This post was created in partnership with Ninja® Cooking System with Auto-iQ™. I received complimentary products and compensation to facilitate my review, but all opinions within are my own.
I have always been a fan of the old-fashioned slow cooker. You just pop all of the ingredients in the pot in the morning, press a few buttons and dinner is ready when you are.
The unfortunate problem is that some days I get so busy that I forget to put everything into my slow cooker. On those days, I wind up using the pressure cooker because I run out of time.
As much as I love my pressure cooker, there are just some things that don’t come out well in a pressure cooker, like boneless chicken and many vegetables. They need a more delicate touch.
So I was super curious to try out the Ninja® Cooking System with Auto-iQ™. It’s a new multi cooker that has been saving my life the last couple of weeks!
While it is a slow cooker too, it’s also so much more. The Ninja® Cooking System with Auto-iQ™ is actually four appliances built into one a slow cooker. It can be used like a stove top for searing and sautéing, a steamer and an oven for baking.
I love that it can do so many different things. Often times, multi cookers do one thing awesome and a few things okay. So far everything I have tried in my Ninja Cooking System has been great.
One of the reasons it works so well compared to traditional slow cookers (which typically only heat from the side), is that Ninja’s Triple Fusion Heat® brings bottom, side and steam heat together for easy one-pot meals.
I love the cookbook that comes with the Ninja Cooking System. It’s full of slow cooker recipes as well as recipes that let you literally throw a bunch of ingredients in the pot, push a couple buttons and have dinner ready 30 minutes later.
Unlike many recipe books I’ve received with kitchen gadgets, this one is simple and easy to use. My 9- and 7-year old daughters have been having a blast experimenting with the recipe book. They can cook an entire meal without the need to light a fire. I love it.
The reason these recipes are so easy to throw together is because of the built in Auto-iQ™ Technology, which features more than 80 pre-programmed recipes (featured in the cookbook). You can choose from quick meals, layered bowls, poached infusions and grains.
My girls cooked the Mexican Bean Casserole without very much direction at all. They added their own little twist to the recipe by putting spiralized zucchini on top and using fresh (instead of canned) tomatoes. It was delish!
I have a tendency to forget to eat breakfast. We’re having chilly mornings (even though the afternoons are still very warm), so I enjoy a warm breakfast. However, finding time to stand in front of the stove in the morning is almost an impossible challenge these days.
Once I discovered that you could make oatmeal in the Ninja Cooking System with Auto-iQ, I had to try it. You just add the water and oats according the directions, press a few buttons and when it beeps, your breakfast is ready. Next time I’ll probably add a bit more water as I like my oatmeal a bit thinner, but this was really hearty like baked oatmeal!
We also made the Chicken Tikka Masala from the cookbook. We paired it with rice and it made a great dinner. All we had to do was add the ingredients to the pot, put the lid on, press a few buttons and dinner was ready 30 minutes later.
While I do enjoy cooking long, labor-intensive meals, sometimes I just don’t have the time. I am finding that the Ninja Cooking System is making that process so much quicker! Some of the recipes would lend themselves well to freezer meals also, so I think that would be a neat area to explore next.
Another thing I’ve always been intimidated to try is poaching eggs. It just seems like such a fragile process!
Seeing that the Ninja Cooking System with Auto-iQ has a program for poaching eggs makes it feel a lot less intimidating to me. It’s definitely next on my list of functions to try out!
I’m also excited to try baking bread and steaming seafood. And the Layered Bowls function looks neat too. It uses 2-step recipes that use the stovetop function to sear proteins and build layers of flavor before cooking to perfection.
If you’re low on time, but love serving your family delicious, home cooked meals every night, check out the Ninja® Cooking System with Auto-iQ™. For additional recipe and usage inspiration, as well as information on where to buy, visit www.ninjakitchen.com.
