For Perfect Green Beans in 10 Minutes, Grab Your Air Fryer

Here's a simple, hearty vegetable side dish that you can toss together in minutes—as long as you have fresh green beans and your air fryer on hand. The result is crisp, lightly browned and blistered green beans with a texture that's loosely inspired by Sichuan-style dry-fried green beans.

Real dry-frying is a two-stage wok technique that involves frying something first in a generous amount of oil, and then stir-frying a second time with seasonings. It’s an amazing technique that delivers delicious results, but as Kenji points out in his recipe for Sichuan-style dry-fried green beans, it isn't always practical for the home cook. In his recipe he found the broiler to be an acceptable substitute for producing charred and blistered beans, with a minimum amount of oil and effort required.

We love this recipe, and Daniel’s green beans with Romesco sauce also uses this technique, but we found that the air fryer is an even easier and faster way to mimic dry-fried green beans. The air-fryer “dry-fried” green beans we're sharing the recipe for here are great just tossed with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper, or you can add our suggested flavor combinations described below, including red curry–cashew and the gruyère–fried shallot pictured above. It works equally well with regular green beans and thinner haricot verts.

There’s a reason why this powerhouse appliance cooks great green beans so quickly: It’s basically a tiny convection oven that circulates air extremely efficiently, which is why it can quickly and perfectly “dry-fry” green beans. Seasoned recipe developer Marianne Williams tested and found that in just 10 minutes, the air fryer’s even air flow and dry, high heat makes bright, crisp-tender green beans that retained all of their grassy, sweet flavor. Read on for the full recipe and for Williams’ tips for making crisp, lightly blistered green beans in your air fryer at home.

3 Tips for Crisp, Lightly Browned Air-Fryer Green Beans

When green beans are cooked properly in an air fryer, they should be tender while still retaining a bit of crisp texture and browning on the outside. This browning and Maillard reaction delivers a great roasted/caramelized effect, similar to the results of dry-fried green beans.

1. Preheat the air-fryer basket and roast at a high temperature. Since green beans cook very quickly, you want the exterior to start cooking immediately in the air fryer. Toss the green beans with oil before transferring to the preheated cooking basket. The beans should sizzle slightly on contact with the air fryer, so take the extra five minutes to preheat the appliance. Cooking at a high heat of 400°F allows the outside of the green beans to develop a roasted flavor and become slightly charred before the inside overcooks.
2. Don’t overcrowd the air-fryer basket: Overcrowding the air fryer basket can prevent proper air circulation and result in uneven cooking of the green beans. It can also cause the beans to steam rather than roast, which prevents the browning we want in this recipe. Avoid this by cooking the green beans in an even layer or in batches if necessary. For a six-quart or larger capacity air fryer, one pound of green beans will fit in one batch, but for a smaller capacity air fryer, you may need to cook in two batches. Before cooking, check to see if the beans will lay flat into your air fryer—if needed, they can be halved crosswise.
3. Serve it simply, or dress it up. While lightly charred air-fryer green beans are fantastic with nothing more than a sprinkle of salt and the olive oil it’s cooked in, there are many great ways to incorporate more flavor. The green beans can be tossed with lemon zest right after cooking and topped with some shaved Parmesan cheese and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or tossed with red curry-infused ghee. See the Variations section below the recipe for more ideas on dressing up your air-fryer green beans.
   

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