Learn how to cook steak in the air fryer in a few simple steps. Let me show you how to season your steak, how long to cook your steak so it comes out perfect and so much more.
We originally showed you how to cook steak in an air fryer back in the summer of 2018. We thought it was due a facelift and a chance for a binge on air fryer steak!
Also, before we dive into this air fryer steak recipe, I recommend you check out our free air fryer mini course. It is ideal for air fryer beginners or those that want to get more confident with their air fryer. The free course runs for 5 days with a new lesson delivered each day to your inbox.
Or browse our site as we have 450+ air fryer recipes that are easy to recreate at home and we have been showing people how to use the air fryer since 2011.
How To Cook Steak In Air Fryer
If anyone is going to show you how to cook steak in the air fryer then it must be Dominic.
You see he has a work history as far as delicious tender steak is concerned.
He has worked in many British pubs and restaurants cooking steak for more people than he could possibly count.
Then after this he worked in a factory chopping up the meat and preparing it for sale.
So, every time we have steak in the Milners house, Dominic makes the steak and I make the sides.
It turns it into a fun family affair and you can guarantee that our under 7s will be by our feet getting under them as we cook.
When I mentioned to Dominic, that many of our air fryer readers had been asking for a delicious steak recipe that they could follow, he jumped at the chance to have another excuse to make his tender steak.
Can You Cook A Steak In An Air Fryer?
YES, you can. I feel like I need to shout from the rooftops of Recipe This and say that air frying a steak, is AMAZING.
You can use the air fryer to sear your steak, to make your garlic butter, to cook your steak to your liking and you can air fry any steak.
Or another true air fryer love of mine is air fryer frozen steak which is even better. Mainly because you are cooking it at a lower temperature to defrost and its more like sous vide steak.
How To Season Steak For Air Fryer?
I am married to a chef and any chef will tell you, that steak is ruined if over seasoned and good old salt and pepper does the trick.
You can also add in some garlic powder too or another light seasoning that doesn’t take your attention away from how delicious the steak is.
For example, I love to add mint if cooking lamb steaks or parsley with sirloin steaks.
Though it can also differ depending what steak you are cooking. I recommend you have a read through some of our other steaks too. Such as our air fryer sirloin steak, air fryer rump steak and air fryer ribeye steak.
To season your air fryer steak, simply place your steak in the air fryer and season the top of the steak before you air fry.
By sprinkling from the top, you can get a better coating on your steak. Then when you flip your steak over, you can do the same thing on the other side.
How To Cook A Steak In An Air Fryer?
I love cooking steak in an air fryer and this is how simple it is:
- Tenderise your steak and load it into the air fryer.
- Season your steak.
- Air fry.
- Turn + season.
- Air fry + serve.
That same rule applies, regardless of cooking rump, ribeye, fillet, sirloin, or any other favourite cut of steak.
Thin Steak In Air Fryer
We have done many cuts of steak in the air fryer over the years but one that we love to do is air fryer thin steak. And for those of you that want to cook a thin steak in the air fryer we wanted to show you how the cook times differ.
The thin steaks we bought weighed 150g each. The steak we used in Portuguese is called “Bife Da Vazia” which translates to “empty steak” or Dominic often refers to it as a thinner cut of rump steak.
Here are the air fryer steak time and temp for a thin steak:
- Rare = 90 Seconds
- Medium Rare = 3 Minutes
- Medium = 4.5 Minutes
- Well Done = 6 Minutes
Note that these air fryer steak cook times is how long on each side. For example, if you are cooking a medium rare steak (my favourite choice) you would do 3 minutes on one side and then 3 minutes on the other.
How Long Does It Take To Cook Steak In Airfryer?
The length it takes to cook your steak in the air fryer varies depending on how you like your steak.
Another thing to consider is that steak left, carries on cooking. Therefore, when we were recipe testing our medium steak ended up well done because we spent 10 minutes taking pictures of it afterwards.
If you are making steak for a family and leave some out to cook the others, make sure the ones that go in first are cooked for less time. I.e. if you have a family member that wants well done and you want medium, put the well done steak on first.
Here are the cook times we follow when cooking air fryer sirloin steak:
- Rare = 5 minutes on each side
- Medium = 6 minutes on each side
- Medium Well = 7 minutes on each side
- Well Done = 8 minutes on each side
How To Cook Steak In The Air Fryer
Instructions
- Using a tenderiser, tenderise your steaks. Then load your steaks into the air fryer basket and season with salt, pepper, and garlic.
- Air fry for 6 minutes at 180c/360f, turn, season again and air fry for a further 6 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!
I do not have a grill pan, can I cook it in the basket?
Hi Judi,
Yes that would ok, but be careful that it does not stick to the basket ?
Kind regards
Dominic
These steaks look amazing! May I ask are the steaks cut from a rump roast as I have never seen rump steaks.
Hi Patricia,
These are sirloin steaks which we ordered from our an English butcher, as over in Portugal they do not do the sirloin steak on its own. The rump steak is more a round shape and not as good as quality as the sirloin 🙂
Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.
Still new to the air fryer and can’t wait to cook steak.