Air Fryer Green Beans Recipe

Name: Air Fryer Green Beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 pound green beans; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes; Finely grated lemon zest, for garnish, optional

I’m always looking for new ways to jazz up vegetables. Green beans are one of my favorite vegetables to experiment with because they can take on a lot of different textures. These air fryer green beans are my latest green bean experiment and they worked fantastically!

The trick to make these truly great is to dust the green beans in a light breadcrumb coating that barely hangs onto the beans as they air-fry. The morsels of breadcrumbs give just a little much-needed crunch to the green beans.

Plate of Air Fryer Green Beans Topped with Lemon Zest Next to an Air Fryer Basin — Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Why Air Fry Green Beans?

This was an experiment for me, but I came away loving the air-fried green beans. Because they cook hot and fast, they still have some bite to them, but they also get blistered in places from the hot air.

This would be a hard mix to nail down without an air fryer. If you simply boiled the green beans, you would miss that crispy texture. Deep-frying the green beans would kill their crispy freshness.

No Need To Blanch First

Normally, I’ll blanch green beans by adding them to boiling water for about 30 seconds before using them in salads or something, but it’s truly not necessary for this recipe.

Save yourself the time. You wouldn’t gain anything by blanching the green beans for this recipe.

Air Fryer Green Beans with Lemon Zest — Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Tips for Air Fryer Green Beans

For starters, I recommend trimming off the ends of the green beans before air frying. Sometimes I’m lazy and skip this step, but if you leave the ends on during air-frying, they will burn because they are so thin.

Second, as with any air fry recipe, make sure your green beans are in a single layer. Some overlapping here is fine, but if you pile in the green beans, they won’t cook correctly. Work in batches. Don’t worry. They go fast.

The Crispy Coating

I tried a version of these air fried green beans with just some oil and salt and pepper and they were good, but I found they were lacking some texture. Enter the breadcrumb coating! By tossing the beans in olive oil and a seasoned breadcrumb mixture, it gives them a really nice crunch.

Hand Holding an Air Fryer Green Bean — Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Get More Veggies in Your Air Fryer

Air Fryer Green Beans

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 18 mins

Total Time 23 mins

Servings 4 to 6 servings

I recommend trimming the green beans. If you leave the ends on, they will burn during air frying because they are so thin.

1 pound green beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Finely grated lemon zest, for garnish, optional

Prep and season the green beans:

Clip the ends off the green beans and rinse them well. Dry them off with a paper towel and then add them to a large bag or bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil and then toss with the bread crumbs, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans
Air fry the green beans:

Remove green beans from the bag (or bowl) with tongs. A lot of the breadcrumb mixture will fall off the green beans, and that’s okay. What stays on will give them a little texture that they need.

Place the beans in the air fryer basket in a single layer (it’s okay if a few green beans overlap, but don’t pile them up). Air fry at 375˚F for 6 minutes.

Tip

It’s not necessary to preheat the air fryer, but you can if you want.

When the cooking time is up, taste a green bean and, if necessary, air fry the batch a few minutes longer. (Older or thicker beans will take longer to cook.)

Repeat with more batches. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you’ll probably need three batches for 1 pound of green beans.

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans
Serve:

When green beans come out of the air fryer, garnish them with a light grating of fresh lemon zest.

Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Leftover green beans keep well in the fridge for a few days and can be reheated in the air fryer for 1-2 minutes or in a 400˚F oven until just warm.

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Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Simply Recipes / Nick Evans

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
103	Calories
5g	Fat
13g	Carbs
3g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	103
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g	7%
Saturated Fat 1g	4%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 172mg	7%
Total Carbohydrate 13g	5%
Dietary Fiber 3g	10%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 7mg	37%
Calcium 51mg	4%
Iron 1mg	5%
Potassium 133mg	3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.