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If you haven't yet stepped foot into the wonderful world of air frying, now’s the time: Some of the best Prime Day air fryer deals are happening right now (yes, you read that right—there's a second Prime Day this year, technically called Big Deal Days). That means you've got a second chance to take that leap at a steep discount. Both basket-style air fryers and oven-style air fryers are on sale. Both have their place—basket style fryers have a more compact footprint that’s small-kitchen-friendly; oven-style fryers, on the other hand, offer more versatility and the opportunity to condense a multitude of kitchen appliances into one gadget. Both machines use the power of convection to make everything crispy. Whichever you're leaning towards, we've found deals on them. If you want an in-depth look into our air fryer product test before you buy, hop on over here. Also, be sure to check out all the other Prime Day kitchen deals happening throughout the event, including big discounts on KitchenAid, All-Clad, and coffee makers.
Our test-winning basket-style air fryer: Philips Premium Air fryer XXL, $163, $350 on Amazon
A budget favorite air fryer: Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer: $110 $130 on Amazon
A toaster oven that air fries: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro $400 $450 on Amazon
A little more about air fryers, if you care…
At Epicurious we were skeptical about air fryers for a long time. There’s no such thing, technically, as an air fryer. The name is just really good marketing. In truth, nothing can actually fry in air. Really, “air frying” is just convection cooking—something that we are huge proponents of here at Epi. Convection cooking involves moving hot air around via a fan (or fans) in order to cook food faster and more evenly, and make it crisper than it otherwise would be. This air circulation is the key to crispy-skinned chicken wings, chicken thighs, potatoes, and even tofu. One important part of this process is tossing your food occasionally, which is easier to do with a basket than a tray (hence why you might want to opt for a basket-style air fryer if you foresee your primary use case being crisping up things like fries, vegetables, and the like.
Now you may be wondering: Why buy an air fryer if your oven already has a convection setting? It’s true, you can achieve similar levels of crispiness in a regular convection oven by using a crisper tray (more on that here.) But air fryers of all types heat up very fast (much faster than your big old oven), and we especially love using them during the summer months, when the thought of turning on the oven is simply too much to bear. They also increase the amount of available oven space you have, and make small-batch weeknight cooking or reheating leftovers a cinch.
But now that we've sung their praises a bit, let's get something straight: an air fryer will never give you the full deep-fry experience you’d get if you dredged chicken in flour and cooked it in hot oil (as much as we would like to avoid the deep frying clean up.) But once you stop thinking of an air fryer as a gadget that magically produces “healthy” fried foods, you can appreciate it for what it actually is: a little convection oven. The air fryer’s usefulness has no end—just take it from the professional bakers who use air fryers to make small batches of cookies or brownies, or the cookbook author who thinks that they’re a superior tool for cooking crispy roasted vegetables.
Below, we’ve been keeping track of all the best air fryers on Amazon and competing sites like Target.com this Prime Day. You’ll find deals on our favorite (product-test winning!) models, and a host of other options from trusted brands. (And if you’re more interested in deep-frying, read our guide to the best deep fryers here.)
Product-test winning Amazon Prime Day air fryer deals
With all the Prime Day deals there are out there we try to make it a priority to recommend the products that won, or performed very well in our product tests. Read on for options that have been vetted by our thorough testing process and range the full gamut in terms of price and size.
With all the Prime Day deals there are out there we try to make it a priority to recommend the The Phillips Premium Air Fryer is a repeat winner in the air fryer category. It's both a bit bigger and more expensive than a lot of basket-style air fryers on the market, but even if it wasn't discounted by nearly 50% we'd still think it's worth it for its ability to turn out the crispiest fries, tots, and nuggets of anything we've tried. The Philips owes that capability in part to its larger size which ensures excellent airflow throughout. If you want to go beyond the typical air fryer use cases, it's also great at roasting crispy chickpeas and lots of different veggies, among other things.
Functionality aside, this thing is also a joy to use: It’s got an easy-to-use digital interface, preheats fast, and comes with a useful cooking manual that has spot-on cooking times and temperatures for various air-fried favorites. This'll take up some real estate on your countertop, but we think it's absolutely worth it. The 3000 version of the Philips is also on sale this Prime Day, and it offers a smaller countertop footprint.
Instant Pots are not just Instant Pots any longer (actually, they haven’t been for some time). Instant makes a whole range of items, like coffee makers, blenders, and—you guessed it—air fryers. The company also offers a series of multi-ovens that have air frying capability, like the Vortex Pro and the Omni (see sales on those models featured below).
The Vortex Plus was the budget winner of our recent air fryer testing, and it's even more budget-friendly right now because of Prime Day. This is a basket-style air fryer, so no oven here, but it can do things like broil and dehydrate, although not quite as well as an oven style machine. It also comes with a smartly designed (and dishwasher-safe) non-stick basket that makes it really easy to do the requisite tossing and shaking of food that comes with most air frying.
If you’re looking to join the air fryer fan club but don’t have the storage or counter space for a full-sized model (or maybe you just have a smaller household), look no further than this model from Cosori. We crowned it the winner of our Best Compact Air Fryer category for a reason: It’s easy to use, with a digital interface that features four presets that can be custom-programmed, and it’s one of the quietest models we’ve ever tested. And, most importantly, it works really well, able to churn out beautifully crisp tots, fries, and more. At $42 last time we checked, this is one of the cheapest options out there right now, and it truly delivers.
This technically is not part of our air fryer testing because that just focuses on basket-style air fryers. But multi-ovens like the Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro are probably even more useful (even if they don't crisp things up quite as well all the time) because they are designed to accommodate lots of baking and roasting needs along with straight up air frying. Breville is one of our favorite appliance brands in tons of different categories—from espresso machines to juicers to, yes, air fryers. We’re big fans of Breville Smart Ovens (this smart oven’s sister, the Breville Joule Oven, wins our toaster oven review). They are particularly useful because they're equipped with high-tech features like the brand's Element IQ sensors, which detect what you're cooking and adjust heat accordingly to avoid burning food for a variety of settings including broil, bake, and slow cook in addition to air fry. This air fryer/toaster oven has two-speed convection fans,—also called "super convection" capability. This means fast and even heat distribution, which are ideal qualities in an air fryer. If you want an appliance that will air fry while also encompassing a host of other functionalities, this is the model for you.
More air fryers on sale now
These models didn't necessarily win our testing, but they're still great options. Read on for more air fryer deals from a range of brands at a range of prices.
The Ninja AF101 was a very close second-place budget pick in our testing. If you plan to use your air fryer primarily for things you’ll be tossing around (fries, for instance), it’s a great choice and is discounted on Amazon for Prime Day.
Instant makes several styles of air fryers, from combination ovens to Instant Pot air fryer hybrids. Both the Instant Pot Vortex Pro and the Instant Pot Omni Plus are on sale this Prime Day, and they’re both great options for oven-style air fryers. Both have features like a digital touchscreen, a rotisserie, and a dehydrator, so the choice really comes down to size and capacity. The Vortex Pro has a countertop footprint that's small comparative to the Omni, so we recommend that you go for that model unless you favor the Omni’s larger 19-quart capacity. The Instant Pot Pro Crisp looks (and, for the most part, acts) like an Instant Pot, but has air fryer capabilities in addition to its typical pressure cooking capabilities. While we haven’t tested it, it could be a good option if you’re looking to condense your kitchen appliance collection. The Instant Vortex Slim is a newer model from the brand, and while we haven’t tried it out yet, it promises the same performance as the Vortex we know and love, but with a slimmer profile that’s ideal for those with less available counter space.
Chefman is a sleek, mid-tier appliance brand that offers several digital air fryers with versatile control. Their Digital Air Fryer+ is more of an air fryer oven combo that can bake, dehydrate, and function as a rotisserie too, while the TurboFry is more your typical basket air fryer.
Our friends at Bon Appétit used a Cosori Air Fryer to develop air-fryer-specific recipes, like these spiced potato wedge fries. The Smart 12-in-1 model doubles as a countertop oven that can also work as a dehydrator and rotisserie. It’s a good air fryer to buy if you’re curious about the trend and want to try your hand at homemade french fries, because if it turns out you're not an air fryer person, you can still use it to toast and bake. If you're looking for a basket-style model, the 5.8-Pro II Air Fryer is a great pick.
Looking for more kitchen deals? Here are some more of our favorites:
