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 While I love the flavor our outside grill produces, I seriously dislike the upkeep. And in the winter, I yearn for a way to prepare juicy chicken with beautiful grill marks without freezing my butt off in the frigid Canadian cold. Enter the Ninja Foodi Smart XL Pro Grill: an indoor, electric-powered grill and griddle that claims to give you the same deep char as a traditional gas grill (and air fry and dehydrate, to boot). After using the Ninja Foodi Pro Grill for almost two months now, I'm pretty confident that my time on the outdoor grill may soon see its end. I'm ready to grill year-round with this handy kitchen gadget. DesignThe control panel is easy to operate without looking at the user manual. Steph Coelho/InsiderThe first thing I noticed when unpacking the Ninja grill is how big it is. The bulky unit has a rectangular base and a dome-shaped top, providing 12 inches of cooktop space. It has seven cooking functions, including:
The intuitive control panel features a backlit display, a dial, and several buttons to customize your cooking experience. The grill also comes with a smart thermometer you can use to track the temperature of your food as it cooks. It nestles into the side of the grill when not in use. The device has a few accessories, including a crisper basket for air frying, a flat-top griddle, and a grill grate. The grill grate clicks right into the unit base and heats up incredibly quickly. The other two accessories are designed to sit on top of the grill grates. All of the accessories are dishwasher safe. Cooking with the grillThe grill marks from the Foodi rival those from my outdoor grill. Steph Coelho/InsiderArguably the best feature of this grill is the Smart Cook System. I'm a pretty good cook, but I hate babysitting meat unless it's a Saturday evening and I have nowhere to be. The Smart Cook System lets you put the thermometer in a piece of meat you're cooking, input the type of meat and the desired doneness, and then the grill will shut off and alert you when the food is ready. It lets me cook a nice cut of meat without worrying about under or overcooking it while I tend to side dishes. Every time I cooked steak on the Ninja smart grill, it came out a perfect medium-rare (my personal preference). I loved being able to flit around the kitchen to focus on other tasks — making mashed potatoes, simmering peas, preparing a mushroom sauce — while the Ninja did the work of keeping tabs on the protein. The air frying mode also delivers in terms of performance. It produced ultra-crispy fries twice over and was incredibly easy to clean afterward. There's enough room in the fryer basket to cook up to two pounds of food. Steak made using the Ninja Foodi Grill. Steph Coelho/InsiderI used some of the other settings less frequently than the grill or air fryer mode, but they performed equally well. I used the griddle once to quickly cook up thinly sliced beef for rice bowls and it worked like a charm, though I preferred using the grill because it's securely locked into place. The griddle accessory sits on top of the grill grates and while it's fairly secure, it does move around slightly. I also used the broiling setting to melt Havarti cheese on subs for dinner one night. The results were similar to using my oven's broiler. Though I missed having a window to peep inside and make sure nothing was burning, it was easy enough to pop open the lid. The roasting setting helped me cook a juicy pork tenderloin. This setting works much like the oven, but the benefit of the Ninja is that preheating is much quicker and you can keep tabs on meat temperature with the smart thermometer. My full-size oven actually has a built-in thermometer, but there's no way to select a target temperature. Another dinner pulled together with the Ninja Foodi grill. Steph Coelho/InsiderI didn't use the dehydrating or baking functions but I suspect they work just as well. And just having five easy-to-use, go-to cooking functions offers plenty of value in my mind. Another benefit of using the Ninja grill is that despite reaching high temps, it doesn't produce clouds of smoke — something that seems to happen frequently when I cook on the stovetop. And virtually nothing gets stuck to the grill thanks to its slippery ceramic nonstick coating. You can cook with the lid open or closed. The included guide provides you with guidance on when to shut or open it. Cons to considerThis smart indoor grill is an excellent kitchen accessory, but it's hard to ignore how bulky it is. It's not a device for tiny kitchens or those lacking storage space. Unless you plan to keep it on your counter, I can imagine that some people would hate dragging it in and out of storage. But while it's cumbersome, I personally think it's worth the square footage it takes up. Ninja's marketing also boasts about a spacious cooking surface that can accommodate up to six steaks. But, the cooktop is smaller than I expected for such a large device. It works well when cooking for two, but I suspect things will get a bit crowded if you try to cook for a crowd of more than four people. What are your alternatives?Other indoor grilling options include:
However, the Ninja Foodi Indoor Grill is unique in its design compared to other options. Most indoor grills are built more like a panini press where you sandwich the meat between two heated plates. The Ninja's design is more akin to a traditional outdoor grill; it has a lid, but only one cooking surface. I think this design provides more control over cooking and a more authentic grilling experience. The Ninja also has a plethora of other settings, like air frying and dehydrating, that you don't typically find in other indoor grills. The bottom lineIf you have the space, the Ninja Foodi XL Pro Indoor Grill is a great buy. It performs all its functions well enough that it really does act as a seven-in-one cooking device. Toss out that air fryer, toaster oven, and dehydrator because this UFO-looking grill can do it all — and by paring down on gadgets, you'll have more room for this versatile cooking behemoth. Pros: Smokeless operation, guided cooking using the smart thermometer, seven easy-to-use cook modes, grill or griddle with the lid open or closed, quick preheating Cons: Heavy and difficult to store
Steph Coelho Freelance Writer Steph Coelho is a freelance writer and homebody with a passion for home and kitchen goods. She's always on the hunt for the best home and kitchen gadgets and is determined to help people sort the treasure from the trash. As someone who works from home 365 days a year, she's well versed in how to make a space feel cozy and comfortable for every activity on her to-do list. Steph is currently based in the Montreal area, where she lives in a 70s-style bungalow with her husband, two dogs, and a parrot named Felix. Say hello at or @seestephrunmtl on Twitter and @frontyardharvest on Instagram Read more Read less Is Ninja Foodi Smart XL worth it?Price: A quality investment
The Ninja Foodi retails around $280, which is more than reasonable for a kitchen appliance with so many high-performing functions. Even if grilling was the only feature, it does it so well that I'd still think it was worth the price.
What is the difference between the Ninja Foodi grill and the XL?The functions of the Ninja Foodi XL Smart Indoor Grill are the same with one exception. The XL Smart Grill has an added function of Broil. *Temperatures in Celsius are approximate, I do not have the model that shows the degrees in Celsius so I do not know the exact temperature settings that Ninja set for the features.
Can you grill and Air Fryer at the same time with the Ninja Foodi XL?No this Ninja Foodi Grill steak and potatoes isn't all cooked at the same time, that isn't possible. You will need to use the air fryer function, and then grill your meat. I suggest air frying potatoes first because they will stay warm longer and take the longest to cook.
What does the Ninja Foodi 6 in 1 do?6 VERSATILE COOKING FUNCTIONS: Grill, Air Crisp, Roast, Bake, Broil, and Dehydrate functions enabled by the wide temperature range. UP TO 75% LESS FAT: Air fry crisp with up to 75% less fat than deep-frying (tested against hand-cut, deep-fried French fries), using the included 4-qt. crisper basket.
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Ninja foodi 6 in 1 smart xl indoor grill with air fryer
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