze, the pot and racks are dishwasher safe but clean up easily in the sink as well, give the outside a quick wipe down and you’re good to go. In all honesty, if I just did something like potatoes, I don’t clean it and I use it so much that if I do put the pot and rack in the dishwasher I’m usually pulling them out because I use this more than I need to run the dishwasher.

Now I’m off to see what accessories I can find for it; hope you like yours as much as I like mine!

If you had the wattage capability in your small or large space, this would be the appliance to buy! The 8 quart Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 has a total wattage of 1760. That may be too much for some kitchens. I don't use other electrical appliances while I am using this Foodi. This is a very big countertop appliance. My husband jokingly calls it "Diver Dan." It is "potbelly" round and can be up to 22 inches high (with crisper lid up) or a bit more and it's more than a foot across and deep. Also it lets off steam when using the pressure cooker mode, of course, so it's best to locate it where the steam isn't let off under your cupboards. That said, so far I've made the following foods with relatively good or good results: 1) crisp thin sliced/julienned potatoes and not so crisp sweet potato and potato rounds; 2) rotini spiral pasta in cream sauce with canned mushrooms (perfect!); 3) re-roasted frozen pulled pork in square shape - cooked and then browned; 4) pinto beans in tomato and spice sauce in pressure cooker; 5) Great White Northern beans in nutritional yeast, garlic and onion broth - in pressure cooker and then sauteed. 6) Roasted Brussels sprouts in tamari from frozen. I had less success using a cake mix. The cake was still frothing raw batter in the middle, so I had to take it out, add mini chocolate chips on top and finish baking it in my convection oven. Interestingly enough, it was quite tasty and moist - it just took a two step process with two different appliances. There are some great features here not to be overlooked including the saute function. So far clean up has been very easy! More ideas and thoughts to follow! Happy Foodi-ing!
Update: I still love my Ninja Foodi, but I've got to try out a few meals that require just the one appliance. I don't like the idea of using my vintage but still perfect Farberware countertop convection oven at the same time as the Foodi. I realized that certain functions of the Foodi are going to be more like a novelty for me than an actual function that I will use. For example, the dehydrate mode. I've used it to dehydrate apple slices so far and the results were fine, but honestly not worth 8 hours of having the Foodi on for the small output. I set the Foodi up and left it on overnight. Yogurt mode also sounds like something that requires having the Foodi on for a long time. I used my vintage convection oven to dehydrate ginger and cilantro and it took far less time. I like the idea of focusing on the "one pot" meals. I ordered the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Justin Warner.
Update: I just made six chicken drumsticks from frozen to air crisped. The process was very easy, but I noticed that the timing is critical. The drumsticks were a bit red at the bone, but fully cooked on the outside after the two steps of pressure cooking and the air crisping option. The directions provided in the booklet that came with the Foodi don't cover drumsticks, so this is going to be a bit "trial and error" when it comes to cooking times. Also it's important to realize that even though this is an 8 quart capacity cooker, it really doesn't hold all that much when it comes to family size meals depending on the cooking functions. Beans are another story! You'll be able to make plenty of those!

I have had Breville products for about ten years and really like them. I had been toying around with getting another Breville multi functional pressure cooker, etc. I had it all picked out almost ready to buy and read through the reviews. They were AWFUL ! Somehow the Ninja Foodi caught my eye. Maybe it was mentioned in one of the Breville reviews. I don’t know how I happened upon it. Anyway, I ordered the 9 in 1 Ninja Foodi. I watched YouTube after YouTube about it, watched YouTube recipe ideas and hit the ground running. In the short time I’ve had it (less than a month), I’ve cooked all kinds of things in it ! Soups, stews and tonight chicken and dumplings. Everything has been fantastic ! If it wasn’t, it was the recipe, NOT the Ninja Foodi.
I have yet to use ALL its functions but what I’ve used so far, I’m THRILLED with ! I have a Breville Pressure Cooker. I think it has 5 functions and 6 quart capacity. It does the job but it’s not as easy to use - the ring has a hard plastic part along with the soft rubbery part that goes around it. The Ninja Foodi only has the soft rubbery part and is SO MUCH easier to insert !
I give this Ninja Foodi two thumbs up. I’m really looking forward to using more of its functions. I want to make a chicken starting with the pressure cooker feature and then when it’s done, switching over to the air fry feature to brown the skin. I also want to make bbq ribs using the same features in the same order.
If you have a question about the quality of this product, look no more. This is the one you want.
Pictured is the chicken and dumplings I made tonight as well as the Brocolli Cheddar Soup from last week. My husband really enjoyed them both and he’s a hard one to please !
If you’re looking for some GREAT pressure cooker recipes, go to “www.pressureluck.com”. Both the recipes in the pictures were from his YouTube Channel. However, he uses an Instant Pot but all his recipes can be done in the Niinja Foodi. The Instant Pot has a metal bowl. The Ninja Foodi has a non-stick surface bowl - no deglazing required and a breeze to clean. In the Pressure Luck YouTubes, he’s forever deglazing the Instant Pot bowl. As I said, no deglazing on this Ninja Foodi product. She’s just a GEM !!!
So buy this unit, watch as many YouTubes as you can so you’re an expert by the time she arrives and START COOKING !

So first thing I did was do a test pressure and then a test of the searing and air fry operation just to make sure unit was working properly, and it was! So first thing I decided to prepare was a recipe for short ribs which was in the accompanying book. As far as the ribs go I prepared them just like the recipe. I did change the vegetables as I am not a fan of parsnips. I did a broccoli, cauliflower carrot combo and also added a potato. The tip they give on covering the top of the crisper rack with foil to keep the vegs from falling through into the ribs is a good one and I used it. The end product was great, from taste to tenderness. Have to declare the Foodi as a winner.

Update: 22 Feb 2020
After using for some months I noticed that the unit, when in air fry mode, began making a louder than usual sounds, which became a roar as the unit ran. I contacted NINJA customer service and with No questions asked they told me to return the bottom of the unit to them and they would replace with a new one, there was a slight charge of $21 dollars. They sent me a return label and as they told me I only included the bottom of the unit, no pressure lid, no accessories. They sent a new, in the box Foodi via FedEx and I received it yesterday, just 5 days after my phone call to them. It was triple box packed and to my utter amazement they sent me an entire new unit, including the pressure lid and all accessories. I was only expecting the lower unit so I'm a happy camper now with a back up pressure lid and accessories. Shark/NINJA will have my business for a long time to come, if I could give customer service 10-stars I would. Hats off to the company and there customer service!