Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer review: It's pricey, but it's our favorite air fryer we've tested

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When I first started testing the best air fryers for Insider 5 years ago, I thought they were a gimmick. However, after extensive testing, I've been convinced: air fryers do a better job of browning food and cook quicker than toaster ovens. And no air fryer exemplifies this more than the Instant Vortex Plus.

From the same makers of the Instant Pot, the Instant Vortex Plus is packed full of useful features: a basket window that lets you monitor your food, an air filter that blocks out odors, a dehydration mode, and more. Best of all, it cooked food the fastest in our tests, producing delicious results in minutes. Here's our full Instant Pot Vortex Plus review.

Design and setup

I like to see if I can use air fryers without referencing the instructions, and I got the Instant Vortex Plus up and running without the manual. You just choose the function you want: air fry, roast, bake, reheat, broil, or dehydrate. Then, adjust the time and temperature using the temp/time button and dial, and press start. 

Once started, the air fryer enters preheat mode for 3 to 4 minutes, at which point it beeps at you to add food. I found preheating unnecessary — I put the food in and started cooking right away, subtracting 3 minutes from my cooking time since the timer doesn't count down until after the unit preheats.

My favorite feature of the Instant Vortex Plus is the window in the basket. Unlike most pod-style air fryers, you don't have to open the basket and let heat escape to check if your food is done. On the Instant Vortex Plus, you can just press the light button and look through the window. It combines the visibility of a toaster oven with the efficiency of a pod air fryer.

Cooking with the Vortex Plus

I tossed a pound of frozen french fries at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The average cook time in my best air fryer tests was 12.5 minutes, but the Instant Vortex Plus only needed 8 minutes to produce golden and crispy fries. The fries were evenly cooked and tasted great, not too dry and not too limp. 

Overall, the air fryers I tested didn't do a good job of making fresh-cut fries. Most units took at least 20 minutes and produced a mix of burnt and underdone fries. The Instant Vortex Plus baked the fries in 14 minutes at 375 degrees, and while some fries were crispier than others, it was among the best at cooking evenly. The texture was also better in the Vortex Plus: not too dry or soggy.

The third performance test I put all air fryers through is cooking a one-pound batch of fresh broccoli. In 8 minutes, the Instant Vortex Plus produced tender broccoli with lightly browned florets that tasted great. None of the air fryers I tested cooked faster. However, the air fryer struggled to cook the broccoli evenly, performing in the middle of the pack during testing. It could have been more even, but my family still gobbled the batch up.

Cleaning

While the basket and crisper plate are dishwasher-safe, I preferred to wash the basket by hand. The basket takes up a lot of real estate in the washer — the nonstick coating releases debris with ease, so it was easy to clean with a sponge. Plus, you can use silicone air fryer liners to almost eliminate the need to wash it altogether. 

The crisper plate's airflow slots trapped debris and needed a firmer scrub. Fortunately, a wash cycle in the dishwasher got the job done, and it only takes up the space of a dinner plate.

Air filter

One of the main reasons I like air fryers is they do a great job of reheating leftovers, even better than a microwave. The Instant Vortex Plus has a reheat mode that cooks food at 280 degrees for 10 minutes. I'd put in a slice or two of leftover pizza, and well before the 10 minutes were up, the pizza was ready and just as tasty as when I purchased it.

The Instant Vortex Plus features a replaceable air filter designed to remove odors. To test this, I ran the air fryer until it burned bacon-topped deviled eggs placed in a silicone liner. The filter didn't completely remove the odors, but I could smell it much less than when I cook items in other air fryers.

Who should buy the Instant Vortex Plus?

A price tag of $160 is a little steep, but this is the best air fryer. It fries food quickly, has multiple cooking settings, and features an effective odor filter. 

Another great option is our best budget air fryer pick, the Beautiful 6 Quart Touchscreen Air Fryer by Drew Barrymore. It's half the price and was runner-up in our air fryer testing. It doesn't have a window in the basket, an air filter, or dehydration function, but it's an excellent value and performs basic air frying with ease.

The bottom line

Based on my testing, the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer is the best to cook food evenly and quickly. The window in the basket takes the guesswork out of knowing when your food is ready, and cleanup is a snap. If you can afford the hefty price tag, this is the air fryer to get.

Pros: Keeps food moist and heats evenly, cooks quickly, the basket features a window for easy food viewing, the crisper plate and basket are dishwasher safe, intuitive controls, air filter helps contain odors

Cons: Takes up a lot of space in the dishwasher, unnecessary preheat cycle