Easy Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans {with Garlic and Butter!}
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You need to get these airfryer frozen green beans into your rotation. They’re garlicy, lemony, crisp and tender- my favorite components of a healthy side dish. Plus you can whip them up in just 8 minutes – no preheat required!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Quick and easy: with my method to airfryer frozen green beans, there is no need to preheat your airfryer, defrost your green beans or partially boil them. We simply chuck them straight from the freezer and into the airfryer basket.
- Healthy: with air fryers, we sometimes think of them as appliances that are purely great for getting your food crispy and cooked quickly. But the mechanism is also amazing for airfrying and partially steaming veg. The water from the frozen green beans falls into the base of the basket, allowing the veg to gently steam whilst it fries. In the oven, it would be swimming in water, whereas the airfryer basket raises the beans off of the base.
- Flavorful: my go-to trifecta of flavor for veg is always lemon, garlic and salt. With these air fryer green beans frozen, we utilise the zest and the juice of the lemon, adding a great depth of flavor to the side dish.
- Keto Friendly: this recipe is gluten free and keto-friendly, as we don’t bread the green beans in any way.
Consider making these other delightful air fryer side dishes during the week: Crispy Air Fryer Sweet Potato Cubes, Easy Diced Air Fryer Potatoes, Air fryer Zucchini Fries
Ingredients
The main ingredients that make this Air Fryer Green Bean recipe fantastic are the following:
Frozen green beans
My bag of beans was 750g which is quite a common packet size, if you use less or more, adjust the cook time slightly by adding or deducting a few minutes.
Garlic
I love the use of fresh garlic here, so if you have it please use instead of garlic powder for these frozen green beans airfryer.
Butter
Butter just lends an extra buttery smoothness to the green beans while helping them brown.
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
Variations/ Adaptations
Add some spice: Fresh chilli would add a great kick to this dish- it also pairs really well with lemon, garlic and salt. If you wanted to add an array of spice, you could add cajun seasoning when you add the garlic or paprika & cayenne pepper.
Sprinkle with cheese: a dusting of parmesan to finish or a crumble of feta works really well with this air fryer frozen green beans recipe. Delish!
How to air fry frozen green beans
- There is no need to preheat your air fryer. Place the frozen green beans into the air fryer basket, add a spray of oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook 4 minutes at 200°C/400°F (Image 1).
- After the 4 minutes, open the air fryer and add the butter and garlic to the green beans. Mix as well as you can (Image 2).
3. Continue cooking green beans for another 4-5 minutes at 200°C/400°F until they are cooked through (Image 3).
4. Once plated, add a few dashes of worcester sauce, the lemon zest, and extra salt and pepper to taste (Image 4).
Need inspiration for some main meal recipes in the air fryer? Try my Thin Pork Chops in Air Fryer (Quick Cooking), Best Gammon Joint in the Air Fryer (with glaze!), Air Fryer Ribeye Steak In Just 12 Minutes!
Tips for the best result
- Skip the foil! The reason this recipe works so well is the thawed excess moisture falls into the base of the airfryer. If you add the foil, the green beans will be soggy.
- The best air fried frozen greens are seasoned generously. We’ve got a lot of green beans going into the basket so season liberally with salt and pepper.
- If you want to go past tender and get to more of a browned green bean, cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Delay adding the garlic to after 8 minutes to prevent the garlic from burning.
Leftover Storage and Reheat Instructions
Refrigerator: You can store leftover air fryer green beans in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an air tight container.
Freezer: I don’t recommend re-freezing these green beans since they were already frozen once. The would lose all their texture and just not be good when reheated.
Reheat: Reheat in the microwave using 15 second bursts until heated through or place back into the air fryer and use the “reheat” setting.
Recipe FAQs
Nope! You don’t even need to preheat your airfryer. Simply throw them straight into your airfryer basket.
This may have happened if you used foil or took the middle basket out of your airfryer. You want your green beans to be elevated off of the base (like with the standard design) so that they aren’t submerged in the thawing/cooking liquid.
This is a healthy recipe, so we’re not dredging or using excess oil, however the beans should be tender and have a good snap to them. If they are overly not crispy/soggy, it may be because of the reason above.
Nope! These airfryer frozen green beans are cooked completely from frozen in just 8 minutes.
If you tried this Air Fryer Frozen Green Bean Recipe, it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Easy Air Fryer Green Beans
Ingredients
- 750 g frozen green beans (£1.08)
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (£0.39)
- Zest of 1 lemon (£0.30)
- 2 tbsp butter, optional
Cupboard essentials
- Few dashes of worcester sauce, ½ tbsp approx
- Spray of neutral oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Method
- Place the frozen green beans into your airfryer basket (no need to preheat). Add a spray of neutral oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes at 200°C/400°F.
- After this time, add half of the lemon zest, optional butter and garlic, cook for a further 4-5 minutes at 200°C/400°F.
- Finish the green beans with the remaining lemon zest, an extra sprinkle of flakey salt & pepper and a few dashes of worcester sauce.
Notes
- The key to perfect air-fried frozen greens is generous seasoning. Since we’re loading up the basket with green beans, be sure to season them well with salt and pepper.
- If you prefer your green beans to have a more browned texture instead of just tender, extend the cooking time by an additional 4-5 minutes. To avoid burning the garlic, wait until the beans have cooked for 8 minutes before adding it.
- Skip using foil! This recipe works best because any extra moisture from the thawed beans drips into the air fryer’s base. If you use foil, your green beans will end up soggy.
Nutrition
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