I have three nephews who love chips, so I decided to explore the world of air fryers, since air fryers make food with much less fat than a deep fryer. I didn’t want to spend more than £100, so started looking at the cheaper end of the market. I combed through online reviews, asked friends and family (about two thirds of them have an air fryer on this list) and then narrowed it down to a handful, including the one I eventually opted for – and it’s great!
Air fryer technology has improved in recent years, and prices have come down, so it’s now possible to get a good, all-round and reliable air fryer for under £100. Here’s the shortlist:
Best air fryer under £100: Tefal Actifry Traditional 1kg
Best for: Larger quantities of food and good all-rounder
This is the one I decided on out of this list. The Tefal Actifry Traditional (click to check the current price on Amazon) is the biggest air fryer you can get for under £100 because it’s on sale for less than half price at the moment. This air fryer easily cooks for two or three people for main courses, and four people for sides like chips – or in my case, three ravenous kids and me.
The problem with many of the cheaper air fryers is that they are so small and only do a couple of portions at a time. This is fine if you’re using it for yourself or as a couple, but if you’re trying to prepare food for a whole family, it’s no use having multiple frying sessions.
This is the air fryer I own and I’m very pleased with it. Tefal are a well-established and trusted name in the kitchen market, so you’ll have no problem contacting their customer services or sourcing parts should you need them. It runs at 1400 watts so cooks almost anything. Considering the number of features coming from a big-name brand, this was inexpensive for a decent machine. The pros and cons are:
Pros:
- Removable timer so you can leave the room and still know when the food is ready
- Built in stirrer so you don’t need to shake or move the food to get it evenly browned
- Only need 1 tbsp oil to make a whole kilo batch of chips
- Comes with an app that has a couple of hundred recipes on it
- Pan, lid and stirring paddle are all dishwasher safe
- No frying cooking smells – it’s all enclosed
Cons:
- Probably too small for a main-course option for a family of four all at once (but great for sides, such as chips or snacks)
- Can get noisy because of the stirring mechanism
- No auto-stop, even when the alarm goes off – you still have to turn it off manually
Overall if you’re mostly making chips for 3-4 people (or two adults and two kids), this will do the job nicely and make crispy chips with surprisingly little oil.
If you want different features or colours (or want to spend even less), here are the other air fryers listed below that made my shortlist. They are all inexpensive and cost less than £100 new.
Tower T17023 Compact Air Fryer
Best for: Lowest budget cheapest option
The Tower T17023 Air Fryer isn’t just in the sub-£100 bracket, it’s under £50! Click to check its current price on Amazon. It has good reviews across the board and many people are happy with this cheap and cheerful fryer. It’s 1000 watts, so may take a little longer than some fryers to cook food from raw.
A friend of mine who has one says chips take about 20 minutes. The temperature control runs from 80 to 200c, which is good for most types of cookery. Having looked at what real users have said:
Pros:
- Extremely cheap (sub £50)
- Simple and straightforward to use
- Good reviews from existing users
- 3-year manufacturer’s guarantee (only cover the electrics)
- Compact for smaller kitchen spaces (dimensions are H29 W20, D26cm)
Cons:
- Quite small – only has a 2.2l capacity. Only big enough for one person, or two people if you’re making smaller portions and/or just a side like chips.
- No oil compartments – you have to spray or coat the food beforehand
- The basket says it’s dishwasher safe but some people have had problems with this and have opted to wash it by hand
- No stirrer or mechanism to move the food around for even cooking
- Mechanical timers rather than digital ones, so less precision
COSORI Air Fryer 3.5L/1500W
Best for: Cooking a wide variety of food healthily
I nearly went for the Cosori (click to check the current price on Amazon) because it has so many positive reviews – at the time of writing I think the reviews were something like 99% positive, which is unusual for any domestic appliance. However, I knew I was pretty much only going to be cooking chips, whereas if you’re more interested in cooking different kinds of foods, the Cosori is probably the best choice.
Its 3.5l capacity makes it best for cooking for two people, or three when you’re making side dishes or snacks like chicken wings. It has eleven settings for different foods, so you can just set it and go without having to work out timings or temperatures. It’s a good mid-range model to do what most air fryers should do:
Pros:
- 11 settings for all kinds of food (e.g. steak, chicken, seafood, even cake!)
- Temperature is very adjustable to within 10c, so you can precision-control it
- Fully digital with overheating protection and an automatic shut-off feature
- Overwhelmingly good reviews from existing users
- Pot and basket are both dishwasher safe
Cons:
- Not quite big enough for a family of four (more like 2-3 people)
- Has a bigger learning curve to start using – a bit complicated at first
- Fan can be noisy when in operation
Pro Breeze 4.2L Air Fryer 1400
Best for: Great mid-range priced fryer with all the options
The Pro Breeze (click to check the price on Amazon) is a good all-rounder – it’s digital rather than manual, has several pre-settings for different foods and has a 4.2 capacity. It’s claimed this is big enough for a family but I’d say that depends on appetite – the marketing images show you being able to get six to eight large chicken wings in the eight-inch diameter basket in one layer, or a small whole chicken. That ought to give you the idea of size and whether this is big enough for your needs.
Reviews are really good – people find this fryer easy to use and easy to clean. I’d say if you were a couple, or couple with one young child looking to air-fry a whole meal in half an hour, this is probably the best one to choose.
Pros:
- Has all the features you’d want in an air fryer at a budget price
- Super-hot air cyclone technology means you can crisp up some foods like chicken
- Has an auto switch-off after programming a time
- Several settings for different foods
Cons:
- Have to manually stir or shake the food for even cooking – some users report trouble with uneven cooking
- May be too small for a family with older kids
- One single basket so can’t divide it up for different food cooking at the same time
Duronic Air Fryer AF1 /B 1500W Multicooker Mini Oven
Best for: More ambitious cooks, and baking like an oven
If you’re looking for an air fryer that also doubles as a ‘mini oven’, then the Duronic Air Fryer (click to check the price on Amazon) seems to be a favourite among home bakers. I’ve seen people making cakes, scones and even doughnuts with this air fryer – I found it hard to imagine doughnuts without a deep fryer but it is indeed possible.
The basket and drawer combination means that you can put single items in it like you would a baking tray. It has a precise temperature control and comes with a free cookbook as well. Another good factor is that this machine has a ‘cool touch’, so no matter how hot the internal temperature gets, the outside stays cool, which is a nice safety feature.
Prices for the Duronic usually over around the £70 mark. It has a 4.6l capacity, good enough for cooking for two or three (or batches of scones, chips and so on).
Pros:
- You can cook all sorts in this fryer, treating it like a ‘mini oven’
- Comes in black of white to suit your kitchen décor
- Cool-touch technology means it stays cool on the outside while hot inside
- Precision temperature control
- Comes with a free cookbook and several recipes
- 2 Year warranty is longer than some other manufacturers
Cons:
- Does not stir the food automatically
- 4.6l capacity may be too compact for some people’s needs
- You still have to spray or add oil manually for certain types of food
Are there cheap, big family sized air fryers under £100?
As you will have noticed, many of the air fryers under £100 tend to be on the smaller side. Although prices are coming down, at the moment you’ll need to pay a bit more if you want a large, family-sized air fryer that can do the job for four or more hungry people all at once.
There are two XL air fryers under £150 and £200 respectively (or even less if Amazon are running a voucher promotion) that are great for families. These are:
VPCOK 8-in1 XXXL Air Fryer
This is usually under £150 (click to check the current price on Amazon), possibly because it’s not a well-known brand, but the reviews are still really good. It can go up to 240c, higher than other fryers, making things such as skewered foods and roasts possible, as you would in a very hot oven.
It comes with a load of accessories that further demonstrate what it’s able to do – for example, you get skewers and two chicken forks to cook a whole chicken rotisserie style, plus five other items to cook various different foods.
Pros:
- Easily large enough for four or more in a family
- It’s built so that you can see the food inside, so no need to open it up to check progress
- You can add oil or sauce during cooking (e.g. barbecue sauce)
- Seven different accessories for all kinds of food
- Rotates the food automatically for even cooking
- Easy to use digital interface
Cons:
- Not a hugely well-known brand (yet)
- It’s a big appliance, measuring 436(W) x 335(D) x 321(H)cm so check that you have the space for it in your kitchen
- Might be difficult to source parts (but only if they need replacement)
Tefal AH950040 ActiFry Express XL 1.7kg
This has the same concept of the Tefal Actifry listed above which is smaller and cheaper (and under £100), but this one claims to be able to serve eight people, with a 1.7kg capacity. You could therefore air-fry food for a whole dinner party, kids party or other big event quite easily!
It usually costs under £250 (click to check the price on Amazon) and since Tefal is a trusted name, it comes in more than one colour, customer service is good and spare parts are easy to get hold of.
Pros:
- Much the same as the smaller version, it automatically stirs the food for even cooking
- Choice of colours (you can get a white one, which may suit some kitchens better)
- Will easily cook for 6-8 hungry people, or several children
- Easy to use, comes with an app with 250+ recipes
- Easy to clean with many parts dishwasher safe
Cons:
- If you run it at full capacity, it will take longer to cook things – for example, 1.5 kilos of chips take about 45 minutes, whereas in a smaller air fryer, it would be closer to 20 due to the difference in volume.
- Can be noisy due to the stirring mechanism
- IS a big appliance – check there’s room for it in your kitchen (it measures 48 x 38 x 29 cm)
Air Fryer Deals and Vouchers
If you’re more budget-minded and don’t mind waiting before buying your air fryer, check the above listings for an “Amazon voucher” deal. This will be highlighted in green or orange near the price, and can get you up to an additional £20 off some models, making them even cheaper.
Here’s an example below where I’ve highlighted the voucher box in red – tick it and you’ll automatically get the discount at checkout:
Most items are delivered free within the UK, but remember to check delivery times and costs. Some of the cheaper air fryers come directly from their country of manufacture (usually China) so they may take longer to reach you than you would expect. If it’s an urgent purchase or a gift, double check the dispatch and expected arrival time on the cheaper air fryers.
Adding value to a cheap air fryer
If you’ve managed to get an air fryer for under £100, then there’s a clever way of making it do more and getting more value for money, by buying a generic accessories kit for your size of air fryer.
Many cheap air fryers only come with the basic basket or drawer for cooking items in. This restricts what you’re able to do with it – you’ll be stuck with one type of food at a time, or an inability to bake or cook other items without the right accessories. Accessories kits exist for almost all sizes of air fryer, and these are measured by either the capacity or the dimensions of the cooking basket.
Kits typically include a cake barrel, pizza pan, a rack to raise items off the bottom and skewers for meat. They vary a little, but most come in at about £10-£20. Click to check the current selection on Amazon. If you’ve only paid £70 or less for your cheap air fryer then you can still make it into a versatile one that does more for under £100.
You can also pick up some really good air fryer cookbooks for around the fiver mark, too. Again, most of these only exist on Amazon (click to check). Combined with a cheap air fryer and accessories pack, you can get a lot more bang (or sizzle) for your money.
