What cooking appliance do I need?

[Amaya4]

Please help me out and let me know what the best small kitchen appliance to buy would be. Slow cooker / airfryer / pressure cooker / instant pot - combination of all? Seems like too many options when I start to google!

I have a really bad relationship with food and cooking. I am a lone parent working full time. By the time I get home and sort homework/housework I am exhausted and end up with too many convenience dinners / take outs. I want to do better and have more healthy, home cooked food. I constantly feel guilty about the diet I am giving myself and my son and want to deal with this.
I am a vegetarian so I have tend to make two dinners or one that meat can be added to for my child. I would like to buy an appliance that potentially can slow cook / fast cook / multiple cook and do other things to help with the meal prep. I have heard colleagues talk about air fryers and this could potentially cut down on cooking time?

Any good recommendations on multicookers (is that what I am looking for?). A small one as there is only my child and I at home.

In an ideal world I would have dinner prepped and ready to go in the morning before I go to work so that when we come home something is on the table quickly.

I wouldn't be without my air fryer and Instant Pot. If you're short of space, you could get a Duo Crisp, which has a separate lid; so does both functions. It doesn't slow cook as well as a slow-cooker, so you're better to cook under pressure and let it switch to "Keep Warm" for up to 10 hours. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiV6Yei5K6BAxWtVkEAHfc_Bz0QFnoECBgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fuk.instantbrands.com%2Fshop-all-products%2Finstant%2Fcooking-appliances%2Fcombination-multi-instant%2Finstant-pot-duo-crisp-air-fryer-8l%2F&usg=AOvVaw35NfEDj6Uj8SSC9hVmVbfo&opi=89978449

I have a slow cooker and airfryer. They are heavily used daily. I dont have a normal oven though. But even if i did these are cheaper

How does the food in your slowcooker turn out @Redlarge

It depends on what you want to cook. I have an Instapot that I use to cook beans (much faster than on a hob and no need to soak) and soup. I do use it for other things, but if it had to go, I probably wouldn't replace it.

I have an airfryer that we use in the week. I batch cook at the weekend, and husband who is at home but a non cook will defrost and cook. It takes less that 20 mins to cook a lasagne (that I made and froze) in the airfryer whereas it takes that long for my oven to heat up. Generally, an airfryer will cook something that you would put in the oven. At weekends, I use the oven because I fill it up. Weeknights, it's the airfryer.

Neither will do anything you can't do in your cooker, and you still have all the prep. I don't have a slow cooker. Had one when we ate meat, but after that it never got used.

Perfect. I make everything from casserole, soup, curry, whole chicken and baked potatoes

Love my ninja 9in1, it's a few years old now so there are newer versions. It's fab for this time of year as I cob some stuff in it before I go to work and leave it slow cooking all day. I also use the air fryer function a lot too.
I couldn't be bothered to cook on Friday but came home shoved the ingredients for a chicken pho in it and then pressure cooked for 10 minutes and it was ready!

We have a halogen oven , I’ve had them for many years and rarely use my main oven . We did have a Ninja Foodie ( it was a gift) but I gave it away as we didn’t use it . I’ve tried a slow cooker but didn’t really get on with it and my main oven has a slow cooker function that I use in the winter for stews etc anyway .

@Amaya4

I'm vegetarian & live alone. I don't enjoy cooking & now can't stand for ages faffing with 1001 ingredients stirring, waiting, adding tiny bits of this & that.

A slow cooker really doesn't work for me.

i put off getting an air fryer for the longest time (mainly because I hate anything that feels like I'm being a sheep!! But also because the options were confusing & overwhelming!)

i also have a small kitchen & didn't want to feel it was taking over the kitchen!

my neighbour bought the Sur La table from Costco & it's a good cooking size without a large foot print. £89 + VAT.

some of the Ninja's do more, but have a separate lid and I cba with that.

i have had my oven on once since I bought the AF (had some friends here for pizza, so cooking several was easier in the oven!)

cauldron linc sausages are brilliant in there and I cook most veg in it.

it's great for 'beige food' chips, hash browns, reheating pizza etc.

it is SUPER FAST and cooks most anything. I haven't yet tried the silicon 'loaf tins' I bought for it (for vegetarian lasagne in mind).

great for reheating things.

tiasted sandwiches were ok, but I think I need practice as they were the 'most amazing' as people promised.

I wouldn't be without it!

did I mention fast???

😂😂