Everyone at the table will eat their vegetables when the vegetables are these irresistible crunchy green beans fries! They cook in just five minutes with only a spritz of oil in the air fryer.
Someone asked me recently what the best things to cook in the air fryer are and I immediately replied, “Vegetables!” Vegetables are at their best when they are crispy, crunchy or caramelized, don’t you think? If vegetables have a bad reputation, it’s because too often they are cooked until they are mushy, soggy and limp.
The air fryer is great at bringing out the best in every vegetable. As I have explained before, an air fryer is essentially a powerful, countertop convection oven. Like convection ovens, air fryers contain an exhaust system that whisks away any moisture building up inside. That feature allows the air fryer to dry out foods that naturally contain a lot of moisture, like vegetables, and make them crunchy and caramelized as opposed to soggy. Brussel spouts, for example, come out browned and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside after only a short stint in the air fryer – and with just a light coating of oil.
By drawing out the liquid, the air fryer also intensifies the flavor of vegetables. So, imagine cooking cherry or grape tomatoes in the air fryer. After just 30 minutes- and again, just the barest sheen of olive oil – the tomatoes break down, split and become jammy with their natural sweetness intensified. These jammy roasted tomatoes have about a million possible uses. Use them to top scrambled eggs, a grilled chicken breast or spoon them over toasted bread for an easy appetizer.
I share the recipe for these roasted cherry tomatoes – along with recipes for some pretty amazing vegetable side dishes, like Maple-Soy Brussels Sprouts and Crispy Shallots – in my new book, The Epic Air Fryer Cookbook.
Another trick is to coat your favorite vegetables with breading – I like Japanese-style panko bread crumbs because they are so light and crisp – and essentially turn any vegetable into an irresistible fry, perfect for dipping. With the heat and fast-moving air of the air fryer, breaded vegetables come out golden brown and crunchy with just a spritz of oil. In my book, I share a recipe for avocado fries that I serve with tangy pomegranate molasses. Today, I am sharing a super-easy and quick recipe for green bean fries.
Green beans are one of those workhorse vegetables. They are always in the grocery store. Most kids will tolerate them. But it’s very easy to fall into a rut of always cooking them the same way. Me, I usually just blanch them and saute them up with a little garlic. Do you do something similar?
Today, I want you to shake up your green bean routine and make these reliable legumes fun by turning them into irresistibly crunchy, highly dippable green bean fries. These take only five to six minutes of cooking in the air fryer – you don’t even need to blanch them first – and they will disappear almost as quickly. They’re that good.
The secret to these perfect green bean fries is a simple three-part coating of seasoned flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs. I mix the bread crumbs with freshly grated Parmesan because green beans + Parmesan = heaven.
All you need to make these green bean fries disappear off the plate is a sprinkle of flaky salt, but for added fun, serve them with a favorite dipping sauce. A homemade ranch dip would be perfect, but so would a sweet-and-spicy chili sauce.
What’s the sauce in the photo, you ask? That’s toum, a garlicky spread with a mousse-like texture that is popular in Middle Eastern cuisine. It goes with just about everything – except vampires. (Yeah, there’s a lot of garlic in it.) The toum recipe, which is killer, is in The Epic Air Fryer Cookbook so if you want it, you’re just going to have to buy the book. But the green bean fries recipe is all yours.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs beaten with 1 TB water
- 1 lb. green beans, ends trimmed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the flour on a plate and season well with salt and pepper.
- On a separate plate, whisk together the panko bread crumbs and the grated parmesan.
- Dip a green bean in the flour, shaking off any excess, then coat with egg mixture. Dredge the green bean in the bread crumbs, pressing to make the crumbs adhere, and place on plate or rack. Repeat with the remaining green beans.
- Spray the green beans with oil and place them in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Work in two or three batches as necessary so as not to overcrowd the basket.
- Cook at 400 for 5 to 6 minutes, shaking once halfway through, until breading is browned and crispy.
- Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.
