“I tested the Ninja Speedi 10-in-1 Rapid Cooker on my kids and it’s so worth it – and is now half price”

We all know how it is. Whether you’re taking care of kids or rushing home from work or the gym, weekday dinners always seem rushed, with prep and cleanup taking up most of the evening. Especially when you don’t have the latest gadget from sites like Ninja or Philips.

With two little ones at home, their everyday meals usually consist of ready meals or various beige foods, often including chicken strips, sausages or fish fingers, usually served with oven chips, waffles or hash browns and some sort of vegetable to add some colour. Stopping my kitchen from being a disaster zone and cooking something fast is a need right now.

It seems I’m not alone. When Ninja launched its new Speedi 10-in-1 Rapid Cooker that aims to cook healthy meals in just 15 minutes, it sold out almost immediately. Now it’s currently on sale for £149.99 at Amazon, John Lewis and Lakeland. On the Ninja itself, it’s discounted down to £159.99 – and it comes with a stackable chopper.

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Interestingly, the Speedi was essentially born in London, with a team of more than 130 design engineers spending two years designing, testing and fine-tuning it from a huge office and testing facility at the top of the former Battersea Power Station.

Not only does it have the features of many of the brand’s other popular air fryer and grill models, which function as a steamer, grill, air fryer, roaster, dehydrator, saute pan and slow cooker, but it also has a new feature that gives the gadget its name and which allows you to cook a whole meal in about 15 minutes.

It sounds great in theory, but when you’re shelling out £249 (when it’s not on offer) on a kitchen gadget, does it work in practice? I won’t lie, before I tried it I wasn’t convinced. I’ve had my family-friendly Acti-Fry Genius XL, which was actually the same price when new, for several years now and can see the benefit of an air fryer, but I’m not a natural cook and it took me a long time. time to feel confident using it.

Not a Masterchef? Neither do I. But it turns out you don’t actually have to be and somehow healthy, tasty meals come out in the end. Even my beige-food-loving kids have been converted. What surprised me the most the first time I used the Speedi was that I was able to whip up chicken, pasta and vegetables into a creamy sauce even though I had never used it before and without constantly having to go back and check it.

It took a few minutes to preheat the cooker to the correct temperature, but once it did it simultaneously steamed the pasta and vegetables in stock and creme fraiche in the bottom of my pot and air-fried and baked the chicken, liberally coated in Nando’s lemon and herb rub to keeping my kids happy, sat on top of the pasta on a small metal coaster.

Just 18 minutes after I pressed start, I was dishing up the meal and not only was there minimal food – you didn’t remember to get up after ten minutes to flip things or throw vegetables in the microwave – but every element was perfectly cooked.

The pasta still had the right amount of bite, while the chicken was both pleasantly crispy but also much more moist than when I cooked it in the oven. The kids both ate loads, while I was delighted that the pot and trivet used for cooking could go straight into the dishwasher once cooled.

After that I was able to throw together new combinations every night that followed and all were easy to make, perfectly cooked and the kind of family pleasers I usually only have time to cook on the weekends.

The biggest success so far has been pork belly topped with Five Spice on top and rice with sweet corn, green beans and peas on the bottom was a 14-minute Chinese feast that made my six-year-old son so giddy that he gave me four thumbs up when he was done – which it turns out means he’s sitting on the floor waving his toes in the air with glee.

Everything I’ve cooked so far has followed the format of protein at the top (salmon was a favorite with the adults and finished in just 8 minutes, new record and no fishy smell afterwards) and then carbs with liquid at the bottom, but as my confidence has built I want I branch out. Also, the Speedi hasn’t actually been put away since it arrived, despite making room for it in a cupboard.

I haven’t turned on my oven in over a week, which saves a lot of gas, we all eat much healthier, and my husband and I spend significantly less time in the evening cleaning the kitchen.

In Flanders house, it’s definitely four thumbs up all the way, with Ninja moving airfryer technology into a revolutionary new direction.

Ninja Speedi is out on £149.99 at Amazon, John Lewis and Lakeland. On the Ninja itself, it’s discounted down to £159.99 – and it comes with a stackable chopper.