Why you should try this recipe

We’ve all seen air fryer courgette fries, aubergine fries, but how about air fryer green beans? The natural shape of a green bean takes out so much of the prep when creating ‘vegetable fries’. 

They’re already in the perfect shape, so all we have to do is add our cheesy, crispy batter and pop the green beans in air fryer. 

If you’re looking for a healthy snack that is packed full of nutrients, while being equally comforting and delicious, these fried green beans are the recipe for you. 

I’d almost compare it to being a vegetable calamari substitute – which is the highest of compliments, as calamari is my favourite side. 

This recipe would work amazingly with:

Peri Peri chicken wings

Pink sauce pasta

Panzanella salad with halloumi

Ingredients

Green beans 

I use fresh, untrimmed green beans as these are more affordable than trimmed. I also prefer the shape of these when battered as the trimmed beans can look a bit too perfect. 

For the cheapest green beans, you could buy a large frozen bag and defrost the suggested amount, ensuring that you pat them dry before following the method.  

Panko Breadcrumbs

Panko is a type of Japanese breadcrumb which is larger in size than your standard golden breadcrumb. The result is the crispiest texture to our air fryer green beans. 

Parmesan 

I love the way that the parmesan not only flavours this recipe but also fries and crisps up once cooked. This in combination with our panko breadcrumbs is so so good. 

Eggs 

To bind the green beans with the crispy, cheesy batter. 

Lemon 

This is optional but I think it adds a summery brightness to the recipe, as if it were crispy calamari or something. 

Garlic & Onion Powder

To season/flavour the crispy layer of our fried green beans. 

Cornflour

We use this to help bind the green bean to the egg.

How to make air fryer green beans

Start by washing the green beans.

Pat the green beans dry.

Cut off any stringy/tough ends before adding them to a large mixing bowl. Toss in cornflour.

On a plate/ wide bowl, whisk two eggs. On a separate plate, add the panko breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, onion and garlic powder. Stir to combine with your hand. Then add the cornflour coated beans to the egg.

Then toss the beans in the panko breakcrumbs.

Spread the coated beans out on parchment paper on a baking tray.

Place the battered green beans into the airfryer (mine is a Cosori air fryer which I bought after a lot of research and found it had the best reviews), spray with oil (approx 4 sprays per tray) and cook, temperature set to 190°C for 6-7 minutes, or until golden brown. I did mine in 4 batches.

Once golden brown, serve the beans with mayonnaise/alioli.

Alternative cooking methods

Roasted
If you don’t have an air fryer, preheat your oven to 190°C FAN. Place all of the green bean fries onto a parchment lined tray, ensuring they are well spaced/not overlapping. Pop in the oven for around 20 minutes or until golden brown, after coating with oil spray.

Pan fried green beans
You could also shallow fry the green beans in batches in 1 cm of oil over the hob. Fry for 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked/golden and crispy.

Bear in mind, this method is slightly less healthy, as we use a lot more oil than when cooking the green beans in the air fryer.

Adaptations

To make this recipe vegetarian/vegan – substitute parmesan with equal parts nutritional yeast. Substitute the egg with unsweetened almond milk or another unsweetened plant-based alternative.

To make this recipe gluten-free – substitute panko breadcrumbs with a gluten-free alternative such as almond flour for these air fryer green beans.

Top Tips

• After washing the green beans, make sure that you pat them dry with a clean tea towel. If they’re damp/wet, all of the binding ingredients won’t work as intended, which will result in the batter sliding off.
• Season with salt as soon as they come out of the air fryer. Salt binds to hot batter far better than when it’s cooler.
• As you’ll be frying in batches, preheat your oven to 100°C and add all air fryer green beans onto a lined baking tray to keep warm until you’re ready to eat. If you’re only having one serving, you won’t need to do this!
• When dredging the green beans, use one wet hand to coat in the egg and a dry hand to scoop and roll through the breadcrumb mix. This reduces the mess significantly!

Storage/reheat info

Can I meal prep this recipe?

For maximum crispiness and enjoyment, I wouldn’t meal prep these air fryer green beans. You want to eat them fresh, as reheating them could lead to the batter being soggy. That being said, they would still be delicious!

Is this recipe freezable?
Sadly not!

Other delicious low carb recipes… 

Crispy Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Bites with Chilli Mayo Halloumi Tray Bake with Roasted Vegetables Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Courgette Pizza