We usually just bring out the blender for margs and smoothies, and while these frozen drinks are a fun way to either brighten up morning routines or make you the party-hero, there’s way more you can do with the Ninja Foodi.

The 800-watt precision heating element boils in minutes to cook chunky or smooth soups, and can simmer flavourful sauces. It even cooks raw chicken – hello, home-made chicken noodle soup for the soul.

Let’s be clear, our kind of “home-made” involves as little effort and clean up as possible. That's why the Ninja Foodi is our top-choice for one-button meals. The nonstick coating and a heated clean program will actually make you want to volunteer for dish duty.

The 12 programs, separated by “crush” (smoothies, frozen drinks), “cook” (soups, sauces and dips) and “infuse” (cocktails and flavoured water), use automated patterns of pulsing, blending and temperature control to deliver endless cooking possibilities. Yes, there’s even a very important ice cream button.

Making mouth-watering dishes, like the easy chicken tortilla soup recipe listed below (goes great with a freshly blended marg), or finally becoming a mixed-drink master is literally just a press away.

The Salted Pepper's Ninja Foodi Chicken Tortilla Soup

tortilla soup

Ingredients

  • 1 jalapeño pepper, cut in half, seeds out
  • 2 peeled garlic cloves
  • 1 peeled onion
  • 1 ½ cups of chicken stock
  • 2 unfrozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut up
  • 1 can of tomatoes
  • ½ cup of canned corn
  • 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • ½ tsp of sea salt, 1 tsp of cumin, ½ tsp of paprika, ¼ tsp of chipotle seasoning

Method

1. Put the jalapeño, garlic and onion in the blender and pulse until chopped.

2. Add the chicken stock and continue to pulse 4 more times.

3. Add the chicken, tomatoes, sea salt, cumin, paprika, chipotle, corn, beans and carrots.

4. Click the “hearty soup” button. This is going to set a 30 minute timer which ads heat to cook the chicken and moves the ingredients around (hands free!).

5. Once the cycle is done, garnish with grated cheese, cilantro and tortilla.

For a video of the recipe click here.