Enjoy healthy meals by air-frying your favorite veggies
Air fryers have become the go-to appliance for making crispy, golden french fries and chicken nuggets without dealing with the hassles of deep-frying. But your air fryer isn’t just for fries, mozzarella sticks and other crunchy snacks.
You can actually make plenty of delicious and healthy air fryer vegetable recipes that are perfect as a side or even a main dish if you’re going meat-free. All you need is fresh produce, a little oil and your favorite herbs and spices.
Best air fryer vegetable recipes
Air-fried mixed veggies
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 large yellow squash, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder, to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Parmesan cheese, optional
Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees. Combine the peppers, onion and squash with the olive oil and seasonings in a large bowl, tossing well to coat. Next, arrange the vegetables in a single layer in the air fryer basket, and air-fry for 10 minutes or until tender. Halfway through cooking, shake the basket to ensure the vegetables cook evenly. Serve immediately, topping with Parmesan cheese if desired.
Air-fried zucchini chips
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1-2 teaspoon garlic powder, to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the flour and cornstarch. In a second bowl, beat the eggs lightly. In a third bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, seasonings and Parmesan cheese. Dip the zucchini rounds into the flour mixture first, then the eggs and then the breadcrumbs, pressing lightly to ensure they’re well coated. Place the coated zucchini on a wire rack until you’re ready to add them to the air fryer. Arrange them in a single layer in the basket, and lightly mist them with olive oil. Cook them for 5 minutes and then flip to the other side. Mist the top of the zucchini with olive oil again, and air-fry them for another 5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Serve warm.
Buffalo air-fried cauliflower
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping, optional
Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees. Combine the butter, Buffalo sauce, salt and garlic powder in a large bowl. Next, add the cauliflower florets and toss until fully combined. Add the cornstarch and mix until fully coated. Place the cauliflower in the air-fryer basket in a single layer and cook for 10 minutes. Toss the florets to ensure even cooking, and return them to the air fryer for another 10 minutes or until browned in some areas. Serve warm with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Garlic-herb air-fried Brussels sprouts
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound Brussels sprouts, stems and outer leaves trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons fresh herbs, such as oregano, rosemary, sage or thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon black pepper
Parmesan cheese for topping
Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees. Combine the olive oil, herbs and garlic powder in a bowl and set aside. Cut the Brussels sprouts in half or quarters, so the pieces are roughly the same size. Add the sprouts to the oil mixture, and season with salt and pepper. Mix until the Brussels sprouts are evenly coated. Add them to the air-fryer basket in a single layer, and cook for 5 minutes. Toss the sprouts to ensure even cooking, and return them to the air fryer for 5 minutes. Shake the basket again, and return the sprouts to the air fryer for another 5 minutes or until they are crispy on the outside. Serve warm, topping with Parmesan cheese if desired.
Air fryer roasted green beans
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees. Toss the green beans with the olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper until fully coated. Place them in the air-fryer basket in a single layer, and cook them for 5 minutes. Shake the basket to ensure they cook evenly, and return to the air fryer for another 5 minutes or until they reach your desired level of browning. Serve immediately.
Air-fried lemon garlic asparagus
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 8 minutes
Ingredients
1 bunch asparagus, approximately 1 pound, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for topping, optional
Lemon wedges for serving, optional
Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees. Combine the asparagus with the oil, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper, mixing well to coat. Arrange it in the air-frying basket in a single layer, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the asparagus over, and cook for another 5 minutes or until tender and browned. Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side and Parmesan cheese on top if desired.
Why air-fry vegetables?
Most of us know we should eat more vegetables, and air-frying makes it easy to work veggies into your diet.
In fact, you may get more health benefits from air-fried vegetables than grilled, poached or boiled varieties. That’s because vegetables lose more nutrients when cooked at higher temperatures for extended periods. Since air-frying reduces cooking times, it helps your favorite veggies hang onto their vitamins, minerals and other key nutrients. Air-frying also uses dry heat for cooking, which isn’t as likely to strip away vitamins and minerals.
Best of all, your air-fryer allows you to enjoy deliciously crispy, tender vegetables more quickly and easily than boiling, poaching and roasting, making it one of the more convenient ways to cook them. So really, there’s no excuse for not including a veggie in every meal.
Step-by-step guide to air-frying vegetables
- Wash and trim: As with any cooking method, start with clean, trimmed vegetables when air-frying is essential. Rinse your veggies well to remove any dirt or debris on the surface, and trim away any parts you don’t want to cook, such as the base of your Brussels sprouts or the bottom of asparagus stalks.
- Cut into equal-size pieces: When your vegetables are clean and trimmed, cut them into equal-size pieces. That ensures they’ll cook evenly, without larger pieces getting undercooked or smaller pieces getting burnt.
- Add oil and seasonings: Air-frying is a healthy way to cook vegetables and other foods because it doesn’t require much oil — you usually need a few tablespoons to get your veggies crispy and tender. But don’t forget to add some seasonings. For some vegetables, you may only want to add salt and pepper, but you can use any herbs and spices you like, including garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, oregano, thyme and sage.
- Arrange in a single layer: The key to successfully air-frying vegetables — or any food, for that matter — is ensuring the hot air inside the fryer can circulate freely around them. That’s why it’s essential to place the veggies in a single layer, so they’re not crowded inside the basket and touching each other.
- Flip halfway through: Another important step to ensure your vegetables cook evenly is turning or tossing them halfway through the air-frying process. That way, they cook on all sides without undercooked or overcooked areas.
Pro tips for perfect air fryer vegetables
If you want your air fryer veggies to turn out perfectly every time, always start by preheating your air fryer before adding the vegetables. That ensures they cook at a consistent temperature the entire time they’re in the air fryer. Some air fryers have an automatic preheating function, so they chime to let you know when you should add your veggies.
It’s also essential to avoid overcrowding your air fryer’s basket. If the veggies are piled on top of one another, the hot air inside the air fryer can’t circulate around them freely, which can stop your vegetables from getting browned and crispy. In fact, if your veggies are piled on top of one another, they can wind up soggy or undercooked.
Remember to check on your veggies occasionally during air-frying, too. The cooking times in recipes are excellent guidelines, but they can vary based on your air fryer. Take a peek at your vegetables during cooking to determine whether they need more time or should come out of the air fryer sooner than expected.
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Jennifer Blair writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
