BEST air fryer steak bites with dry rub that’s salty and sweet with a bit of a kick! Cubed sirloin, rib eye, tenderloin or air fryer flank steak tips is a high protein dinner idea you can make in a Cosori or Ninja Foodi served inside tacos or over rice.
We made bites of steak with a few T bones we had in the fridge and they came out amazing!! SO we thought we’d share our recipe with y’all. Find this and more easy air fryer recipes here on The Typical Mom blog. (affiliate links present)
Steak Bites with Dry Rub Recipe
I am telling you, these bite size bites of heaven over rice or beside some veggies are the best. Rarely do I ever even grill them whole anymore. Even when it’s summertime I’d rather cube and remove the bones and fat and air fry steak this way. Easier to eat and each bite has so much flavor.
We’ve used this same dry rub on our air fryer filet mignon and it’s always a hit, no matter what it’s on. T-bone, New York strip or even cubing a roast will work to make this one.
How Long to Cook Steak Bites in Air Fryer?
Here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart to see how long each food takes. In this case 5 minutes is all, you want them to stay pink and tender, medium rare, on the inside. Feel free to jump to recipe at top to get started.
Ingredients
- Steak cut into bite size pieces is ideal
- Brown sugar for sweetness
- Paprika for a pop of wow
- Chili powder provides some heat, use less or more
- Garlic powder we like too
- Olive oil goes on first so it can all stick
Variations
Ok so you could really use any type of beef you had in the fridge for this. I like t bones or flank steak or beef tips would work. Whatever on hand is what is used. Since you’re trimming the fat and cubing it up into bite size pieces, it really doesn’t matter what you use.
Can you use frozen steak?
I wouldn’t. For steak bites this really wouldn’t work because you need it cubed too. I would defrost and cook the way directed below. If you don’t have time to do that we have directions for how to cook whole air fryer frozen steak to tender this way. You could sprinkle the same seasonings on halfway thru so they stick.
with Marinade
You could marinate this first if you wanted to but the rub here already gives it a real pack of flavor. So that is up to you. First step is to thaw your meat, remove any bones, trim off the fat and cube into pieces about 1 – 1.5″ in size. Instead of cooking Ninja Foodi pot roast you could cut chuck roast in chunks.
If you wanted teriyaki steak bites, you could use the sauce from our air fryer roast recipe. Instead, I opted to use our dry rub. IT IS INCREDIBLE!! You could use the latter if you preferred though, you’d just want to add a bit of olive oil before cooking.
How to Cook Steak Bites in Air Fryer
- Preheat air fryer so when you add food it is already hot.
- In a bowl mix together steak rub or use a bottled mix.
- Then cut into bite size cubes and put into a bowl, keep them about the same size for an even cook.
- Pour olive oil on beef and stir to coat.
- Then pour in steak rub ingredients (or just salt and pepper) and mix so every piece is nicely coated.
- Pour into air fryer basket and spread out so they’re in a single layer and not overlapping.
- Set to air fry, shaking basket about halfway thru the cook time, check steak for doneness, add 1 more minute at a time until just right.
in Ninja Foodi
For a Ninja Foodi recipe you will use the lid that is attached. That is the only difference since there are two. The button reads air crisp on the front but the rest of the directions are the same. Here’s a quick step by step, but there is also a printable recipe card at the bottom as well.
with Mushrooms
You could EASILY add air fryer mushrooms to the basket as well. They both cook at the same temperature and timing so use this recipe. Add half of your meat + half the shrooms in your bowls. Then cook second half for best results and serve.
How long should dry rub sit on steak?
I have done this a few different ways and I really think that tossing the meat into your steak dry rub and just letting it sit while your machine preheats is just fine. By all means if you wanted it on there longer it wouldn’t hurt anything though the sugar will kinda’ “melt off” with the moisture on the raw meat.
FAQ
I recommend removing the bone (if there is one), trimming off the fat and then cutting into 1×1″ pieces. The biggest thing to remember is to make them all the same size so they all cook evenly. If you have smaller kids you can make the pieces smaller but the cook time would need to be decreased.
Absolutely. You could use our same recipe here, same seasoning dry rub and air fry in just 7 minutes. Keep an eye on them as you want them to stay tender and moist without drying out. Air fryer venison bites are delicious with mushrooms or alone with a bit of crisp.
We used T-bone, filet mignon is the most expensive and leanest, ribeye, chuck eye, flank, skirt, and sirloin steak. If you’re like us and buy meat in bulk you should have several to choose from. A bit of fat is nice so it stays moist.
What to serve with
We like throwing these on a plate with some air fryer vegetables. You could opt for pressure cooker quinoa on the bottom instead for lower carbs too though. Or just have some air fryer corn with it. That is a quick idea.
No matter what you make it’s done in under 30 minutes and has TONS of bold flavors if you use our dry marinade below. We seriously couldn’t keep our hands off of them and I had a little bit left over to eat for lunch the next day.
How to eat leftovers
With these or our Steak Tips in the Oven I would say our go to is to use small flour tortillas and make some tacos. You can then throw in some sliced avocado, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and OH WOW are they great.
How to reheat
Spread steak bites and mushrooms out on a baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F and check after about 10 minutes. Check every 5 minutes until they’re as warm as you want.
Below is a printable version of our recipe including nutritional facts like saturated fat, calories, carbs etc. Those are calculated by the recipe card itself, not me, and will vary depending on how much meat you use. Similar to our air fryer cube steak, differences will be with the cut you choose and sauce(s).
Air Fryer Steak Bites Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 steaks, t bones were used, trimmed and cubed
- steak rub
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Trim steaks, remove bones, and cube into 1" pieces.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Mix together dry rub ingredients in a bowl. Pour olive oil over meat in a bowl and toss to coat.
- Pour dry rub over meat, toss to coat.
- Pour meat into air fryer basket, spread out so pieces are overlapping the least amount possible.
- Set to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes, toss after 3 minutes.
- Test and see if you want them browner/more cooked (larger pieces will take longer, the more you cook them the less tender they will become).
- Serve alone, served with vegetables, inside tortillas for tacos, or over rice.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Would be nice to know the weight of the meat!
The only difference a slight difference in weight would make would be the amount of dry rub coating each piece, have never had an issue with not having enough if you use “normal” size pieces
I’m a novice at this. The recipe looks awesome. What method do you cook the steak bites? Everything reads that it goes in the basket. Am I air crisping or roasting or baking or grilling? Thank you.
If you have a Ninja Foodi you are going to put it in that black air frying basket. Then close the lid that is attached and select air crisp.
Had this today, it was absolutely mouth watering. Will be a regular option now!
Oh good!!
Would it be better to use avocado oil instead of olive oil to coat? I just got a Ninja Foodie Grill and don’t want to set off the smoke alarm – I thought I read in one of your posts to use the avocado oil over olive oil.
For the particular machine, yes avocado oil works better so it doesn’t smoke.