Delicious roast beef and all the trimmings made easy by air frying them in the Ninja Crispi. Crispy roast potatoes and parsnips that are fluffy on the inside, vegetables and gravy, of course. Perfect for an easy Sunday Roast or, of course, Christmas dinner!
Okay so this is not purely a Ninja Crispi roast dinner as we need to use the hob to parboil some of the vegetables, but as close as it gets! In fact, if you want us to strip it back and post a recipe with only the Ninja Crispi part, i.e. only the roast beef, potatoes and parsnips, just let us know, although even those also use the hob to parboil which is key for the inner fluffiness of the root vegetables.
The Feisty Helper was in charge of this one, I (Maria) was in charge of initial instructions, resting, eating and mostly was banished from the kitchen (Traitor or Faithful though???). I was on hand on the sofa to answer any questions, lying down fully flat so that my Visible armband couldn't tell me off for overdoing it (blasted thing!).
The Feisty Helper even took the photos and videos and did the washing up, then chilled the leftovers for T and me to have a couple of days later! Then still wrote down the steps for me to revise. So big thank you.
This has now been cooked twice to test it and having seen it in action the second time, I reckon it's ready to publish so here we go. By the way, I've highlighted in bold the things that help me understand written steps better just in case they help you too, let me know if they do!
Jump to:
- 📖 Recipe
- Tips for the Beef Joint
- How to cook this in your Air Fryer if you don't have a Ninja Crispi
- Is the Ninja Crispi good as an air fryer?
- Other ways to air fry your Sunday Roast or Christmas Dinner
- Want to pressure cook your vegetables?
- Our biggest tips for pacing this recipe
- Join our Air Fryer Community on Facebook
📖 Recipe
Ninja Crispi Roast Beef Dinner
Equipment
- 1 Ninja Crispi Air Fryer check out below the recipe card for instructions for other air fryers
Ingredients
- 1 kg floury potatoes like Maris Piper or King Edward peeled weight was 850 g
- 2 parsnips 100 g
- 210 g Brussels sprouts optional, we won't make you eat them if you don't like them
- 1 head broccoli or tender stem broccoli
- 1 cube OXO Beef Stock
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 600 g beef joint this one was a beef joint from the Co-Op that comes with a beef stock basting butter but it can be a simple beef joint and you can, if you want, add some butter to the top but you can just season it with salt, pepper and mixed herbs too
- 4 Yorkshire Puddings shop-bought to make life easier
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Gravy
- Gravy Granules don't ask, life is what it is and there's zero shame, follow the instructions in the tub. We used Bisto
- 1 cube OXO Beef Stock
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables: peel and chop the potatoes and parsnips into medium size chunks, wash and remove any discoloured leaves from the Brussels Sprouts, chop the Broccoli into bite-size pieces.
- Place the potatoes and parsnips into a big saucepan with plenty of cold water, bring to the boil then parboil for 10 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and parsnips and, while still in the pan season with salt, pepper and one crumbled beef OXO cube. Add approximately 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, put the lid on the saucepan and shake until all surfaces of the potatoes and parsnips are coated.
- Place the beef joint into the centre of the large glass container of the Ninja Crispi.
- Fill the remaining space in the Crispi with the potatoes and parsnips. Don't worry too much about overfilling as everything will shrink slightly during cooking.
- Cook on Roast setting for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on how well done you want your beef. With a thermometer check the temperature of the centre of the beef after 30 minutes, if it's between 48 and 52º C (if you're in the United States, in Fahrenheit that is between 118.4 and 125.6 F) , it's perfect for rare and so on.
- When the beef is done, take it out to rest. Spread out the potatoes and parsnips in the Crispi and cook on Roast for 5 to 10 more minutes depending on how crispy you want them.
- Put your Brussels Sprouts into a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. You can always steam them in the Always Pan, which we love for steaming vegetables, you can do carrot batons at the same time too.
- With 3 minutes to go on the Ninja Crispi, put your ready-made Yorkshire puddings on the top of the potatoes to cook them too. If you miss this and it has already beeped, don't worry, just add the Yorkshire Puddings to the Crispi and Roast for 3 more minutes, the potatoes and parsnips will only benefit from this.
- When the Brussels Sprouts have come to the boil, add the broccoli and boil for around 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how al dente you like your vegetables!
- While you're waiting for everything else to finish, slice the beef ready for serving later.
- Drain the vegetables when they're cooked, using some of the boiled water as a base for your gravy. We used gravy granules and another OXO beef stock cube to make ours, but you could also use the beef juices at the bottom of the Crispi for a richer gravy.
Notes
Tips for the Beef Joint
Both the beef joints we've tested with this were from the Co-Op, see the label below. It's called a Beef Roasting Joint with Beef Stock Basting Butter. BUT, you can use a simple beef joint and you can, if you want, add some butter to the top and seasoning. OR you can just season a normal beef joint it with salt, pepper and herbs and be done with it! A bit of butter though works really well!
The photo below shows how the joint is added to the centre of the large glass base of the Ninja Crispi and then all the gaps around it are filled with the parboiled parsnips and potatoes.
How to cook this in your Air Fryer if you don't have a Ninja Crispi
For those of you who want to try this but don't have a Ninja Crispi, think of the Roast button as air frying at 200º (392ºF). The only thing I would do differently, once the beef is out to rest, increase the time to finish off the potatoes and parsnips to at least 205ºC (401ºF) or higher if your air fryer goes higher. Or, play it safe with the beef throughout with 180ºC (356ºF) if you like your beef rare and, if you do, we definitely recommend a meat thermometer.
In fact, what we can fully recommend is a digital thermometer, even better one of those that goes into the joint from cold and connects via Bluetooth to tell you when it's about to be ready. Plus you can check progress any time.
Our go-to for this is the Vorwerk Thermomix Sensor, you don't need a Thermomix, you can use their Cooking Center app which keeps you updated of progress on your phone. Particularly handy if you need plenty of warning.
Or a Meater+ which gets great reviews by the members of our Kitchen Gadgetry with Feisty Tapas community but we haven't used.
The Ninjas with a sensor are great for this too as they automate the process.
Is the Ninja Crispi good as an air fryer?
Yes, definitely, absolutely, it is awesome!
The Ninja Crispi has air frying programmes and it allows to set cooking times but it doesn't allow to set temperatures.
To be exact it has Air Fry, Roast, Recrisp and Keep Warm. We use the first three all the time but never the Keep Warm so far.
After 8 months of using it, this is how I use the different functions:
- Air Fry is about 180ºC (356ºF) in the other air fryers we use (Instant Vortex, Ninja Speedi being the most used)
- Roast is about 200º (392ºF) in our other air fryers
- Recrisp is fantastic for reheating food. We don't have a microwave anymore and we've make do brilliantly with the air fryers, we reheat all sorts from soups to stews etc. In the other air fryers we do it in enamel dishes that we can eat from directly to minimise washing up but in the Ninja Crispi we can eat directly from it. T and I tend to reheat at 160ºC (320ºF) in other air fryers.
So, as this recipe uses the Roast function throughout, use 200ºC (392ºF if you're in the States) OR play it safe and use 180ºC.
The simplicity of the Ninja Crispi, and the fact that the small glass base takes up so little counter space, is what keeps it always out and in use.
Said simplicity makes it my teenaged daughter's go-to air fryer too. T loves the Crispi for this too, if in doubt she only has to ask me to confirm the time.
Other ways to air fry your Sunday Roast or Christmas Dinner
Want Roast Chicken? Try our Air Fryer Whole Roast Chicken & Gravy recipe. Want stuffing? Use our Paxo Stuffing in the Air Fryer.
Want to shut everyone up while you cook roast dinner for all of them? Stick a camembert in the air fryer and some crusty bread before you start, that should keep them busy for a bit.
Want to pressure cook your vegetables?
Check out our recipes for pressure cooked Brussels Sprouts, parsnips, etc or check our Christmas recipes if it's that time of year...
Our biggest tips for pacing this recipe
These tips are for my fellow spoonies but are likely to benefit anyone to be honest, from busy people to parents for small ones.
- Prepare the vegetables the day before or a few hours earlier. No need to do them all at the same time either, do a few here and there, store in container in the fridge
- There is zero need to cook this recipe all at the same time, prepare ahead as much as you can, that way you can also start catching up with yourself.
- Rest between steps, need a lie-down? We get it, go get one
- Wash as you go as much as you can and enrol help for this, human or electric dishwasher included
- Don't get so tired that you then have no appetite, energy or strength to eat, it does not have to be perfect, it just has to be
- Enrol help in general. If Maria can admit defeat and ask for help, you can too, it's a sign of strength
- Got the help enrolled? Point to what step you got to and go lie down while they get on with it 😉
More recommendations to cook any recipe at any time:
- Set the mood. Whatever you need, from nice music to noise-cancelling headphones or Loop earplugs
- Try to have a tidy kitchen counter to start with, there's nothing worse than not having enough space to spread your wings when you are struggling on your feet already
- On that note, get yourself a wheelie stool like Maria's. You don't need to stand up all the time to cook, Maria's has a gas lift that can bring it to kitchen counter height and back down to table level. It rolls well on laminate so she doesn't just use it in the kitchen if she's having trouble standing up (so, quite often)
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