As you all know by now – I LOVE my Ninja dual air fryer and try to make everything possible in it. With Christmas coming up, I know I’m not the only one thinking about how to make the most of it on the big day – so I’ve been testing our Christmas dinners for two in it, and have landed on what seems to be the sweet spot for both time and ease!
As the centrepiece of any Christmas dinner is often the meat – you’ll need to make this recipe your own and work it out on the size and type of meat you’re cooking, I use a small piece of prepared Turkey for mine – but have also done beef before, too.
If you’re unsure about doing the meat in your Ninja, or are making a bigger piece of meat, I’d recommend doing it in the oven as usual and making the most of your Ninja dual air fryer for the sides.
For my Christmas dinner for two – I’ve included roast turkey, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, sprouts, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, cranberry sauce and gravy. I also add some shop-bought Yorkshire puddings in the final 2 mins (you can do this with pre-made homemade ones too, or make some in the oven if you’d like. If I was taking the easy route and wanted to add mashed potato, I’d buy a nice quality microwave one for two. I’m really happy with this dinner and it’s how we’ll be cooking on the day.
I have also written up some recipes for just sides for Christmas dinner, too which you can find here:
- BEST Roast Potatoes in the Ninja Dual Air Fryer
- Sprouts With Pigs in Blankets | Ninja Dual Air Fryer
How to make a full Christmas roast dinner for two in the Ninja Dual Air Fryer
Scroll down for full recipe card and printable ingredient list,.
Remember – for this type of meal, not everything has to be ready at exactly the same time, aim to have your meat ready a bit earlier so it can rest and be sliced without rushing, and this also relieves some pressure. And again, if your pigs in blankets or roasts are ready a bit earlier, that’s fine – it’ll keep warm for a while – just try to remove it from the drawers so it doesn’t go soft with the residual heat.
1. Here are the ingredients I’m using (I forgot to photograph the Yorkshire puddings, but these were just shop bought ones)
2. I begin the cooking with my turkey – I kept it in the foil tray it came in, but crumpled the side so it fit in the drawer sideways (as i’ll be using the little bit more drawer for some veggies shortly). I put this on to cook and take a note of the time (bake mode).
3. Then, I cut my potatoes into roast potato sizes (using 2-3 potatoes), then add into boiling salted water to soften for 5 minutes
4. Whilst they’re cooking, I prep the rest of the veg – so, trim the base of the sprouts off and peel outer leaves, then peel and cut the parsnips and carrots
5. Once your potatoes have softened, drain them of water and shake them in a collander to fluff up the edges
6. Then, place the potatoes into the second drawer (remove the crisper tray so this is just an empty, clean drawer), along with your prepared carrots and parsnips and a generous amount of either oil, beef dripping (my favourite), or goose fat.
7. Give it all a good shake, then cook this on ‘air fry’ mode for 30 minutes, as the drawer is quite full and the veg layered, shake it properly after 15 minutes (giving it a really good toss to move everything around). Don’t be too worried about the crowding, as long as you have enough oil in there, it’ll all crisp up – just takes a little longer than normal.
8. Then, add the sprouts, pigs in blankets ansd stuffing balls into the space left in the first drawer – take a note of how long you have left to cook your meat, close the drawer and continue the cooking
9. Once the meat is cooked, remove it – then shake the drawer to allow the sprouts, stuffing and pigs in blankets to have a bit more room – cook for a few more moments or until they’re all done
10. Whilst the veg is cooking for it’s final moments, allow your meat to rest then cut it into pieces
11. Make a gravy with any meat juices (whichever method you usually use, and if you usually just use gravy granules or shop bought – make sure to add your meat juices into this)
12. Keep an eye on your potato, parsnips and carrots – keep cooking until you’re happy they’re cooked to your liking. You can add a little drizzle of honey too if you’d like!
13. If you’d like to serve with Yorkshire puddings (I used shop bought ones), add these ontop of the veg and cook on ‘bake’ for 2 minutes
14. And that was my full dinner! I served it with some cranberry sauce (shop bought) and really enjoyed this!
