If you're looking for a quick and wholesome snack or a crispy side dish that's irresistibly good, your air fryer is about to become your new best friend. This Crispy Air Fryer Spinach takes only minutes to make and it's perfect for munching or with your favorite main course.
In a few steps (and a few minutes), you can transform regular spinach into a tasty snack or side.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Super quick and easy: Making this spinach in the air fryer cuts cooking time down to less than 10 minutes.
- Less oil: This recipe calls for just a small amount of olive oil - only 1 teaspoon for the whole batch.
- Crispy chips: The spinach comes out nice and crispy with a salty taste. They make a great snack for game days or a tasty side dish.
- Family friendly: Air frying spinach is my kids' favorite way to eat it.
Ingredient Notes
- Spinach - I love making these chips with a bunch of spinach from the farmer's market. You can also use baby spinach which means you can skip having to remove the stems
Variations
- Make them spicy by adding some red pepper flakes.
- Change up the seasoning with garlic powder or onion powder.
- Add some parmesan cheese (regular or vegan) for a delicious cheesy flavor.
- Add some sesame seeds.
- This uses only a small amount of oil. But you can also just use a cooking spray instead.
Instructions
1. Wash the spinach thoroughly. In a large bowl of water, soak the spinach. Drain, rinse and repeat until the water is clear.
If you are using packaged prewashed spinach you can skip this step.
2. Remove the stems by tearing them out with your hands. You can also use a sharp knife but it's easier with your hands. If you have any particularly large spinach leaves you can tear them in half.
3. Place the leaves on a paper towel to dry. Use another paper towel to dry off the leaves.
4. In a large bowl, place the spinach leaves, olive oil and salt and pepper. Use tongs to toss the spinach to coat. You don't want to use too much oil or else the spinach leaves might not dry out.
5. In the basket of the air fryer, place the spinach leaves. It may look like a lot of spinach, but when it cooks it will shrink a lot.
If you have a larger air fryer, it will be easy to cook the spinach in 1 batch. If you have a smaller air fryer you may want to split this in 2 batches.
6. Bake the spinach chips at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. For best results, use your tongs to stir around the spinach every few minutes so the hot air can reach all the spinach.
7. Taste the cooked spinach. If it needs it, add a sprinkling of sea salt on top and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Make sure the spinach isn't too wet before adding it to the bowl with the olive oil. Use paper towels soak up any excess water.
- Stir the spinach at least 2 times while it's in the air fryer to ensure you get crispy spinach leaves and not any soggy pieces.
- Find the freshest spinach you can for this recipe. It should be a bright green color.
Storage Tips
These spinach chips are best eaten right after making them. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, but they will start to lose their crispiness.
Recipe FAQs
I love these as a snack. They are also a great side dish and an easy way for kids to eat spinach. They are also a tasty and crispy salad topper.
Yes! Following the same steps but bake them in a single layer on a baking sheet for 10-12 minutes.
As spinach is high in dietary fiber and a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, iron and calcium, these chips can be a healthy snack.
A block of frozen spinach won't work. However, you can also find bags of frozen spinach leaves. You can cook them in the air fryer but they won't get crispy like regular spinach as frozen spinach holds a lot of water.
Veggies To Snack On
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Recipe
Crispy Air Fryer Spinach
Ingredients
- 4 cups spinach
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Wash spinach thoroughly by soaking in a large bowl of water. Rinse and repeat until water is clear.
- Remove the stems from the leaves by simply tearing it out with your hands. If you are using baby spinach you can skip this step.
- Dry spinach leaves on a paper towel.
- In a large bowl, stir the spinach, olive oil, salt and pepper until the spinach leaves are lightly coated.
- Place spinach in the air fryer basket.
- Bake at 350℉ for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure the spinach isn't too wet before adding it to the bowl with the olive oil. Use paper towels soak up any excess water.
- Stir the spinach at least 2 times while it's in the air fryer to ensure you get crispy spinach leaves and not any soggy pieces.
- Find the freshest spinach you can for this recipe. It should be a bright green color.
Equipment
- Air Fryer
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