Want to turn your Instant Pot into an air fryer? There is a new product called a CrispLid that might be right for you. I’ll show you what it is, what it does, how to use it and what I think of it.
What is the Mealthy CrispLid?
The Mealthy CrispLid turns your Instant Pot (or other 6 or 8 quart pressure cooker) into an air fryer. It is basically a heating unit and fan attached to a glass lid that fits on a 6 or 8 quart pressure cooker pot. It can broil, crisp, or air fry your food.
If you’re more of a visual learner you can watch a video that I made about the CrispLid as well as a tutorial on how to make “fries” and how to cook bacon with it. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. I drop a new video weekly about Instant Pot stuff.
What does the Mealthy CrispLid do?
The CrispLid can melt your cheese on your pressure cooked scalloped potatoes or it can air fry your chicken parmesan. It can toast buns for your sandwiches. It can act as a broiler if you don’t want to turn the oven on. I have used it to make “fries.” I’ve used it to cook hot dogs when I didn’t want to grill them. I’m sure as I use it more I’ll think of plenty of more ideas on how to use it. If you check the Mealthy website there are lots of CrispLid recipes. I plan on posting CrispLid recipes here on 365 Days too, so keep checking back. Make sure to join the 365 Days email list!
How to use the Mealthy CrispLid
To use the CrispLid with your Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker):
- Make sure you have a stainless steel pot and an 6 or 8 quart pot. This CrispLid could damage ceramic, aluminum, or nonstick coatings.
- Unplug your pressure cooker. Plug in your CrispLid. Use the CrispLid handle and rest it on top of your stainless steel inner cooking pot.
- Lower the handle until it clicks into place. Press the temperature button (it looks like a thermometer) to select a cooking temperature. Use the + and – buttons to adjust. Then select a cooking time by pressing the button that looks like a clock. Again use the + and – buttons to adjust.
- When you are ready to begin the cooking cycle press the triangle button.
- The heating element will light up immediately. The heating element cycles on and off while it cooks to maintain the selected temperature. You can pause the cooking by lifting the handle. You can resume cooking by lower the handle into place.
- When the food is cooked you can remove the CrispLid by popping up the lid. Make sure to place the HOT lid on the silicone mat. This will protect your countertop. The heating element does get hot so place it away from kids and pets.
How much does the Mealthy CrispLid cost?
The CrispLid costs about $50. You can purchase it on Amazon*. You can also purchase it directly from the Mealthy website.
What does the Mealthy CrispLid come with?
The CrispLid comes with a long-legged trivet, a fryer basket, silicone mat and tongs. Plus it has a small recipe booklet and instruction manual.
What I think of the Mealthy CrispLid
The Good:
- You can use your previously purchased 6 or 8 quart pressure cooker as an air fryer for less money than purchasing a separate air fryer.
- It is relatively small and you can find a place to store it much easier than a whole other appliance.
- The CrispLid goes up to 500 degrees which allows you to broil without turning on your oven.
- At a price point of $50 the CrispLid is cheaper than most air fryers which start at $75 and go up.
- By simply switching a lid you can go from pressure cooking to air frying or broiling. There are less dishes to clean up.
- I LOVE that you can see your food cooking through the glass lid.
- It’s very easy to use!
The Bad:
- The air fryer basket is small. The CrispLid seems to work best as an air fryer if the food is all in one layer. If you’re looking to cook a lot of food then you may just want to use your oven or cook in batches. For example, you can only really “fry” one to two potatoes at a time.
I’d love to know what you think of your Mealthy CrispLid! And if you don’t have one will you purchase one? Why or why not?
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I cook your instant recipes all the time and just love them I ordered the CRISPLID last year and only used it once. Before I found your site I was afraid to use the IP, but you cured me of that. now I need help with the CRISPLID When you have a chance can you please start posting recipes on how to use this lid for my IP pot. I saw recipes on bacon, French fries ,which were great, but i would like more recipes on using the CRISPLID. No rush but when you get a chance please start posting recipes for this. I really would appreciate. Thanks for all the GREAT recipes that you share.
Here are some of my recipes with the crisp lid or air fryer lid! https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/recipes/?fwp_method=instant-pot%2Ccrisplid-or-air-fryer
Which air fryer lid from the Instant Pot brand do you recommend?
I have the mealthy lid and the instant pot duo crisp + air fryer. I do love the Instant Pot the best!
KAREN:
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO ADD THE DIRECTARY TO YOUR NEW BOOK , I LOVE THE BOOK ,BUT IT WOULD MUCH EASIER TO GO TO THE DIRECTARY… I LOVE THE COOK BOOK…
JOHN
you can download one here: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/order-your-cookbook-now/
Yes…thats the thing with almost any of the standard air fryers…don’t plan on feeding your family of 4 with fries in one batch! And same if you use your instant pot/fryer setup!
Yep that’s the sad thing about it 😥
That looks really cool!
It is!
I just got my CrispLid. When reading the recipes that come with it – For Air Fried Chicken, it says to spray the chicken generously with Cooking Spray. Are they talking about “Pam”? Since my wife recently passed away, I’m doing more cooking. But I didn’t know that you use Pam to spray on food. I thought it was just to keep food from sticking – so spray it on the pan. Am I wrong on this point?
That’s interesting. I have used that spray on food before but you could probably also just use a pastry brush and brush some olive oil on the chicken too.
You can get an oil mister and put the kind of oil you’d like to use. I prefer a high temp oil like grapeseed or avocado.
I just looked it up on Amazon.ca – Canadian price is $ 157.48 Canadian. That still doesn’t make me want to move to the U.S. but it’s something you can crow about.
Oh wow! Can you order it directly from mealthy website?
I just mine about a week ago. I live in Canada as well and had ordered it from the Mealthy website. I delivered it to an address in the States and then it was delivered to me. In addition to the shipping cost on the Mealthy site, there was a customs charge of ~$22. Still a whooole lot cheaper than what it’s for on the .ca site.
that is from a private seller. I bought it for 79.00 can actually cheaper than the states with the exchange. I also have a house in the states and buy from both amazons which ever is cheaper.
I enjoy my Instant Pot a great deal – use it at least 2 or 3 times a week. I used to have an air fryer but I found it didn’t really crisp up the way deep frying does. Of course it’s healthier. I use a crisper tray and the oven, but of course it makes the room hot and uses a lot of electricity because I’m baking at at least 375 usually 400 degrees +. My concern with the Mealthy Fryer is that it will not crisp up and will act the same way my previous air fryer did. Also, clean up is probably difficult – you haven’t said a word about clean up. I’m Canadian so the cost will be considerably more than $ 50.00. I like the fact that it is easily stored and since I live in a 2-adult family, the size is perfect. I’ll have to read up more about it before I invest. But thanks for bringing it to my attention. By the way, couldn’t I just use the sauté button on my Instant Pot to crisp up chicken, etc?
Yeah, you could use the saute button. This might not be the product for you!
Stephen, clean up with Meatlhy Crisp Lid is very easy. I thought it would be very messy, but it is not.
Unfortunately, No. US price + s/h + tax + exchange rate = in the range of $150 Cdn.
For Canadians, suggest checking out Wayfair.ca. I got mine for $108 + tax.
Good tip thank you.
Great video- thank you! Would you use this to brown your baby back rib recipe? They are the best!!
Sure! You’d have to have them cut in half to fit on the rack though.
Loved your video and just ordered me one!
I hope you love it!
A friend purchased the mealthy for my birthday. Have not used it yet, but my friend was here when I received it and he made an interesting observation. Let’s see if it fits a frying pan and it does. Why not put it on a dutch oven possibly and make biscuits, stew or something . Maybe endless possibilities. Who is going to be first???
GOOD IDEA!!!
I’ve made a whole roasted chicken in my AIR FRYER. Can this do that too?
There is a recipe for a faux-tisserie chicken in the little cookbook that came with the lid. So you use your pressure cooker to cook the chicken and then crisp up the skin with the lid afterwards.
I got a Mealthy crisp lid this week and really like it a lot. I enjoyed your video very much, but I want to mention that it made me cringe a little when you had the stainless IP insert OUT of the pressure cooker and set the crisp lid on it and turned it on. I am worried that someone might misunderstand and think that’s an option.
Yes sorry about. I was trying to show the camera what it would look like.
I bought the crisp lid off of amazon tried it out for french fries worked great. We travel with our instant pot in our RV & have limited space so the crisp lid with work for us. It’s great not having to use the oven for small quantities. If I were cooking for lots of people I probably wouldn’t want it.
Oh yes this would be great for an RV.
Sherri asked if using the air frier lid on her insta pot would void the warranty. You replied, “your warrenty is up” and didn’t answer her. So what kinda answer is that? Avoiding the question is not answering it. I am also very interested in if this lid will void the warranty. I do not have this air frier lid yet as I have two Insta pots, one is still under warranty so I wanted to know about voiding my warrenty. One new one is in our home kitchen and the one I would use the air frier lid on. Thank you, Allie from Nevada.
With a quick google search you can find out for yourself that YES IT WILL VOID THE WARRANTY!
Thank you. Allie
From Instant Pot:
We do not endorse the use of non-Instant Brand (Instant Pot) accessory products with the Instant Pot. As the Mealthy CrispLid is not official Instant Pot product, it has not been tested for use with the Instant Pot.
Using unauthorized parts, accessories and products with your Instant Pot will void the limited warranty.
You may review our warranty guidelines here:
https://instantpot.com/instant-brands-warranty-information/.
That said, I suspect Mealthy HAS tested the CrispLid with an Instant Pot. If not, they wouldn’t likely say that the CrispLid will work with any 6 or 8 qt electric pressure cooker with a stainless steel pot. IF the CrispLid would ruin an Instant Pot, it would kill Mealthy’s sales of its CrispLid. That said, Mealthy isn’t going to replace your IP should its use damage your IP. I have a CrispLid and an IP and have experienced no problems and it hasn’t ruined my IP
Yeah, good points.
That was my first question as well!
I had just purchased this today! I can’t wait to get it, I do have an air fryer but I have not used it because it takes up room .
I hope you like it!
I have a CrispLid and I have mixed feelings. The airfryer is bigger and really does a great job with steaks, vegies, etc. I’ve done meat and vegies with the CrispLid and they didn’t turn out as well as in the airfryer. However, I may have over crowded the pan. I didn’t think of it as a way to broil without turning the oven on.
I’ll add that to my experiment list!
Yes there are definitely bigger air fryers out there.
I love it. I pressure cooked two frozen seasoned chicken thighs until done, unplugged the IP, poured off the liquid and crisped up the skin on the thighs with the Mealthy lid. Perfect!
Yum! I have bone in chicken thighs. I think I will try this tomorrow!
Im excited to get a mealthy lid! I wanted an air fryer but held off bc i didnt one another appliance!
Cool! This might be right for you 🙂
I can’t wait to get a Mealthy and I love your recipes! I was just wondering why water was added when cooking bacon but not when cooking fries.
I just followed the recipe for bacon on the Mealthy website and it said to add some water: https://mealthy.com/recipes/1968/air-fryer-bacon
I’m not exactly sure why!
I think it’s to avoid smoking too much. There is way more oil with bacon.
Oh, yeah you’re probably right. Thanks!
I was wondering the same thing. I noticed that Karen added water to cook bacon but not to cook the potatoes and was wondering why? If you aren’t pressure cooking why the liquid?
Is the warranty void on the instant pot if you use this for crisping?
I have heard that. My warranty is already up so I’m not too worried about that.