Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer review by taste.com.au

Now this is how you air fry for a crowd. Check out this incredible hack by a mother raising 16 children.

Georgia Mahood

4 min read

March 9, 2024 - 5:00AM

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If there’s one thing most cooks agree on, it’s that the air fryer is one of the best inventions since sliced bread. From cheesy chicken sticks to banana muffins, there’s seriously nothing the air fryer can’t do.

But what about when you’re cooking for families bigger than average? Is it possible to air fry your favourite meals and snacks at scale?

Jeni Bonella’s air fryer ideas help her feed 16 children.

Meet the mum of 16 who LOVES air frying

The Bonell family is Australia’s biggest family, made up of mum Jeni, her husband, Ray, and their 16 children. Jeni loves the convenience of air frying, but – with her family’s meal requirements larger than most – she needs an air fryer that’s a bit more robust than your usual model.

That’s where the Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer comes in. It’s Ninja’s biggest air fryer yet, and Jeni says it’s “plenty big enough to feed the whole family”.

Yep, even for a family of 16.

The Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer has seven functions.

Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer: just how big is it?

If you’re familiar with Ninja products like the Dual Zone Air Fryer, you’ll know they’re great at solving the problem of cooking more than one dish at the same time, but the XXXL FlexDrawer really takes this up a level.

With its 10.4L capacity, this titan of air fryers is a roomy 2.8L bigger than the Dual Zone, making it ideal for Australia’s biggest family.

One of the standout features has to be the FlexDrawer, which includes a divider that creates two independent cooking zones (perfect for when the kids want different things to eat) that can fit up to a 2kg chicken. This divider can then be removed to create one extra-large 10.4L MegaZone, making it one of the few air fyers that can handle cooking larger foods and tray bakes.

The Dual Zone Technology means you can cook two different foods in two different ways – both finishing at the same time!

The Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer has seven functions – air fry, max crisp, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate, and prove – so it’s super easy to roast a chicken, bake a cake, or even rise pizza dough.

Jeni says: “The new family-sized Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L answers the biggest complaints Australians have about air fryers – and that’s capacity to cook. It can fit a whole chicken and 1.5kg of chips for a set and forget, affordable weeknight meal. Anything that can make life simpler during the school week is a win in my books.”

The Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer has a 10.4L capacity.

The best air fryer for feeding a crowd

With such a large cooking zone, Jeni can pick recipes that can be easily doubled, tripled or even quadrupled – like these air fryer sticky chicken bites.

These delicious morsels of chicken breast drenched in a sticky sauce make the perfect cheeky snack or a complete meal, served with a salad or potato (air-fried in the other cooking zone, of course!).

She’s also come up with her own breakfast hack for air fryer pancakes using just 3 ingredients – a genius idea to bookmark for your next camping trip.

Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer cooks enough food for a crowd.

Buy the new Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L

The Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer Air Fryer 10.4L can be purchased for $549 in-store and online at The Good Guys.

Jeni Bonell’s air fryer pancake recipe

Being a mum of 16 means you need to figure out new ways to make the classics in a more efficient manner. Jeni’s air fryer pancake recipe is a super simple recipe that uses a pancake shaker mix, milk, and bananas to add an extra serve of fruit in first thing in the morning.

Here’s the recipe by Ninja Kitchen x Jeni Bonell:

3-ingredient air fryer banana pancakes

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 8 minutes

Serving: Approximately 10 pancakes

Ingredients:

375g Pancake shaker mix

2 very ripe bananas (about 1 cup), mashed until smooth

2 cups milk

Cooking oil spray

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, combine the pancake shaker mix, mashed bananas, and milk. Whisk until smooth and well combined.
Set your Ninja XXXL FlexDrawer AirFryer to 160°C for about 3-5 minutes.
Remove the Megadrawer and line with baking paper to prevent batter sticking.
Place four silicone egg rings into the basket, evenly spaced and spray the inside of each egg ring with cooking oil spray.
Spoon approximately 1/4 cup of the pancake mixture into each silicone egg ring, filling them almost to the top.
Place the prepared Megadrawer into the air fryer and air fry the pancake rings at 160°C for about 8 minutes, or until they are cooked through and golden brown on the edges.
Carefully remove the pancake rings from the air fryer using tongs or a spatula.
Serve the banana pancake rings warm with your favourite toppings, such as maple syrup, fresh fruit, or a dusting of powdered sugar.