Is there anything better than a good steak to improve your day? There are so many great ways to cook steak, and now there’s one more. For those days when you don’t have time and energy, air fryer steak is the perfect answer.
Or even when you do have energy, you’ll be surprised how good an air fryer steak can be.
Steak in an air fryer?
Why make steak in an air fryer when you have cast iron, reverse searedor flame grilled steak? While all of those are excellent ways to make steak, an air fryer can have your steaks from raw to less raw (aka, perfectly cooked) in under 10 minutes, with almost zero cleanup. After a long work day, this seems way better to me than hand scrubbing a cast iron skillet with kosher salt or preheating your grill, oiling your grill, scrubbing your grill, etc. Even if it’s for a special occasion, why not make life easier? It’s not more special because it was hard to do.
How to get a good sear
Air frying with its fan and high-ish temps can replicate the same kind of sear you get on a grill or cast iron pan. The trick is getting the steak as close to the heating element as possible. For these photos, I used air fryer racks to lift the steaks right up to the heating element, and the resulting crust is what you see.
Air fryer racks
Air fryers are great, but air fryers with racks are a game changer. Racks allow you to lift the steaks up closer to the heating elements, cook more steaks at once, and prevent any weird grill patterns from the air fryer’s basket. You can use any racks that stack, and fit inside your air fryer. This is the one I’m usingbut be sure to measure your air fryer and make sure the rack fits inside before buying.
Ideally you want to get your steak as close as possible to the heating element while leaving an inch of airspace to be sure nothing spontaneously combusts. Don’t walk away for the 7 minutes the steaks are cooking just in case.
Smoke
There will be lots of smoke. These butter basted steaks are cooked an inch from a 400ºF heating element and are going to get smoky. I put our air fryer right under our hood fan on high and it did the trick. There’s not really a way around the smoke if you want a good crust. It might even be worth it to take your air fryer outside.
The best cut for air fryer steak
Let’s be real, this isn’t a high dollar steak kind of recipe. There are better ways to cook expensive steaks.
I tried this with a striploin and a sirloin, for science. Both were about 1.25” thick or so and both came out perfect for my tastes. The fat cap on the striploin rendered out enough not to be chewy and unappetizing. The sirloin was still tender and juicy and not at all tough or tasteless.
Preheating your air fryer
Preheating an air fryer can seem like an unnecessary step, but it’s really helpful for a fast cooking recipe like steak by reducing the time it takes to get your air fryer up to temp. I threw some oil coated garlic cloves into the basket while preheating (and cooking the steak) and they came out roasted and gooey.
Air Fryer Steak temps
For a quick and easy reference, steaks are roughly done at:
Rare: 125ºF
Medium-rare: 135ºF
Medium: 145ºF
Medium-well: 155ºF
Dry Rubs & Marinades
A steak is pretty good all by itself. I also like cajun butter steak and steak dianeif we’re into flavored steaks.
Steak sauces
Check out this post for our best steak sauces such as classic peppercorn, mustard cream, garlic mushroom, coconut curry, or Japanese chimichurri.
And of course you need potatoes
- The creamiest mashed potatoes
- Triple cooked chips
- The crispiest roast potatoes
- The best baked potato
Perfect Butter Basted Air Fryer Steak
Ingredients
- 2 8~10oz steaks of choice, striploin or ribeye preferred
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp butter or high heat oil
- 4 cloves garlic unpeeledoptional
Special Equipment
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air fryer
Instructions
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Season the steaks and allow to rest on the countertop for about 30 mins.
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Preheat your air fryer at 400ºF for 3 minutes. If using garlic, place them at the bottom of the basket before preheating.
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Microwave the butter for 20 seconds, then another 20 seconds, or until melted.
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Brush the steak down with butter, then place in the basket as close to the top as possible.
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Cook at 400ºF for 7 minutes without flipping for medium rare. See notes for other times.
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Let rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
Rare: 5 min
With rare: 7 min
With: 9 min
With well: 11 min
Estimated Nutrition
Amount Per Serving (8 oz)
Calories from Fat 206
