Want your steak to turn out perfect every time, with this Air Fryer Steak Bites recipe you won’t be disappointed! The salt and soy sauce lends a hand in tenderizing while the air fryer does its magic in turning out a nice, caramelized protein-rich cut of juicy sirloin meat.
These juicy steak bites are the bomb when accompanied by rice, noodles, a stir fry or even kabobs. Use them in their simplest form and serve them with mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and an oven-roasted broccoli or roasted asparagus side dish to accompany this steak bites recipe.
This homemade juicy air fryer steak bites recipe is quick and easy to make. With just a few ingredients and a little prep time, you’ll have dinner on the table in under 20 minutes.
If you’re new to air frying, be sure to read the manual or instruction book first. Most air fryers have a preheat setting that helps to speed up cooking time and ensure even frying. In this case, I’ve also set my own temperature setting to 400°F. In addition, the batch does not need to be flipped halfway through cooking. Typically, air fryer can call for oil. Either olive oil or vegetable oil may be of use.
How to Make Air Fryer Steak Bites
- Whisk together oil, pepper, salt, and soy sauce.
- Cut steak into 1 ½ -inch by 1-inch pieces.
- Add steak to bowl of sauce and toss until the meat is thoroughly coated.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.
- Place steak in air fryer basket.
- Cook coated steak bites in air fryer for 7-12 minutes.
Air Fryer Steak Bites Ingredients
- Sirloin Steak: A cut of steak that is leaner and contains a higher amount of protein and because of this they are not as robust as a cut containing higher fat like a ribeye. Cut into bite size pieces or strips. Cuts besides sirloin steak can include new york strip steak, and beef tenderloin.
- Vegetable Oil: Oil helps the soy to spread and coat the meat more evenly as well as retain more moisture. It’s important to use some oil to make steak bites in the air fryer.
- Black Pepper: Ground black pepper adds some much needed flavor to the beef meat as well as some heat.
- Salt: When salt is used with meat it helps draw the water out of the cut and in turn tenderizes it. In addition, I always salt and pepper my steak. Sometimes, I will add garlic salt in place of salt and add a tab of butter once it is done cooking.
- Soy Sauce: Rich in glutamates, soy sauce will make your meat more tender and taste more robust while adding caramelization. Since soy sauce is loaded with sodium, feel free to use low-sodium soy sauce but I prefer my steak on the salty side as it enhances the flavor even more.
Air Fryer Steak Bites Flavorful Variations
Onions: Add some cut up white or yellow onions to your bowl of sauce and toss well
before cooking.
Mushrooms: Steak and mushrooms go hand in hand. Simply add the mushrooms to the bowl to coat in the sauce with a little more oil and air fry them along with the pieces of steak.
Spices: Other spices that go great with soy sauce are garlic, ginger, paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder, lemon juice, and toasted sesame seeds. Sometimes I like to garnish with parsley.
Sauces: Serve the steak bites with a chimichurri sauce, hummus, tzatziki sauce, A1 sauce, barbecue sauce, mustard cream, butter garlic sauce made with fresh garlic or garlic powder, steak Diane sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or Cajun butter sauce.
Cheese: I can’t get enough of blue cheese crumbles on my steak. Once it’s done cooking, add some blue cheese crumbles to the steak and allow it to slightly melt into the meat. Many famous steakhouses now offer this option and it’s one that I really do like. It add a tangy sharp taste to the steak.
Butter: Toss the air fryer steak in a bowl with butter once it’s done cooking. Not only will this ingredient add moisture, but flavor to it as well.
Garlic: If marinating, add the garlic at the beginning to lock in even more garlic flavor and then cook it according to the recipe directions. If you’re like me and enjoy raw garlic, mince the garlic and toss it in a bowl with a little melted butter to serve over the beef while plating it for dinner.
How to Serve Air Fryer Steak Bites
Serve this classic best air fryer steak bites over a bed of steamed white rice, fried rice, or noodles like this vegetable lo mein. In addition, this recipe is great with a side dish of vegetables, or brussels sprouts. Of course, a crunchy green salad is also a great choice.
If you’re looking to host a small get together, make a double batch and serve the bites with a toothpick and a variety of dipping sauces such as blue cheese, ranch, western, honey mustard, or garlic butter sauce.
Reader Questions and Tips About Air Fryer Steak Bites
Should I marinate the meat longer or overnight?
The marinated meat will have time to soak up the sauce during the preheating of the air fryer. If you would like you wait 4 hours to maximize the flavor the meat needs to be put back in the refrigerator. It is not necessary to marinate overnight but if you are prepping for a party, you can certainly do this, and it will not harm the meat. Again, be sure to refrigerate.
Should I poke holes in the meat to make it more tender and absorb more sauce?
Don’t ever poke holes in your meat to marinate. You will make the meat lose it’s juices and it’s natural flavoring.
Can I control how done my cubes of meat are?
Yes, if you want to pull out a piece of meat and check it at the 8 or 9 minute mark you can do this. Simply cut a piece in half but be sure to taste it to make sure the meat isn’t tough if you are going for a rarer piece.
Does it matter which oil I use?
No, any oil, a form of fat, helps extend the soy sauce to evenly distribute so no one piece of meat has an overwhelming soy sauce taste.
What type of Air Fryer do you have?
I have the Cosori Air Fryer.
What cut of meat should I use for Air Fryer Steak Bites?
You can literally use ANY cut of beef. If you need to cook on a budget, but really want steak, you can use chuck roast. If you want something a little better, then you can use sirloin. My cut of meat for steak bites is Beef Tenderloin.
Air Fryer Steak Tips
Cooking steak in an air fryer is a quick and convenient method. Preheat the air fryer, season the steak, and place it in the basket. Cook at a high temperature for a few minutes on each side until desired doneness. Rest the steak before serving for optimal juiciness and tenderness.
Air fryer steak medium-rare: you are definitely going to want to shorten the cook time from 12 minutes to 7 minutes. I would also suggest lowering the Air Fryer temperature from 400 degrees to 380 degrees. I would also recommend that if you are looking for a particular “doneness” that it would be best to keep the steak whole before putting it into the air fryer. This way you can ensure that your steaks internal temperature will not exceed that perfect air fryer steak you are looking for.
Looking for an Air Fryer? Check out this Cosori Air Fryer. It is the same one I use!
Air Fryer Juicy Steak Bites
Ingredients
- 2 lb sirloin steak cut into 1½-inch by 1-inch
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Cut steak into 1½-inch by 1-inch pieces.
- Whisk together oil, pepper, salt, and soy sauce.
- Add steak to bowl and toss together with sauce until coated.
- Preheat air fryer.
- Cook in air fryer at 400°F for 7-12 minutes. 7 minutes = more rare / 12 minutes = medium-well
- Serve as main dish along with steamed rice, vegetables, or noodles.
Notes
- Onions: Add some cut up white or yellow onions to your bowl of sauce and toss well
before cooking. - Mushrooms: Steak and mushrooms go hand in hand. Simply add the mushrooms to the bowl to coat in the sauce with a little more oil and air fry them along with the pieces of steak.
- Spices: Other spices that go great with soy sauce are garlic, ginger, paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder, lemon juice, and toasted sesame seeds.
- Sauces: Serve the steak bites with a chimichurri sauce, hummus, tzatziki sauce, A1 sauce, barbecue sauce, mustard cream, butter garlic sauce, steak Diane sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or Cajun butter sauce.
- Cheese: I can’t get enough of blue cheese crumbles on my steak. Once it’s done cooking, add some blue cheese crumbles to the steak and allow it to slightly melt into the meat. Many famous steakhouses now offer this option and it’s one that I really do like. It add a tangy sharp taste to the steak.
- Butter: Toss the air fryer steak in a bowl with butter once it’s done cooking. Not only will this ingredient add moisture, but flavor to it as well.
- Garlic: If marinating, add the garlic at the beginning to lock in even more garlic flavor and then cook it according to the recipe directions. If you’re like me and enjoy raw garlic, mince the garlic and toss it in a bowl with a little melted butter to serve over the beef while plating it for dinner.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate and it’s accuracy is not guaranteed to be exact.
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14 Responses
These steak bites were delicious! My husband’s exact words were “I don’t see the need to ever make steak at home any other way!” However, I do have to agree with other reviewers who said the times were too long. Every air fryer is different so make sure you monitor yours. I did 10 minutes hoping to get medium and they were WELL done. They still tasted nice and juicy though, so it wasn’t a waste. I only cooked my second batch 4.5 minutes and got medium.
Thank you for the comment. I am glad you and your husband enjoyed them =)
This recipe was incredible.
Excellent, I used beef tenderloin, marinated for few hours, Air Fried for 8 minutes, it was perfect. Served it
with sautéed onions and peppers over LoMein Noodles with a Beef Stir Fry Sauce. My Husband loved it!!
This was delicious! I used elk since that’s what I had on hand. Great flavor and so easy!
Can’t wait to make this!!
Bu I agree 12 minutes was to long. The steak was way to cooked. Next I’m taking 2 or 3 minutes off the cook time. So steak over cooked but it was still very tasty
Can this be done in the rotisserie basket in an oven style air fryer and if so any change to time or temperature?
I do not have one of those, but I am sure it could be.
12 minutes is too long unless you like your steak cooked well done.
Next time I’m dropping cooking time to 8 to 10 minutes.
This batch came out Medium-Well. If you are looking for Rare to Medium I would suggest 6-8 minutes.
Glad I read your comment. 1st time making & don’t like overdone!! Thanks.
Can’t wait to try these! Sound so good and quick and easy to make.
Very easy to make and easy to clean up!