This Air Fryer Broccoli is both tender and crisped at the same time. So easy and done it 10 minutes! We’ve been making it every night and my kids go wild for it.
Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli
In This Post: Air Fryer Broccoli
Watch How To Make This Air Fryer Broccoli
The Only Broccoli I Make Now.
We honestly make this almost every night right now.
The magic of this specific air fryer broccoli is the method: it gets both tender and crisp at the same time!
Air fryer broccoli can be dry and awkwardly chewy to eat. NOT ANYMORE BABY! Here are the game changers:
- A quick massage! Just like you do with kale. You’ll even see the color of the broccoli change. You’re waking it up!
- A bit of water! The water creates a little steam effect while the broccoli roasts so it stays tender and fluffed while also becoming crispy! And I am abnormally excited about this whole thing!
We throw this air fryer broccoli at every single meal we can. We’ve had it with Marry Me Chicken, Date Night Rigatoni, Tomato Soup and grilled cheese, and dipped in this A+ Gochujang Sauce. And it’s the perfect side for the staple fam-faves: Air Fryer Chicken, Air Fryer Tofu, and Air Fryer Salmon.
FYI for the flavor hogs out there (it me): I tested this with so many extras. I tried a soy sauce version, fresh and granulated garlic, other dry spices, lemon, butter, and even a parmesan panko treatment. But in a rare minimalist moment, I decided that I really loved it best in its simple form: salted, tender, and crisped.
It gets such savory, deep flavor from the roasting process that I genuinely feel it doesn’t need anything else. Go ahead and finish with parm, lemon, or a sauce – but IMHO, the pre-roast doesn’t need anything extra!
I haven’t been this excited about a vegetable in a long time. It’s giving weirdo.
I hope you love it.
P.S. Do not miss this list of all my favorite, most popular easy dinners!
Frequently Asked Questions For This Air Fryer Broccoli
If I have an oven-style air fryer (not a basket), how can I make this?
Massage the water and oil into the broccoli florets in a separate bowl for a minute before placing them on the tray. I almost think of this as “marinating” the broccoli with some moisture. The broccoli will hold onto that moisture (even if it doesn’t absorb it completely) and it helps keep it tender while roasting.
How can I make something similar using the oven (without an air fryer)?
We’ll test this and update once we do! But I think you could follow the same steps as the process above regarding making it in an oven-style air fryer, but then just roast in the oven. Stay tuned!
What air fryer do you use?
My favorite air fryer is the Ninja Pro XL! Here’s a link to buy that on Amazon or Target. (affiliate links) It works especially great for this recipe because it has a large basket size to get them in one layer.
What do you usually serve this air fryer broccoli with?
Basically any time a meal just needs a side of vegetables, this is now my go-to!
Here are a few recipe ideas that it would work well with:
– Liz’s Roasted Broccoli Salad
– Chili Garlic Pappardelle
– Cashew Chicken
– Baked Salmon with Lemon Sauce
– Red Curry Chicken Stir Fry
Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Broccoli
- Total Time: 9 minutes
- Yield: 2–4 servings 1x
Description
This Air Fryer Broccoli is both tender and crisped at the same time. So easy and done it 10 minutes! We’ve been making it every night and my kids go wild for it.
Ingredients
Scale
- one 12-ounce bag broccoli florets (or, one head of broccoli cut into about 3 cups of florets)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1–2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- Prep The Broccoli: Place florets in a bowl. Add water, oil, and salt. Break into bite-sized pieces and massage gently for 30-60 seconds, until the broccoli turns a slightly brighter green. You want to get it to drink up some of that water and oil mixture a bit!
- Cook: Add broccoli to your air fryer. (There will still be a bit of water left over in the bowl; that’s fine.) Air fry at 350 for 5 minutes; give it a quick shake. It should look bright green, like steamed broccoli.
- Crisp It Up: Air fry at 375 for another 2 minutes. Now it should start to look browned, crisped, and roasty toasty. (You can adjust the time and temp to get your desired level of crispness).
- Finish: You’re done! Yum! It’s fluffy and tender, but crisped and browned at the same time. I love this with a dipping sauce or just sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan.
Notes
You can skip the bowl part if you’d like and do this all in the air fryer – you’d massage your broccoli with the oil and salt directly in the basket. Then pour the water into the air fryer, so it falls below the grates and stays there during the cooking process. Just another way to achieve a very similar result (and save a dish). 
Every air fryer is different both in capacity and in temps. You may want to do this in smaller batches depending on the size of the air fryer you’re using. I use this air fryer.
If the broccoli overlaps in the basket a bit at first, that’s okay – it’ll reduce in size to eventually make a single layer for the last few minutes of roasting.
If you’re doing that final roast at 375 and not getting enough crisping, go up to 390 or 400!
If you don’t have a basket air fryer, that’s fine! Just follow step 1 and then transfer to a baking sheet. I almost think of this as “marinating” the broccoli with some moisture. The broccoli will hold onto that moisture (even if it doesn’t absorb it completely) and it helps keep it tender while roasting.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Category: Side
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: air fryer broccoli, broccoli in the air fryer, broccoli recipe, roasted broccoli
Don’t Miss My Top 3 Air Fryer Recipes!
Filed Under: 5 Ingredients Air Fryer All Recipes Broccoli Healthy Kid-Friendly Quick and Easy Recipes Vegan Vegetarian Winter
March 13, 2025
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
My family loved your air fryer broccoli. Will be making again! Thank you!
So glad to hear it, Cassie!
I don’t own an air fryer, bit I’m going to be dogsitting at a home that does. Already love roasted broccoli, so I’ll definitely be giving this a go to see if I should jump on the air fryer bandwagon.
We hope you love this recipe, Jenn!
Hi!
Do you think you could use frozen Broccoli for this?
Following
You definitely could! The texture will be different in that it will probably be a bit softer and the edges may not crisp up as much.
I’m dying to know what dipping sauce you use!
I am wondering about the dip too!
While the instructions cooked the broccoli pretty perfectly, I did find it too salty. I would skip the salt and just add a bit at the table next time.
We appreciate the feedback, Shelly!
Holy cow – you weren’t kidding! This is delicious. I am forever massaging my broccoli from here on out.
So glad you enjoyed it, Anne!
This recipe didn’t work for me at all. I love roasted brocolli and the air frier made it mushy and it looked terrible. I tried air roasting it to save it but damage was done. Won’t do this again. Also way too salty.
This recipe didn’t work for me at all. I love roasted broccoli and the air frier made it mushy and it looked terrible. I tried air roasting it to save it but damage was done. Won’t do this again. Also way too salty.
Sorry to hear that. We appreciate the feedback, Wesley!
Omg, THANK YOU for this recipe! I have never been able to get my air fried broccoli to be even close to oven roasted in taste/texture, but I kept trying since it’s SO much faster. I would never have thought to add the water to steam it a bit. It came out perfect! Will be making this on repeat.
You’re so welcome, Kayla! Thanks for the review!
the texture was PERFECT, but we found it to be inedibly salty. we didn’t use a bag, we used a head of broccoli, so maybe the proportions were off?
Sorry to hear that, Katie! 1 teaspoon of salt should be the right amount for about 3 cups of broccoli. Perhaps your head of broccoli yielded a bit less than 3 cups. Definitely something we may want to test though. Thanks so much for the feedback!
This was great! Quicker than roasting in the oven and I love the massage tip!
Air fryer broccoli is so so good! The perfect level of crisp and it elevates broccoli to a different level. I use a smidge of harissa on mine and divine!
Broccoli is one of my favourite vegetables so this is perfect for me! I don’t think I have done them in an air fryer before, but they look and sound so delicious that I will have to try this out!
Nice Food