Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli
This Air Fryer Broccoli is both tender and crisped at the same time. So easy and done it 10 minutes! We've been making it every night and my kids go wild for it. The post Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli appeared first on Pinch of Yum.
In This Post: Air Fryer Broccoli
Watch How To Make This Air Fryer Broccoli
The Only Broccoli I Make Now.
We honestly make this almost every night right now.
The magic of this specific air fryer broccoli is the method: it gets both tender and crisp at the same time!
Air fryer broccoli can be dry and awkwardly chewy to eat. NOT ANYMORE BABY! Here are the game changers:
- A quick massage! Just like you do with kale. You’ll even see the color of the broccoli change. You’re waking it up!
- A bit of water! The water creates a little steam effect while the broccoli roasts so it stays tender and fluffed while also becoming crispy! And I am abnormally excited about this whole thing!
We throw this air fryer broccoli at every single meal we can. We’ve had it with Marry Me Chicken, Date Night Rigatoni, Tomato Soup and grilled cheese, and dipped in this A+ Gochujang Sauce. And it’s the perfect side for the staple fam-faves: Air Fryer Chicken, Air Fryer Tofu, and Air Fryer Salmon.
FYI for the flavor hogs out there (it me): I tested this with so many extras. I tried a soy sauce version, fresh and granulated garlic, other dry spices, lemon, butter, and even a parmesan panko treatment. But in a rare minimalist moment, I decided that I really loved it best in its simple form: salted, tender, and crisped.
It gets such savory, deep flavor from the roasting process that I genuinely feel it doesn’t need anything else. Go ahead and finish with parm, lemon, or a sauce – but IMHO, the pre-roast doesn’t need anything extra!
I haven’t been this excited about a vegetable in a long time. It’s giving weirdo.
I hope you love it.
P.S. Do not miss this list of all my favorite, most popular easy dinners!
Frequently Asked Questions For This Air Fryer Broccoli
Massage the water and oil into the broccoli florets in a separate bowl for a minute before placing them on the tray. I almost think of this as “marinating” the broccoli with some moisture. The broccoli will hold onto that moisture (even if it doesn’t absorb it completely) and it helps keep it tender while roasting.
We’ll test this and update once we do! But I think you could follow the same steps as the process above regarding making it in an oven-style air fryer, but then just roast in the oven. Stay tuned!
My favorite air fryer is the Ninja Pro XL! Here’s a link to buy that on Amazon or Target. (affiliate links) It works especially great for this recipe because it has a large basket size to get them in one layer.
Basically any time a meal just needs a side of vegetables, this is now my go-to!
Here are a few recipe ideas that it would work well with:
– Liz’s Roasted Broccoli Salad
– Chili Garlic Pappardelle
– Cashew Chicken
– Baked Salmon with Lemon Sauce
– Red Curry Chicken Stir Fry
Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli
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Total Time: 9 minutes -
Yield: 2-4 servings
Description
This Air Fryer Broccoli is both tender and crisped at the same time. So easy and done it 10 minutes! We’ve been making it every night and my kids go wild for it.
Ingredients
- one 12-ounce bag broccoli florets (or, one head of broccoli cut into about 3 cups of florets)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1–2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- Prep The Broccoli: Place florets in a bowl. Add water, oil, and salt. Break into bite-sized pieces and massage gently for 30-60 seconds, until the broccoli turns a slightly brighter green. You want to get it to drink up some of that water and oil mixture a bit!
- Cook: Add broccoli to your air fryer. (There will still be a bit of water left over in the bowl; that’s fine.) Air fry at 350 for 5 minutes; give it a quick shake. It should look bright green, like steamed broccoli.
- Crisp It Up: Air fry at 375 for another 2 minutes. Now it should start to look browned, crisped, and roasty toasty. (You can adjust the time and temp to get your desired level of crispness).
- Finish: You’re done! Yum! It’s fluffy and tender, but crisped and browned at the same time. I love this with a dipping sauce or just sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan.
Notes
You can skip the bowl part if you’d like and do this all in the air fryer – you’d massage your broccoli with the oil and salt directly in the basket. Then pour the water into the air fryer, so it falls below the grates and stays there during the cooking process. Just another way to achieve a very similar result (and save a dish). 
Every air fryer is different both in capacity and in temps. You may want to do this in smaller batches depending on the size of the air fryer you’re using. I use this air fryer.
If the broccoli overlaps in the basket a bit at first, that’s okay – it’ll reduce in size to eventually make a single layer for the last few minutes of roasting.
If you’re doing that final roast at 375 and not getting enough crisping, go up to 390 or 400!
If you don’t have a basket air fryer, that’s fine! Just follow step 1 and then transfer to a baking sheet. I almost think of this as “marinating” the broccoli with some moisture. The broccoli will hold onto that moisture (even if it doesn’t absorb it completely) and it helps keep it tender while roasting.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
Category: Side
Method: Air Fryer
Cuisine: American
Keywords: air fryer broccoli, broccoli in the air fryer, broccoli recipe, roasted broccoli
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The post Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli appeared first on Pinch of Yum.
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