You've probably heard about air fryers from your friends or seen better-for-you air fryer recipes across Pinterest, but if you're like me, you may be a bit skeptical about adding yet another snazzy appliance to your kitchen. The ever-growing cooking gadget market—the likes of Instant Pots, rice cookers, and spiralizers—all promise to make our lives easier and healthier. However, I've found that most have ended up collecting dust in the back of my pantry—except for this one.

The Dash "Tasti-Crisp" air fryer has become my new go-to for cooking quick and healthy meals at home. The two-quart, nonstick appliance makes it incredibly easy to prepare proteins and veggies (both fresh or frozen) in just a few minutes without caloric oils or extra grease. And given the huge and pricey air fryer assortment available, this simple and compact one is a steal at just $60.

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To buy: $60; amazon.com

While I love to make homemade meals on the weekends and bake big batches of sweets for my friends, cooking weeknight dinners is not my thing. After working all day, I'm usually ready to chow down as soon as possible, so if I can't make it in 15 minutes or less, then I'm not having it for dinner. And that's exactly why I've been using this air fryer almost every day.

To my surprise, it roasts vegetables, cooks meat, bakes bread, and heats up my favorite Trader Joe's frozen foods just as well as my oven, but in a fraction of the time. And thanks to its nifty design, which circulates super hot air at high speeds, I'm able to prepare tons of food with less oil—and in many cases, none at all. The sleek machine serves up perfectly crisp Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots without olive oil in less than 15 minutes. A little sprinkle of salt or squeeze of fresh lemon juice is usually all I need.

And I'm not the only one who loves it. The inexpensive air fryer, which owners call "amazing," "super easy," and "magic," has earned an impressive 4.6-star rating from Amazon shoppers on top of hundreds of perfect reviews.

"It's extremely intuitive and difficult to mess up," one reviewer wrote. "In nine minutes, I had perfect, crispy, sweet potatoes that would have taken maybe 40 minutes in an oven! With such a busy work schedule, I can get food cooked more efficiently now and that alone is worth the purchase. And now for the real kicker—you can achieve the same results with the air fryer all while using less oil. All in all, this product really surprised me in a good way and I'm so happy I took a chance on it."

Those looking for something larger than this two-quart design, which is perfect for making side dishes or small meals for one or two people, should check Dash's six-quart deluxe air fryer. The larger appliance is ideal for families and can fit an entire chicken in its fryer basket. Both models are easy to clean, too, requiring just a quick wipe down (or you can put the removable basket in the dishwasher).

Given the recent surge in home cooking, this little air fryer may just be the best gadget I've added to my kitchen all year. It's already saved me tons of time and effort and become a part of my daily cooking routine, so trust me, this is one snazzy appliance that lives up to the hype.

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