Yorkshire puddings on a Sunday have an almost ceremonial quality. British home cooks have been carrying out this ritual for generations: the batter must wait patiently on the counter, the oven must be blazing hot, and the oil must be smoking in the tin. This may be the reason why many people thought it was a little absurd to make them in a Ninja air fryer. After that, they gave it a try.
The short answer is that you can cook Yorkshire puddings in a Ninja air fryer and get really good results. Not a concession. Not a consolation prize for those who don’t have a suitable oven. It’s crisp on the outside, golden-edged, risen, and soft enough in the center for the gravy to pool in the well as it should. It’s possible that the air fryer’s vigorous hot air circulation produces conditions that are somewhat more similar to the initial high-heat environment of a wood-fired range than a contemporary fan oven can.
Preheating the Ninja to 200°C, filling pudding tins with beef dripping (or vegetable oil if you’re working without), and allowing the fat to get really hot before the batter gets close to it is the method that most home cooks have settled on. When the batter strikes the fat, that sizzle is crucial. If you miss it, you’ll have doughy, flat puddings that won’t improve with more cooking time. The batter itself is simple: whisk together one egg, plain flour, and semi-skimmed milk until smooth, then set aside for at least twenty minutes. It is necessary to take that resting step. It enables the batter to settle and the Yorkshire pudding to properly rise.
There’s a feeling that people thought air fryer Yorkshires would be a novelty, something to try once, post about, and then give up on when the actual Sunday roast arrived. That hasn’t occurred. With Ninja’s Foodi range and the FlexDrawer models, which provide enough internal space to fit small pudding tins on a trivet without everything toppling sideways during cooking, home cooks throughout the UK have subtly incorporated this into their weekly routine. People who follow the BBC Good Food recipe, which calls for four separate heatproof molds, have consistently reported that the puddings are puffed up, golden, and cooked through after about twelve to fifteen minutes.
Depending on whether you’re using individual molds or a single baking tin, the cooking time varies slightly. After the fat has been heated, individual puddings (the kind you’d serve one per person alongside a roast) take about ten minutes to cook, followed by a flip and an additional five minutes. If you’re using the BBC Food method, which omits the preheat of the oil because an empty tin moving around in the air fryer is its own kind of problem, a single large Yorkshire in a tin requires closer to eighteen minutes at 180°C. The fact that both approaches are effective is telling in and of itself.
The question of flour comes up more often than you might think. It turns out that self-raising flour is a mistake. When people test it, they report that the puddings rise violently before collapsing into something heavy and dense with a subtle egg flavor. Just plain flour. Speaking of eggs, one is sufficient. Instead of having the light, open structure that a Yorkshire pudding should have, the temptation to add a second or third egg for extra richness usually results in a doughy, undercooked center.
Dripping beef is still the best. The subtle savouriness that makes a Yorkshire pudding taste like it belongs next to a rib of beef rather than just any old roast is simply unmatched by any fat. However, vegetable oil is sufficient for a weeknight version or for anyone cooking without meat products, and goose fat is a completely acceptable alternative. As long as the fat is hot before the batter arrives, the Ninja doesn’t seem to care which one you use.
It’s difficult to ignore how important this is to people. In British cooking, Yorkshire puddings have an emotional significance that is out of proportion to their four ingredients. It feels like a success to get them right, regardless of the cooking technique. It feels a little more than that to get them perfectly in an air fryer in less than 30 minutes without the need for an oven. It’s still unclear if the Ninja can completely replace the oven for a Sunday roast. However, the answer appears to be clear for the puddings themselves.
FAQs
1. Can you really cook Yorkshire puddings in a Ninja air fryer?
Yes, they come out golden, risen, and properly crisp.
2. What temperature should you use for air fryer Yorkshire puddings?
Cook at 200°C for best results.
3. Does the batter need to rest before cooking?
Yes, rest it for at least twenty minutes.
4. Can you use vegetable oil instead of beef dripping?
Yes, though beef dripping produces noticeably better flavour.
5. How long do Yorkshire puddings take in a Ninja air fryer?
Approximately 25 minutes, including preheating the fat.
