4.84 from 6 votes

Air Fryer Green Beans

Jump to Recipe
These crispy air fryer green beans are the perfect healthy snack. They’re simple & easy to make - the perfect side dish.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 10 mins
£0.80
Makes: 4
Side, Snack
British

Table of Contents

  1. Why you should try this recipe
  2. Ingredients
  3. How to make air fryer green beans
  4. Alternative cooking methods
  5. Adaptations
  6. Top Tips
  7. Storage/reheat info
4.84 from 6 votes

Air Fryer Green Beans

Jump to Recipe
These crispy air fryer green beans are the perfect healthy snack. They’re simple & easy to make - the perfect side dish.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 10 mins
£0.80
Makes: 4
Side, Snack
British

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

Air fryer green beans on plate with mayonnaise and lemon wedges on a green background.

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.

Ingredients to make air fryer green beans laid on a pale blue background and labelled.

How to make air fryer green beans

Start by washing the green beans.

Green beans washed in metal sieve.
Pat the green beans dry.

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

Green beans covered in flour in a metal bowl.
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.

Whisked egg in a blue bowl.
Then toss the beans in the panko breakcrumbs.

Large plate with panko breadcrumbs.
Spread the coated beans out on parchment paper on a baking tray.

Green beans coated with flour/egg and panko breadcrumbs on parchment paper on a stainless steel 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.

Green beans coated with flour/egg and panko breadcrumbs in the Air fryer tray.

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.

Thumb with red nail varnish and fingers holding a baked Airfryer green bean dipped in mayonnaise with the faded background plate of beans.

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.

Close up of golden browned Airfryer green beans on plate with mayonnaise in a smaller blue bowl and lemon wedges.

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

Air Fryer Green Beans

Print Pin It
4.84 from 6 votes
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 10 mins
£0.80
Side, Snack
British
Servings: 4
These crispy air fryer green beans are the perfect healthy snack. They’re simple & easy to make - the perfect side dish.

Ingredients

  • 240 g green beans (£0.84)
  • 40 g parmesan, finely grated (£2.00/3)=(£0.67)
  • 2 eggs, whisked (£1.00/6)=(£0.17)
  • 70 g panko breadcrumbs (£1.25)
  • ½ lemon, juiced (£0.25)

Optionally serve with cheats aioli

  • Mayonnaise, garlic granules, squeeze of lemon juice & a pinch of salt

Cupboard Essentials

  • Spray of oil 4 per tray
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp cornflour

Method

  • Start by washing the green beans and pat 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.
  • Coat the cornflour coated green bean in egg using your left hand (wet hand) then add to the breadcrumb bowl, scooping the cheesy/breadcrumb mix over with your right hand (dry hand). Set onto a parchment lined tray and repeat.
  • Place the battered green beans into the airfryer, 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.
  • Season generously with salt as soon as they’re out of the air fryer. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and your dip of choice.

Nutrition

Servings: 4 servings
Fat: 7g
Calories: 170kcal
Carbohydrates: 17g
Protein: 9g
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