Air fryers and Instant pots are popular cooking appliances. Whether you want to enjoy guilt-free fries or slow-cooked chicken stew, these will be your savior. An air fryer works through a fan that blows heat over your food. This process lets you cook with a minimal amount of fat or oil. Hence, you can call air fryers a healthier alternative to traditional deep fryers, especially for preparing fries, spring rolls, fried chicken, and more. On the other hand, an instant pot cooks food through pressure. Whether it’s an electric pressure cooker or multicooker, it uses enough pressure buildup to heat liquid food in an airtight pot. So, it’s a great option to cook roasted chicken, veggie soup, and so on.
Size and Convenience
A convenient and perfectly sized cooking appliance goes a long way, right? While an air fryer and instant pot are highly convenient, you may find air fryers easier to use with fewer buttons and other functions. In contrast, an instant pot may take a little while to figure out since it offers more functions and customization options. As for size, you’ll find these in different sizes based on your need. While instant pots tend to be a bit bulkier, most air fryers are not as bulky.
Health Benefits
Health benefits are subjective to the selection of food ingredients. For example, an air fryer can cook a healthier version of fried food without deep-frying. But if you use it for heating processed food, its purpose changes. Conversely, an instant pot lets you throw in healthy veggies and grains to create the perfect one-pot or family-sized meal. However, adding excessive grease with nutritious ingredients won’t keep your meals as healthy. So when it comes to health benefits, you have more control as both appliances can cook healthy and unhealthy food items.
Recipe Possibilities
You can prepare thousands of recipes using both of these appliances. However, an air fryer lets you prepare grilled veggies, baked potatoes, cakes, casseroles, and more, apart from air frying snacks. On the contrary, an instant pot can cook beef roasts, soups, chili, rice, and yogurt containing broth or liquid. The recipe possibilities are endless, but you must remember that instant pots work the best with flavorful liquid-based recipes, whereas air fryers are perfect for making light and crispy food.
Cleaning
An air fryer usually has a dishwasher-safe basket and a tray that collects grease from the bottom, so it’s easy to clean. In contrast, an instant pot may develop burnt bottom in a saute mode, making it difficult to clean.
Price
Obviously, the prices of these appliances will vary depending on size and capabilities. You’ll get affordable to higher-end options, which may start from under 100 bucks and go beyond 300 dollars for an air fryer. And you’ll get a quality Instant pot for 150 dollars, but if you add a bit extra, you can get an instant pot with an air fryer option as well!
Bottom Line
Overall, picking between an air fryer and an instant pot will depend on your cooking preference based on individual or family needs. Now that you know what you can expect from these helpful appliances, making the decision will be easier. However, if you want the best of both worlds, you may try the combination of an air fryer and instant pot!
