Independently published The Ultimate Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker Cookbook for Beginners: Enjoy Every Meal Outdoors with Ninja Woodfire Grill Recipes | Savory Breakfast, Veggies, Poultry, Beef, Seafood & More

Why I reached for this cookbook

After a few weeks with the Ninja Woodfire grill on my patio, I realized I needed a playbook that spoke to the grill’s strengths—smoke on demand, quick preheats, and a compact footprint that behaves differently than a traditional offset smoker or a propane grill. The Ninja Woodfire cookbook promised beginner-friendly guidance and a broad mix of recipes without turning every dinner into an all-day project. At 108 pages, it’s a compact, focused companion. I’ve been cooking from it for several weekends now, and it’s earned a spot next to the grill.

What’s inside

The book is organized by meal and ingredient groupings—breakfasts, vegetables, poultry, beef, seafood, plus rubs and marinades—framed by concise guidance on setup, smoke settings, and basic technique. It doesn’t drown you in theory. Instead, it builds confidence through repeatable steps. Each recipe clearly lists temperatures and timing, along with straightforward instructions that align well with the Ninja’s controls. The language is approachable and un-fussy, which helped me move from reading to cooking without second-guessing.

The range is intentionally broad rather than deep. Expect accessible weekday dinners and straightforward weekend projects rather than competition barbecue. That design choice suits the grill’s audience and the book’s beginner focus.

Getting started: the basics actually help

I appreciate when a cookbook’s introduction saves me from learning the hard way. The opening sections cover how the Ninja’s smoke functions interact with direct heat, how to manage lid time, and how to avoid oversmoking delicate ingredients. Practical reminders—preheating with the smoke box engaged, pat-drying proteins for better browning, using indirect zones within the small cooking area—made a measurable difference in my early runs.

Wood pairings and smoke-level suggestions are sprinkled throughout. They’re not exhaustive, but they’re sensible: lighter woods for fish and vegetables; medium for poultry; heavier for fattier cuts. The guidance kept me from overpowering salmon on my first try and helped me coax more character out of chicken thighs without drying them out.

Recipe performance: reliable, flavorful, repeatable

What matters most is how the food turns out. The recipes I tested hit their marks:

• Breakfast: A simple smoked-and-seared breakfast sausage with peppers delivered a satisfying char without greasiness, and a gently smoked frittata set up custardy rather than rubbery. Both were quicker and more flavorful than stovetop versions.

• Vegetables: The vegetable section is not an afterthought. A smoky roasted cauliflower with a lemony finish came out tender-crisp and genuinely interesting, while asparagus benefited from short, hot exposure and a restrained smoke level. The book consistently nudges you to keep vegetables moving and pull them a minute early—good advice for this grill’s high-output heat.

• Poultry: Bone-in chicken thighs with a paprika-forward rub emerged with bite-through skin and juicy interiors at the times listed. The recipe’s insistence on a dry surface and a final sear on high made the difference. A spatchcocked chicken over medium smoke came out evenly cooked with a clean, wood-kissed flavor.

• Beef: A weeknight skirt steak used a quick marinade and a very hot, short cook. It produced a smoky crust without blasting past medium-rare. The instructions to rest briefly before slicing against the grain are standard, but the timing here matched the grill’s power well.

• Seafood: A cedar-adjacent approach for salmon (simulated here with a quick pre-smoke and gentle heat) avoided the “campfire” effect that can happen on compact smokers. The result was moist and flaky with balanced smoke. Shrimp skewers with a citrus-chile glaze were equally straightforward: high heat, short time, keep the smoke low.

Across categories, the book emphasizes manageable ingredient lists and relies on foundational rubs and marinades that don’t require a specialty spice shop. That keeps the barrier to entry low and makes repeating hits easy.

Learning the grill while you cook

A strength of this cookbook is how it bakes technique into the steps rather than separating it into a dense chapter you’ll forget to reread. Recipes routinely cue you to:

• Preheat with or without smoke depending on the protein.
• Pat dry and oil lightly for better Maillard reaction.
• Use temperature targets for doneness (and not just time).
• Adjust smoke intensity based on fat content and cut thickness.
• Rest strategically to keep moisture where it belongs.

These choices are small, but together they shorten the path from “new grill” to consistent results.

Usability and layout

The layout is clean, with an easy table of contents and sensible progression. Directions are broken into short steps, which I found valuable when juggling tongs, lid, and timer. Ingredient lists are uncluttered, and measurements are standard for home cooks. The book is intentionally lightweight; it’s easy to prop open outside without worrying about damaging an expensive hardcover.

There is a tradeoff to that simplicity: photography is limited. A few recipes have images, but most don’t. If you’re motivated by full-page beauty shots or you rely on photos for plating cues, you won’t find many here. I didn’t miss them much during weeknight cooking, but a visual index would have sped up browsing.

Limits worth knowing

• It’s beginner-focused. If you’re looking to master 12-hour brisket, sausage-making, or advanced charcuterie, this isn’t the book. You’ll get solid ribs and brisket tips for smaller cuts, but not in-depth coverage of long-haul barbecue.

• The guidance is tailored to the Ninja’s smoke and heat profiles. That’s exactly what I wanted, but it also means some techniques don’t map cleanly to other grills.

• Photography is sparse. The practical, text-first approach keeps you cooking, yet presentation-minded cooks may want supplementary inspiration.

• Advanced troubleshooting is light. Basic issues—underdone centers, soggy skin, oversmoke—are addressed within recipes, but there’s no deep diagnostic section for edge cases.

Who it’s for

• New Ninja Woodfire owners who want a reliable on-ramp to smoke-forward cooking without taking a weekend class.

• Home cooks who prefer weeknight-friendly recipes with clear steps and predictable timing.

• Anyone who likes rubs and marinades that build flavor without endless prep or exotic ingredients.

If you already have years of pellet or offset smoking under your belt and you’re shopping for a masterclass, you’ll find this book a bit introductory. It’s also not a coffee-table book; it’s a working manual that lives happily next to a grill.

Practical tips I picked up

• Reserve heavier smoke for fattier cuts; go lighter and shorter for fish and vegetables.

• Preheating with smoke engaged makes a noticeable difference in depth of flavor on quick cooks.

• Dry surfaces and restrained oiling produce better crusts on this grill than heavy marinades straight out of the bowl.

• Keep a thermometer handy. The book’s doneness cues pair well with actual temps to avoid overshooting on the Ninja’s strong sear.

• Use short rests, especially for small cuts. The grill runs hot and fast; carryover is real.

The bottom line

The Ninja Woodfire cookbook succeeds by doing a few things well: it teaches you how to use the grill you own, it delivers recipes that work as written, and it builds confidence through repetition and small wins. I valued the sensible smoke guidance, the attention to doneness, and the way techniques are embedded in each recipe rather than offloaded to an appendix. I would have liked more photos and a deeper bench of long-cook projects, but those omissions are understandable in a focused, beginner-friendly book.

Recommendation: I recommend this cookbook to Ninja Woodfire owners who want a dependable, approachable starting point that quickly translates to better food. It won’t turn you into a pitmaster overnight, and it doesn’t try to. Instead, it gets you from unboxing to consistently tasty breakfasts, vegetables, poultry, beef, and seafood with minimal fuss. For a compact, practical guide you’ll actually use, it’s a smart pick. If you need glossy visuals or advanced barbecue theory, pair it with a more specialized title; otherwise, this one covers the everyday cooking you’ll do most.