Are you looking for a quick and easy way to make 4 ingredient broccoli in the air fryer? Check this recipe to find how to put delicious crispy broccoli on the table in less than 10 minutes. It has a similar taste to the oven-roasted broccoli, but it will be ready in a fraction of the time, and you will use a lot less oil.
Do you love roasted vegetables? Are you looking for broccoli keto recipes? I’m convinced that if you will try once this easy recipe of the broccoli in the air fryer, you will never return to the classic broccoli in the oven variant.
If you are an Air Fryer lover, check our full list of Air Fryer Recipes that includes everything that we have tried so far to cook in it.
You won’t believe how easy this recipe actually is. All you need is to season a little the broccoli with garlic, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and a few slices of fresh chili pepper. You should mix well all the broccoli florets and put them in your air fryer basket for about 4 minutes. After that, remove and shake the air fryer basket to rotate the position of the broccoli and fry them for another 4 minutes.
After that, you can serve the broccoli on the plates. You can eat them as is, as a snack, or serve them near some meat. I served it with sesame chicken legs, also cooked in the air fryer. Another good fit for them will be the homemade chicken patties.
This is the easiest way to cook a delicious plate of broccoli, especially in the summer when you don’t want to turn on the oven and heat the entire house for one hour.
I just found among my guests that people that regularly are not big fans of broccoli, this variant of fried broccoli into the air fryer, they eat with both hands and ask for more. Also, because this variant of fried broccoli is more crunchy, the kids will also prefer this variant.
This fried broccoli comes so well, that the broccoli doesn’t end up on our plates all the time. We inhaled most of the broccoli right from the air fryer basket.
🍏 How Healthy Is Broccoli? What Nutrients It Contains?
The broccoli is loaded with fibers, proteins, iron, potassium, calcium, selenium, and manganese. Also, broccoli is a good source of vitamins A, B, C, E, K including folic acid.
If you haven’t eaten enough broccoli before, I think I just convinced you to start eating it more often.
🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- You will love this recipe because it is very quick and easy to make, and you will use less oil than usual.
- It is a quick recipe. It will be on the table in less than 10 minutes.
- You will need the minimum ingredients: Broccoli, soy sauce, sesame seeds, garlic, and chili pepper. Thats it.
- Also, it is a must-try if you got tired of the regular ways of cooking broccoli, or if you’re looking for new methods. This recipe will surprise you with how yummy the broccoli will turn in the end.
🏆 Tips for Success? How to Make It Better?
- Pick or cut the broccoli into similar-sized pieces. This will allow us to cook evenly all the pieces avoiding overcooking some of the pieces and undercooking others.
A quick hint: How to make the broccoli inside to be tender before it will burn on the outside? The secret ingredient? Add one-two tablespoon of water to the air fryer pan to help the broccoli steam as it cooks.
🍽️ Servings Suggestions
You could combine the broccoli perfectly with some chicken. Also, you can serve the air fryer broccoli near some beef, pork, or salmon.
If you opt for a vegetarian recipe, you could combine this wonderful fried broccoli with carrots, tofu, mushrooms, or cauliflowers.
🍲 Toppings and Variations
- Air Fryer Broccoli With Cheese. At the end pour over the broccoli 2-3 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Also, you can use cheddar or gruyere cheese instead.
- Air Fryer Broccoli With Lemon. Add some lemon zest into the mixture and lemon juice over the broccoli right before you will serve them.
- Garlicky Air Fryer Broccoli. Add some more garlic over the broccoli if you are a lover of an intense garlic taste.
- Balsamic Air Fryer Broccoli. In the end, before serving, drizzle the fried broccoli with balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar.
- Air Fryer Broccoli With Zucchini. One thing to keep in mind is to cut zucchini larger, otherwise, the zucchini will cook faster than broccoli.
- Air Fryer Broccoli With Cauliflower. You can make another variation for the original broccoli recipe in the air fryer by adding a few cauliflower bites. You can use the same recipe.
- Potatoes and Broccoli in Air Fryer. If you want to cook together broccoli with potatoes, just make sure to cut the potatoes into small cubes for about 1/2″ to have the broccoli and potatoes cooked at the same time.
- Broccoli and Peppers in Air Fryer. You can cook this combination in the same way as the original recipe.
❄️ Can I Use Frozen Broccoli?
Yes. Just keep in mind that if you will use frozen broccoli in the air fryer because they contain ice (water) it will not be as crispy as fresh broccoli. Besides this fact, frozen broccoli can be a lifesaver when you have them in your fridge and you need to cook a quick and delicious side dish. One advantage of frozen broccoli is as it contains water already, the air fryer will not smoke.
Use whatever variant you prefer or what you have on hand.
How to Cook Frozen Broccoli in the Air Fryer?
- Put the frozen broccoli florets in the air fryer at 400°F (200°C) and fry for approximately 4 minutes.
- Remove the broccoli from the air fryer, put them into a large bowl, and pour over them a little bit of olive oil and seasonings. Mix with a spoon the broccoli to cover well all the broccoli florets with the spices and oil.
- Move the broccoli back to the air fryer basket and cook them for another 4 minutes, then remove them and shake well the basket to rotate the position of the broccoli and cook for another 2-5 minutes.
🥘 Ingredients Needed for This Recipe?
- 2 pounds of Broccoli with stalks attached, or 1 pound of broccoli florets.
- 2 ½ tablespoons of Soy Sauce.
- 3 cloves of Fresh Garlic.
- Chili Pepper to taste.
- Optionally, you can add also sesame seeds, and ginger.
🥦 Ingredients Swap?
- Soy sauce. You can replace it with teriyaki sauce.
- Fresh garlic. You can replace it with dried garlic.
- Fresh chili peppers. You can replace them with chili flakes.
- Olive oil. You can replace it with butter or with another vegetable oil. A good alternative will be sesame oil. Just keep in mind to use an oil with a high burning temperature.
💨 How to Prevent Air Fryer From Smoking?
Add a tablespoon of water to the air fryer pan, or use the frozen broccoli. This will allow you to prevent smoking.
👩🍳 Step-by-step Directions
Take a large bowl, and put in it all the ingredients: broccoli, sesame seeds, fresh chili pepper slices, garlic, and soy sauce. Mix well all the ingredients and make sure that all the broccoli florets are well covered with this seasoning.
Pour all the broccoli florets into the air fryer basket and cook them for about 4 minutes at 400°F (200°C). After this 4 minutes, remove the basket from the air fryer, shake it well to rotate the broccoli on the basket, and return it to the air fryer for another 4 minutes.
In the end, you should get a similar result:
Crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside.
If you enjoyed this broccoli recipe, I also highly recommend trying the recipe of asparagus cooked in air fryer (from frozen).
♻️ Storage and Heating
Can I Make It Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can, but the broccoli will not be so crunchy. Because you can make it so quickly in the air fryer (in less than 10 minutes) I don’t recommend making it ahead. If you are pressed by time, you can wash and cut the broccoli ahead of time or just use frozen broccoli that doesn’t require any preparation ahead.
How Long Does Air Fryer Keto Broccoli Last in the Fridge?
Just wait for the broccoli to cool down, and after that, you can place them in a well-closed storage container and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
How To Reheat The Air Fryer Broccoli?
You can use a microwave, but I will not recommend doing that because you will lose the crunchy texture. To solve this problem, you can put it into the air fryer at 350°F (175°C) for about 2-3 minutes, and they will become back crispy, but pay attention to the broccoli to not burn them.
🤔 Answering Your Questions
Do I need to toast the sesame seeds before using them?
It’s recommended to toast the sesame seeds beforehand to bring out their nutty flavor.
How much garlic and chili pepper should I use?
You can use 2-3 cloves of garlic and 1-2 chili peppers, depending on how spicy you want the dish to be.
Should I remove the seeds from the chili pepper?
You can remove the seeds if you want to reduce the spiciness or leave them in if you prefer it to be very spicy.
📋 Recipe Card:
4-ingredient Keto Broccoli in Air Fryer
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Broccoli
- 2 ½ tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 3 cloves Garlic.
- Chili Pepper to taste
- Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Sesame Seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Wash the broccoli well and spread it in equal florets size.2 pounds Broccoli
- Put the broccoli in a large bowl, pour over the oil, soy sauce, garlic clove, sesame seeds, and fresh chili peppers.2 ½ tablespoons Soy Sauce, 1 tablespoon Sesame Seeds, Chili Pepper, Olive Oil, 3 cloves Garlic.
- Mix the ingredients to cover well all the broccoli florets with oil and spices.
- Put the broccoli in the air fryer basket and cook them at 400°F (200°C) for about 4 minutes.
- Remove the air fryer basket and shake it well to rotate and change the position of the broccoli. Return them back to the oven for 4 minutes.
- Enjoy your meal.
Quick Note
I highly recommend reading the entire recipe to find more tips and notes about this recipe. Read Full Recipe ⇑
Notes
- Pick broccoli of the same size to ensure that all of them will be cooked evenly.
- Feel free to adjust the type of spices and their amount to your liking.
Sara Bir
Very easy and so tasty! Great!
Melania Sirbu
the whole family enjoyed it! thank you!!
Kimberly
We made this broccoli last weekend and it was delicious! I Will definitely be making this again!
Erick
Incredibly easy to make and the flavor was wonderful! Adding the ginger was definitely what put the flavor over the top.
Marry
This is the only way I’ll eat brocollies. It’s my fav!
Rondie
This was my first recipe making in the air fryer and I followed this recipe exactly. It was so easy and tastes delicious!
Marona
Just made this and this recipe by far is the best!!! Love the notes of the ginger!
Jonathan
Love the easiness of this recipe and the delicious taste. Thanks Victoria
Savannah Beasley
I followed the recipe exactly, and they were delicious!