Perfectly cooked Air Fryer Broccoli paired with a Chinese Garlic Sauce for dipping. This can be easily served as a side or appetizer.
It’s so easy to cook vegetables in the air fryer, one of my favorites is air fryer baked potatoes, but this air fryer broccoli is a close runner up. We pair it with our favorite Chinese Garlic Sauce, this sauce is magic.
The sauce is completely optional, you could easily enjoy the broccoli right out of the air fryer, but this sauce is just like the sauce at your local restaurant and it’s so good! It makes a big batch so you can serve it over rice, or with your favorite meals, not just for broccoli! Speaking of, this sauce is also kid-friendly with just a tiny bit of heat, you can add more or less red pepper flakes for your desired level of heat.
One thing you may wonder is can you cook frozen broccoli in an air fryer? You absolutely can, but it won’t get as crispy or roast as well due to the moisture content. It would be very similar to steamed broccoli. For a really good roasted broccoli in the air fryer, you want to use fresh broccoli so it can actually roast. I buy broccoli crowns and cut the florets off for this recipe so they’re easy to pick up and dip.
AIR FRYER BROCCOLI RECIPE
- Broccoli Crowns
- Garlic, granulated
- Salt + Pepper to taste
CHINESE GARLIC SAUCE RECIPE
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 3/4 cup water
- 2/3 cups coconut aminos (this has lower sodium than soy sauce)
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (use more if you like it spicy)
HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER BROCCOLI
Wash your broccoli and then cut the florets off with the stem attached. You want bite-size pieces that are good for dunking, almost like wings.
Spray or drizzle avocado oil onto your broccoli and then season with the granulated garlic and salt and pepper.
Place the broccoli on the top rack of your air fryer basket and then air fryer for 8 minutes at 375 degrees F, tossing once in between. We use a Cuisinart Air Fryer which has two levels. If you only have one just cook as is, but you may need to increase or decrease the cooking time, depending on how well your air fryer cooks.
Once the broccoli is done remove and place it into a serving dish, serve as desired.
HOW TO MAKE CHINESE GARLIC SAUCE
Sauteé the garlic and ginger with the olive oil for about 15-30 seconds.
Add the water or broth, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil. Heat until boiling and then reduce the heat to medium-low.
Combine 1/8 cup of the mixture with cornstarch and then pour it into the sauce, along with a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Cook the sauce with the cornstarch mixture, stirring often until sauce thickens. Once thickened it’s ready to serve.
Allow sauce to cool before refrigerating.
More Broccoli Recipes
- Easy Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
- Easy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Thighs
- Healthy Mac and Cheese Recipe
RECIPE NOTES:
- If you’re not serving as an appetizer you can cut smaller pieces, we like to cut the broccoli so you can grab and dunk.
- The Chinese Garlic Sauce can be made in advance, refrigerate any leftovers for 3-4 days.
- We prefer using fresh over frozen broccoli to really get a good roasted veggie. Frozen veggies are waterlogged and not ideal for roasting.
- We recommend using a high smoke point oil, like avocado oil.
- Control the heat in this recipe, as is it’s kid-friendly, add more red pepper flakes for heat if desired.
Air Fryer Broccoli with Chinese Garlic Sauce
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Air Fryer Broccoli
- 1 whole broccoli crown
- avocado oil spray
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic granulated
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Chinese Garlic Sauce
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 3/4 cup water or broth
- 2/3 cups coconut aminos
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- pinch of red pepper flakes use more if you like it spicy
Instructions
How to make Air Fryer Broccoli
- Wash your broccoli and then cut the florets off with the stem attached. You want bite-size pieces that are good for dunking, almost like wings.
- Spray or drizzle avocado oil onto your broccoli and then season with the granulated garlic and salt and pepper.
- Place the broccoli on the top rack of your air fryer basket and then air fryer for 8 minutes at 375 degrees F, tossing once in between. We use a Cuisinart Air Fryer which has two levels. If you only have one just cook as is, but you may need to increase or decrease the cooking time, depending on how well your air fryer cooks.
- Once the broccoli is done remove and place it into a serving dish, serve as desired.
How to make Chinese Garlic Sauce
- Sauteé the garlic and ginger with the olive oil for about 15-30 seconds.
- Add the water or broth, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil. Heat until boiling and then reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Combine 1/8 cup of the mixture with cornstarch and then pour it into the sauce.
- Cook the sauce with the cornstarch mixture, stirring often until sauce thickens. Once thickened it’s ready to serve.
- Allow sauce to cool before refrigerating.
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Notes
- Nutrition calculator does NOT include the garlic sauce due to it containing over 2 servings.
- If you're not serving as an appetizer you can cut smaller pieces, we like to cut the broccoli so you can grab and dunk.
- The Chinese Garlic Sauce can be made in advance, refrigerate any leftovers for 3-4 days.
- We prefer using fresh over frozen broccoli to really get a good roasted veggie.
- Frozen veggies are waterlogged and not ideal for roasting.
- We recommend using a high smoke point oil, like avocado oil.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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