Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli

Air Fryer Broccoli on a plate with dipping sauce.

In This Post: Air Fryer Broccoli

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Why I Love This Recipe

Frequently Asked Questions
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The Only Broccoli I Make Now.

We honestly make this every night 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 into the air fryer! This water creates a lil steam chamber while the broccoli roasts so it stays tender and fluffed while also becoming crispy! And I am abnormally excited about this whole thing!

Air Fryer Broccoli in a bowl by the window.

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

If I have an oven-style air fryer (not a basket), how can I make this?

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.

How can I make something similar using the oven (without an air fryer)?

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!

What air fryer do you use?

My favorite air fryer is the Ninja Pro XL! (affiliate link) It works especially great for this recipe because it has a large basket size to get them in one layer.

What do you usually serve this air fryer broccoli with?

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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Author: Lindsay
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)
1–2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons water

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Instructions

Prep The Broccoli: Add broccoli florets to the air fryer basket. Drizzle with oil. Break into bite-sized pieces and massage gently with the oil for 30 seconds or so, until the broccoli turns a slightly brighter green. (This helps it stay tender).
Add Water To Steam: Add a tablespoon of water to the base of the air fryer basket. (The water will fall below the grates and create steam as the broccoli is roasting.)
Cook: 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 to get it roasty toasty (more or less to your desired level of crispness).
Finish: You’re done! Yum! I love this with a dipping sauce or just sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan.

Notes

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!

If you don’t have a basket air fryer, that’s fine! 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.