Our breaded air fryer green beans with parmesan are a great snack or side dish to serve with any meal. Crispy and crunchy vegetables covered in Panko bread crumbs are like a copycat The Habit recipe.
Made a batch of these yourself before? We made these with parmesan breading the other day and boy were they amazing! Talk about a healthy snack with a TON of flavor, just like a copycat The Habit side dish. Try this easy air fryer recipe this week.
The way these are made is way less fat than our fried green beans recipe we typically fry in hot oil. I mean those are delicious but if we can get the same result without the oil that is a huge win.
If you are using a multi cooker with multiple functions you need to use the one for air crisp, attached. They are different from Ninja Foodi green beans since those don’t get crispy at all and aren’t breaded.
Tips: My Favorite models are the Cosori or making Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is attached.
It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. This is how to preheat air fryer first before adding your food so it becomes as crispy as possible. For best results, here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
Ingredient Notes
Of course the main star of the show are fresh green beans. You will want to rinse and then cut or break off the ends to prep. Drying completely is important before breading or it won’t stick well and won’t get as crispy.
In this case I want super light and crispy so I go for Panko breadcrumbs which are gluten free. You could use traditional Italian bread crumbs but those are heavier and just have a different look and flavor profile.
Can you make fried green beans with tempura in air fryer?
We used to make fried green beans with tempura batter before and I will admit we still love them that way but if you’re looking for a healthier way to make these, these are better. And wet batter doesn’t work well cooked in hot air so use our breadcrumbs instead.
You will want to dip them in Eggs whisked to help the coating to stick well. If you have an allergy you can brush mayonnaise on instead or even greek yogurt will work the same way.
Can you bread green beans without eggs?
Yes you can but you do need something to get the outside stuff to stick well. If you cannot eat this or ran out there are other options. My favorite substitute would be to brush on some mayonnaise!! Other than that greek yogurt works well, and is healthier. The coating part is a bit time consuming as you’ll need to coat each piece with flour, then dredge into the egg, and lastly press the bread crumbs before cooking.
All purpose flour or gluten free flour could be used for the other step to coat the outsides. You can season with garlic powder or garlic salt, salt and pepper or whatever your favorite flavors are. Old Bay is surprisingly great too.
Parmesan cheese is optional but adds a lot of flavor into the breading so I highly recommend adding some shredded into the breading mixture.
You will also need 3 small plates with lips so you can dredge, dip, and coat the outsides of your air fryer vegetables. Bowls could be used I guess but I left the beans long and thought it was easier this way.
How Long to Cook Breaded Green Beans in Air Fryer
I made about 1/2 lb. of these and it took about 15 minutes to prep. Since I was using my large air fryer I was able to cook them all at once which was nice. If you have a traditional size with a drawer you’d need to make a few batches. Each one will take 6-9 minutes to get crispy crunchy.
Can you use frozen green beans?
Fresh green beans raw, not cooked are used here, if not the breading wont stick. Yes you could make plain old air fryer frozen green beans as a side dish for dinner but those are boring with a capital B. This one brings fried vegetables to a whole new level. Tons of crispy flavor without the fat.
Tips
Tips when making anything coated in this machine; you always want them to be in a single layer, especially with a coating. The magic happens when the hot air is able to rotate around each piece, overlapped this can’t happen.
Another thing is when you air fry green beans or something else coated you must spray the basket first. It would be like cracking an egg into a cast iron pan, it would stick awful right? Well word to the wise, make sure you don’t skip that step or disaster will occur. 😉
Also, you will definitely want some non stick cooking spray in the air fryer basket and on top to crisp well, olive oil spray works too. If you don’t the breading will stick to the grate or tray and pull it right off. You will be sad as ever and you won’t get the texture or taste you ultimately want.
Air Fryer Green Beans Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- 3 shallow bowls
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb green beans, fresh, ends cut off, rinsed
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Wash and trim ends off green beans. On one plate mix together flour, garlic salt, salt and pepper.
- On a 2nd plate mix together Panko and parmesan cheese. On a 3rd plate with a lip whisk together your eggs.
- One by one dip rinsed (a bit wet on the outside still) green beans into flour mixture to coat. Shake off excess, then dip into egg mixture, and then cover with Panko mixture well. Press down on bean so last coating sticks well.
- Place coated beans into air fryer basket or racks.
- Once full and beans are NOT overlapping set to 400 degrees for 6-9 minutes. Timing will vary depending on whether you have multiple racks going or have a smaller basket. Get nice and brown on outside and then allow them to sit inside air fryer for 3-5 minutes to continue to soften bean a bit once they're as crispy as you'd like them.
- Remove that batch and start with another in your air fryer.
- Serve with ranch dressing for dipping sauce.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Bbq sauce is on the top of the list, but probably not great for these. Ranch dressing is perfect for these! Ketchup might be a fave for some, mainly kids. Garlic aioli I love on just about everything. Fry sauce is served with EVERYTHING around here.
Other air fryer finger foods you’ll love
You can jump to recipe and get started today! But if you want to learn how to air fry everything? Here are a few to try next. After you’re done enjoying these, try carrot fries. We serve these air fryer chicken wings a great duo for dinner. Our air fryer zucchini fries are similar to this but with a different veggie
My kids loved how crispy these turned out!
Yay!
Yum! I was looking for an easy snack that my kids would like and these were so easy.
I was curious if you ever considered using flour, egg and dehydrated parmesan and skipping the bread crumbs.
I haven’t but give it a whirl and let us know how that works!