I Ditched My Air Fryer for This Glass-Bowl Model. It’s Better in Almost Every Way

If you’re still using a traditional basket-style air fryer with a nonstick coating, there’s a new, glass-bowl model worthy of consideration. I switched to the Ninja Crispi about six months ago, and I can’t imagine going back to the old version.

We take air fryers seriously around here, having spent countless hours testing more than 30 models to make wings, fries, salmon and snacks. Of all the countertop ovens we’ve used, one model offers unique design features that landed it at the top of our list of best air fryers, and quickly earned it a 2025 Editor’s Choice award.

The smartly designed Ninja Crispi with its sleek glass cooking chamber breaks from the usual bulky black box design and hard-to-get-really-clean nonstick basket. There is no chemical coating to worry about, and the cooking chamber doubles as a handy serving or food storage vessel when you’re done cooking. 

Read more: Air Fryer Fails: 8 Foods That Just Can’t Handle the Heat

Here’s how the Ninja Crispi glass air fryer works and four reasons I switched in 2025.

Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 portable glass air fryer at a glance

• Style: Modular air fryer with two sizes of glass cooking vessels and a separate cooking pod in three color options
• Dimensions: 13.5 by 12 by 13.5 inches
• Power: 1,500 watts
• Weight: 15.74 pounds
• Price $160

Ninja Crispi operation: How it’s different

The cooking pod itself includes crisp, bake, air fry and max crisp functions. Crisp is intended to revive leftovers, while max crisp is the ideal setting for packaged frozen foods. While it is tempting, given its baking dish look, the glass TempWare bowls are not intended to be used as the actual cooking vessels for batters in bake mode, because air still needs to circulate below the cooking vessels to be effective. (Will I try anyway? The temptation is real…) 

Pressing any button will indicate a digital timer to which you can add or subtract minutes. (The timer defaults to 10.) Below 1 minute, the timer changes into seconds and the device beeps to alert you when the cycle is complete. Overall, the sound level of the Ninja Crispi was similar to conventional air fryer models, with just a moderate whir when operating.

4 reasons I switched to the glass-bowl Ninja Crispi

1. You can see what you’re cooking

As expected, the ability to see the cooking in progress was really satisfying, both from a nerdy perspective and also to be able to look for visual cues in terms of when to flip your items or to assess doneness. Both chicken parts and Brussels sprouts were cooked evenly and efficiently with little risk of over-cooking given the 360-degree window into the proceedings.

2. Glass bowls are nontoxic and easy to get clean

Most air fryers use aluminum cooking baskets with a nonstick coating. Those coatings tend to chip and breakdown if you’re not careful. Plenty of folks are concerned about the health ramifications for ingesting nonstick chemicals that chip of of cookware. With a glass-bowl air fryer, there’s no worry.

If that’s not enough, glass is much easier to deep-clean than nonstick surfaces and you can use the dishwasher without issue. 

3. The glass bowls double as food storage containers

The versatility, however, makes the Ninja Crispi tremendously interesting, especially for avid meal preppers. Full meals or individual cooked components can go right from cooking into the fridge, with the included lids for easy storage. (Although I am bound by refrigerator logistics to tell you to let it all cool first, so you don’t inadvertently raise the temperature inside your fridge.) 

Additional cooking bowls in a variety of sizes can be purchased separately, allowing for the possibility of a multitude of individually cooked meals with no cleanup required in between use: just transfer the cooking pod from one cooking vessel to the next, assembly-line style. Sunday meal prep has never been easier, nor required fewer dishes.

4. It’s easy to store

The Ninja Crispi is also easy to store, with a footprint and height requirement that is far less than a lot of conventional models. It also makes for easy portability — ideal for a potluck situation or even just a hot-meal self-care moment — where you could even justify cooking on site. Either of the cooking bowls and the cooking pod could easily fit in a shoulder bag. If I worked in an office, it would thrill me to bring the whole thing with me to have a hot, healthful lunch without reheating. Although if you’re contemplating being the person to cook fish directly at your desk — maybe don’t.

Not only can the larger 4-quart bowl be used directly as a family-style serving vessel — whose practical feet preclude the need for a trivet or pot holder — but one could argue that the smaller 4-cup vessel can be used to eat out of directly, significantly reducing the number of dishes to wash. Speaking of washing, everything except the cooking pod itself is dishwasher-safe. 

Ninja Crispy setup

Despite not looking anything like a typical air fryer, the Ninja Crispi was intuitive to set up and use. Each of the glass cooking vessels has a built-in stand with feet that keeps it off the counter surface. Side handles are also fitted on the stands of the bowls, which allow not only for easy transporting between the counter and the table (because the vessels can also be used to serve) but also make it easy to shake the contents as needed during the cooking process.

The nonstick crisper plates were packaged separately and simple to place inside the bowls and to remove for cleaning. Lids for the 6-cup and 4-quart bowls were also included: a snap-on lid for the smaller and a simpler press-on lid for the larger. 

The cooking pod itself has an ergonomic shape for easy lifting and also has feet for safe placement on the counter when not in use. The cooking pod sits easily on top of the 6-cup bowl and a big-batch adapter frame fits the cooking pod onto the larger bowl. Between unwrapping and rinsing all of the washable parts, I was ready to go in about 2 minutes.

What I didn’t like about the Ninja Crispi

As a modular device with a ton of built-in practicality and versatility, the Ninja Crispi is a game-changer in the air fryer market. That said, at $160, it’s on the higher side, price-wise, for an air fryer. 

Those with little ones in the house may also want to note: When the cooking pod is used with the adapter for large batches, the adapter can become hot and be potentially exposed once the heating pod is removed. Never mind little ones; if you’re an absent-minded cook yourself, it can be a hazard.

Read more: 8 Foods That Go From Good to Great in an Air Fryer

Final verdict on the Ninja Crispi

If you’re a disciple of air fryer cooking and, especially if you have a serious commitment to meal prepping, the Ninja Crispi is arguably one of the most versatile models on the market. It’s satisfying to use and easy to store and clean. You may want to look for it on sale during Prime Days or the like, but even without a discount, its utility and the reputation of the Ninja brand merits its price tag.