Here’s how to cook green beans in the air fryer so they’re tender-crisp with a bit of caramelization. These are the basic instructions for perfect green beans, with suggestions for added flavors.
Crank the air fryer up and add some lightly oiled and seasoned green beans. In the time it takes them to soften inside, they get caramelized and browned a bit on the outside. It’s perfect. Scroll down to learn more about it, or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: How To Air Fry Vegetables
Preheat The Air Fryer
Get the air fryer preheating to 400°F. It doesn’t take long to preheat. You can start trimming the ends off of your beans, and the preheating will be done when you’re ready.
Prepare The Green Beans
Put the beans into a bowl and toss them with 1-2 teaspoons of cooking oil, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. Instead of salt and pepper, I live using 3/4 teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning. It’s perfect with green beans!
Note that you can oil and season the beans right in the air fryer basket instead of dirtying a bowl. However, I find that some of the oil and seasoning drops straight through the holes in the basket. Using a bowl ensures more of it adheres to the beans.
How To Cook Green Beans In The Air Fryer
Transfer the green beans to the basket of your air fryer. Toss them around a bit to get them into a single layer, or as much of a single layer as you can.
Slide the basket into the fryer. Cook for 5 minutes. No need to toss them or anything until then.
After 5 minutes the green beans will be fully cooked (use a fork to poke through one to make sure it’s soft all the way through). They’ll also be slightly browned, like in this picture:
If you want them browner and a bit crisp you can put them in for 3-4 minutes more. The sweet spot for me is 8 minutes, and then they look like this:
Transfer the green beans from the basket of the air fryer to a serving plate. Eat!
More Air Fryer Veggie Recipes
If you love these green beans, take them up a notch with Air Fryer Green Bean Fries. Or try one of these other veggie side dishes.
Air Fryer Green Beans Recipe
The air fryer is a wonderful tool for roasting vegetables quickly. One of my favorites to cook in there is green beans. They come out softened and lightly caramelized in just 8 minutes. Sooo good!
- Prep Time: 2 Minutes
- Cook Time: 8 Minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 12 ounces green beans, trimmed
- 1–2 tsp. cooking oil*
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.
- Put the green beans in a medium bowl. Add the oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.
- Transfer beans to the basket of the air fryer, even if it isn’t done preheating.
- Shake to arrange in a single layer as much as possible. Some overlap is fine.
- Put air fryer basket into air fryer and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Test a green bean by poking a fork through it. It should enter easily. If so, they’re done. You can serve them or let them brown for another 2-4 minutes before serving.
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Notes
*They will taste and crisp up better with 2 teaspoons but will be great with 1 teaspoon. Up to you!
Quick, easy, healthy, and tasty. A no-brainer choice for a side dish.
Thanks, Ed!