Air Fryer Ground Beef

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This tasty Air Fryer Ground Beef uses a special browning technique to gain extra flavor in minutes, and is perfect for preparing ground beef ahead of time.

Ground beef made in a air fryer that is in the air fryer basket.

Ground Beef in Air Fryer Recipe

Cooking ground beef in an air fryer is super convenient. Because it cooks so fast, there’s nearly zero babysitting to do, unlike when it’s in a skillet on your stove top.

I wish I had tried this air fryer method for cooking ground beef sooner. There are so many ways we use ground beef for easy weeknight meals, such as tacos, casseroles, spaghetti sauce, and more.

And, there’s zero splatter since everything stays contained inside your air fryer!

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I’ve found it’s super convenient to keep cooked and crumbled ground beef in the freezer, ready to use in some of our favorite recipes. Having it already cooked eliminates a recipe step that you have to do later.

From air fryer chuck roast to ground beef, I’m finding my basket-style air fryer to be a real pro at cooking all kinds of meat like air fryer country-style ribs and even air fryer prime rib.

Lean crumbled ground beef in a air fryer basket.

Cooking Tips

  • Cooking both sides of the ground beef while it’s still in one hunk (before you crumble it) allows for much more caramelization of the meat, giving it loads of additional FLAVOR.
  • You can cook any ground meat in an air fryer. I’ve cooked pork sausage, ground bison, ground turkey, and even ground venison in my air fryer. This recipe works great for all of them, as long as you use lean ground meat similar to 90/10.

Ingredients

  • Lean ground beef: I like to use 90% lean ground beef, so there’s not a lot of fat to deal with.
  • Oil for brushing the air fryer rack: such as avocado oil, canola or vegetable oil, coconut oil
  • Salt and pepper: Always optional
  • Seasonings: Try any seasonings you prefer. See the recipe variations in this post below.
A fresh package of raw ground beef.

How to Make Ground Beef in the Air Fryer

Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F. Do this by turning on the air fryer to the Air Fry setting, pushing start, and letting it cook with nothing in it.

Brush the air fryer rack with oil, then place the block of raw ground beef on top. Don’t crumble the ground beef at this point.

A block of raw ground beef placed onto the air fryer rack.

Let the block of beef cook for 5 minutes, until deeply golden brown on top.

Turn the block of ground beef over.

Cook for an additional 5 minutes on the second side.

Using your favorite meat crumbler tool, crumble the ground beef and spread it out in a single layer over the air fryer rack.

If you don’t have a meat crumbler, you can always use a wire potato masher or fork to crumble the ground beef.

Cook the crumbled ground beef for 3 minutes longer, or if you prefer your ground beef very well done, cook for an additional 5 minutes at this point.

Using a slotted spoon, lift the cooked and crumbled ground beef from the air fryer rack to a bowl.

Freshly cooked ground beef from the air fryer.

Remove the rack, then if any ground beef has fallen beneath into the fats from the beef, prop the basket up by placing a couple of hot pads underneath on one side. Let the fats run down to the lower side and move any cooked ground beef up to the higher side so you can remove it.

To easily remove any fats that have accumulated in the air fryer on the low side, place a couple of crumpled paper towels into the fat to absorb it, then toss into the trash when cool enough to handle.

Air Fryer Ground Beef Variations

When you cook ground beef in the air fryer, you can add almost any seasoning.

I like to add the seasoning to the beef right after I crumble it so that it can get down into all the crevices of the meat.

For instance, if you’re going to use the cooked ground beef to make a Mexican dish, you could add a teaspoon or two of taco seasoning (go by taste if you want).

Or, if you’re going to make spaghetti sauce with the cooked ground beef, add some Italian seasoning to the meat.

At this step, you are still adding some heat to finish cooking the meat and this helps the spices to become even more flavorful.

Recipes with Ground Beef

Easy ground beef chili with golden hominy and pinto beans seasoned with ranch dressing and taco seasoning makes a hearty and flavorful Ground Beef Chili with Hominy.

This easy yet delicious Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet has ground beef, black beans, corn, and cheese and is topped with our favorite Chipotle Crema.

Ready in just minutes, Instant Pot Ground Meat Nacho Dip is full of ground beef (use your favorite ground meat), salsa, black beans, cream cheese, and shredded cheddar.

Air fryer ground beef made with a special browning technique.

Air Fryer Ground Beef

This tasty Air Fryer Ground Beef uses a special browning technique to gain extra flavor in minutes, and is perfect for preparing ground beef ahead of time.
Servings: 4 servings
Cook Time 13 minutes
Total Time 13 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 Cosori 9-in-1 Air Fryer, 6 quart This is a basket style air fryer that works great for cooking meats

Ingredients
 

  • 1 lb. ground beef, I like to use 90% lean so there's not a lot of fat to deal with
  • oil, for brushing the air fryer rack, such as avocado oil, canola, vegetable or coconut oil
  • Salt and pepper, always optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes on 400 degrees F.
  • Brush the air fryer rack with oil, then place the block of ground beef on top. Don’t crumble the ground beef.
  • Let the block of beef cook for 5 minutes, then turn it over and let it cook for an additional 5 minutes on the second side.
  • Using your favorite meat crumbler tool, crumble the ground beef and spread it out in a single layer over the air fryer rack.
  • Cook the crumbled ground beef for 3 minutes longer, or if you prefer your ground beef very well done, cook for an additional 5 minutes at this point.
  • Using a slotted spoon, lift the cooked and crumbled ground beef from the air fryer rack to a bowl.
  • Remove the rack, then if any ground beef has fallen beneath into the fats from the beef, prop the basket up by placing a couple of hot pads underneath on one side. Let the fats run down to the lower side and move any cooked ground beef up to the higher side so you can remove it.
  • To easily remove any fats that have accumulated in the air fryer on the low side, place a couple of crumpled paper towels into the fat to absorb it, then toss into the trash when cool enough to handle.

Nutrition

Calories: 288kcalProtein: 19gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 76mgPotassium: 306mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 2mg
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