How to Cook Brussels Sprouts in an Air Fryer

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How to Cook Brussels Sprouts in an Air Fryer

This week, I cooked over 5 pounds of Brussels sprouts in an air fryer. I didn’t expect it, but it turns out that if you like vegetables that are crispy on the outside and soften inside, an air fryer can be a little tricky.

So if you are going to throw sprouts into the olive oil and pop it out of the air fryer, I hope you will read everything I went through first.

This will save you some disappointment!

After a week of experimentation, I finally figured out a better way that didn’t require much extra effort. It’s not as easy as Brussels in the oven, but fried chicken helps if you want to keep your kitchen cool during the hot summer months.

Brussels sprout in an air frying basket near the sauce.

My Air-fried Brussels Sprout Experiment

You might assume you can throw Brussels sprouts into olive oil and salt and cook in a fryer. (After all, if you plan to bake them in the oven, this is easy.)

So I thought I would share what I tried before sharing my favorite method:

Test Round 1: Cut Brussels in half, then throw away with a tablespoon of oil and season with salt. Pour them into an air frying basket and cook for 15 minutes at 350ºF dish. After 15 minutes, the outside looks crispy, but it is difficult to bite in the middle. I increased the cooking time by 5 minutes, by then, the outside was burnt and the inside was still not tender. It feels like I’m biting but dry and burning fries with an incredibly chewy center. (For example, chew each piece for 4-5 minutes. Not fun.)
Test Round 2: Maybe if I cut it smaller, they would cook faster? This time I tried cutting them into quarters and tossed them again with olive oil and salt. After 15 minutes of cooking at 350ºF, they are mostly crispy on the outside and still not cooked well in the center. ah.
Test Round 3: This time, we are cooking Brussels sprouts. There is no cut, so hope the inside will flourish while the outside is crispy. Olive oil, salt, and then enter the air fryer at 350°F for 15 minutes. They look nice and crispy on the outside, but take 5 minutes to cook small pieces. This is by far the best trial, but only very small Brussels sprouts are cooked. Most people are on the larger side and still feel uncomfortable. But if I cook them again, the outside smell will burn.
Test Round 4: I saw another recipe online that calls for Brussels to be soaked in a bowl of water and then cooked in fries. The concept sounds good because obviously Brussels need more moisture so they don’t burn in the air fryer until they are cooked in the middle. Unfortunately, the results of this approach are still very similar. The soaked water must evaporate quickly because the outer bottom is still too crisp and then cooked again.
Test Rounds 5-6: I lost my mind and tried to coat the Brussels sprouts for 8 to 10 minutes. The first time I dipped them in ice water to stop the cooking process, the second time I just drained them and immediately cooked them in an air fryer. I realized that this is too big for someone who wants to cook Brussels in an air fryer, so we will give up on this approach even if the results are better.
Test Round 7: Since we know that boiling will make Brussels tender in the first place, what if I just press the button on the electric teapot and pour the boiling water under the Brussels buds soak? This helps a lot! Let Brussels soak in boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain and cook. However, I realized that I could help them dry by throwing them in the sauce for 10 minutes. So after cooking for 10 minutes I tossed them into the sauce and put them back in the fryer for 10 minutes. This is the best version so far! I tested this version 3 times, but I won’t bring you the details.

As you can see, cooking Brussels sprouts in a fryer is not as easy as you would expect. However, I hope my kitchen smells like Brussels sprouts and can help you get better results in the kitchen over the past week.

How to Cook Brussels Sprouts in an Air Fryer

Step 1:

Cut the Brussels sprouts in half and add them to a large bowl. Cover them with boiling water and let them soak for 10-15 minutes. (I did this quickly with an electric teapot – it contained about 7 cups of water, so how much did I use.)

After soaking, drain the water using a fine mesh filter. Then return the drained vegetables to the bowl.

Brussels are soaked in boiling water and drained.

Step 2:

Throw away the Brussels sprouts with a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt. Then transfer them to the fryer. If they overlap in the basket, it doesn’t matter.

Cook at 350ºF for 10 minutes.

Brussels are cooked in an air-fried basket with olive oil and salt.

Step 3:

Stir the sauce together as you wait during the first cooking cycle. I like to use sriracha, honey, tamari, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger.

However, you can also throw it away with your favorite salad seasoning. You just want to add moisture and extra flavor to prevent Brussels from drying in the fryer.

After 10 minutes of completion, turn the Brussels sprouts back into a large bowl and throw them away with the sauce. Then return them to the basket and cook at 350°F for another 10 minutes.

Stir the sauce into Brussels and air fryer.

When the timer goes out, they should become tender. Let them cool briefly and then serve with your favorite main course. You can also season with extra salt or pepper if needed.

If leftovers are leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They can be heated in a 350ºF air fryer for 5 minutes.

Fresh fries sprouts in the air

1 pound Brussels sprouts ,half
1 spoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon Fine sea salt

Dear Sriracha glaze

1 spoon Honey
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (See comments)
1 teaspoon Rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Tamari
1 Garlic cloves chopped
½ inch Fresh ginger chopped

For best results, boil the kettle. (My electric teapot contains 7 cups of water, so I pressed a button when I pressed the Brussels.) Once the Brussels buds cut it in half, transfer it to a large thermotherapy bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them soak for 10 minutes.
Drain the soaked Brussels and return them to the bowl. Mix well with olive oil and salt and transfer it to an air frying basket. It doesn’t matter, if they overlap. Cook at 350ºF for 10 minutes.
While waiting, mix the honey sriracha glaze in the same large bowl. Stir together honey, sriracha, tamari, garlic and ginger. Once the Brussels is finished cooking, add them to the bowl and toss. Return them to the air fryer and cook at 350ºF for another 10 minutes.
When the timer goes out, test the Brussels sprouts by poking them with a fork to make it gentle. At this point, they should be soft and crispy on the edges. Season salt and pepper if needed and heat.

Nutritional information is one quarter of the batch. This information is automatically calculated using common ingredients, so this is just an estimate, not a guarantee.
Sriracha Note: I initially tested this recipe with 1 tablespoon of Sriracha, but most of my taste testers thought it was too spicy. If you like spicy kicks, feel free to use more than 1 teaspoon.
Seasoning: Brussels tend to cook best (not dry) when thrown away with some kind of sauce. If you don’t like Sriracha Glaze recommendations, use 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite salad seasoning. Sesame ginger or honey balm dressings are very good in these aspects.
If you have a Cuisinart Air Fryer, it tends to run – 50ºF higher than a basket fryer. So you may need to cook at 325ºF in that particular model.