Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli And Cauliflower

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Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli & Cauliflower. How to cook air fryer roasted cauliflower and broccoli in the air fryer together from frozen. A delicious easy side dish and perfect for pairing up with our air fryer chicken recipes.

Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli & Cauliflower

Here at Recipe This we have shared with you air fryer frozen broccoli, air fryer frozen cauliflower and air fryer frozen brussel sprouts as part of our favourite frozen vegetables in the air fryer.

But what we have not talked about is the best of them all and that is cooking air fryer frozen broccoli and cauliflower together!

How many times do you struggle to choose between cauliflower and broccoli and want to eat both?

Or if asked which is your favourite it can be a hard decision between your love for broccoli and your love for cauliflower.

As I wrote this I looked up and shouted at Dominic, who was in another room “CAULIFLOWER OR BROCCOLI”? Then like me he couldn’t make a decision.

Just like me he LOVES instant pot cauliflower cheese and air fryer frozen roasted broccoli. Both are favourites and both can be used in different ways.

But what is often overlooked is how good broccoli and cauliflower are cooked together.

When I am grocery shopping, I often buy frozen bags of cauliflower and broccoli florets mixed. And that is what we are using today for you.

If you too like both then let me introduce you to delicious crispy air fryer frozen broccoli and cauliflower.

Once you have cooked it in the instant pot and the air fryer like we do, there will be no going back.

Can You Cook Frozen Cauliflower And Broccoli In An Air Fryer Together?

Yes you can! Both frozen cauliflower and frozen broccoli have similar cook times in the air fryer basket.

They also crisp up with similar ingredients and work well together.

The only change I make when cooking air fryer broccoli and cauliflower is to make sure the broccoli florets are bigger than the cauliflower florets. Otherwise the cauliflower will need a slightly longer cook time than the broccoli.

Why Frozen Vegetables In An Air Fryer?

I often get asked what I cook the most in the air fryer and it comes down to three types of foods:

• Chicken – I love cooking air fryer rotisserie chicken the most, followed my delicious air fryer chicken thighs and potatoes.

• Potatoes – I could eat my air fryer potato wedges everyday and forever. After these air fryer breakfast potatoes are also on the hit list.

• Vegetables – My favourite is air fryer frozen broccoli, and this followed by air fryer frozen corn on the cob and OMG I love air fryer kale chips when I can get some fresh kale.

Almost everyday air fryer vegetables will be going in the air fryer and once you have cooked air fryer vegetables in the air fryer, you will wish you had bought an air fryer years ago just for this!

Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower (3 Ways)

There are 3 main ways that you can cook frozen broccoli & cauliflower in an air fryer.

1. Roasted from frozen in the air fryer basket. Where you literally throw the frozen veggies into the air fryer basket and come back to them later.
2. Steam your frozen broccoli and cauliflower in the instant pot and then roast in the air fryer for a quicker option.
3. Steam your frozen florets in the instant pot and then use the Mealthy Crisplid or other air fryer converter to crisp the broccoli and cauliflower to turn it into roasted delicious vegetable heaven.

We have explored all three of these air fryer frozen roasted vegetable options and we have our opinion of what works best.

#1 Roasted from frozen in the air fryer basket

In our opinion, takes way too long and quite often you have a crispy edge but a hard as nails stem.

I am really not a fan of this. In my opinion this only truly works if you want blackened cauliflower, as that’s the only way to get the balance right between crispy vegetable and tender stem.

#2 Steamed frozen in the instant pot + air fried for crispness

Can I mention that this is the best air fryer frozen broccoli and cauliflower that you will ever try? When I was recipe testing our air fryer vegetables from frozen, I never told Dominic which was which and he also agreed that this was the BEST.

You see the cauliflower and broccoli florets are tender and the cauliflower and broccoli is perfectly cooked, yet the crispy roasted vegetable texture remains.

You can also cook a lot more compared to roasted in the air fryer basket because it is perfectly cooked already and then you are just crisping it.

Though I do think it does a better job in the Philips XXL because the basket is large, and everything fits in nicely.

Plus, wait until you see how fast it cooks compared to avoiding the instant pot.

#3 Steam frozen in the instant pot and crisp with the Mealthy Crisplid

This is one of those cooking experiments that you want to work but didn’t. The Mealthy Crisplid was going for ages and it just didn’t crisp the broccoli and cauliflower enough.

In fact, you would have to feel for crisp bits and was just like reheating the broccoli and cauliflower. Such a shame as it would make roasting broccoli and cauliflower so much easier.

I call this my Ninja Foodi Frozen Method. That is because a Mealthy Crisplid turns an instant pot into the Ninja Foodi. Everyone can relate to the Ninja Foodi, but not everyone has heard of a Mealthy Crisplid or an Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid.

How Long Do You Cook Frozen Cauliflower In Air Fryer?

Frozen broccoli and cauliflower air fryer time is JUST 8 minutes when you have followed our method below and cooked the cauliflower and broccoli in the instant pot FIRST for 0 minutes.

Or if cooking a LOT of frozen broccoli and cauliflower, or your florets are really big, to adjust the instant pot cooking time to 2 minutes.

Add together the pressure cooker time and the air fryer time and you are looking at a cook time of approximately 8 minutes.

YES REALLY air fryer roasted broccoli and cauliflower in JUST 8 minutes. Isn’t that amazing?

How To Cook Broccoli And Cauliflower In Air Fryer?

Below I am sharing with you my favourite way to cook from frozen roasted cauliflower and broccoli in the air fryer and that is thanks to combining the efforts of an instant pot with the air fryer.

That way (as mentioned above) you have the best of both worlds. Your frozen florets are perfectly cooked, and are crispy like baked vegetables.

Cooking from frozen in the air fryer is so simple:

1. Load your frozen florets into a steamer basket. Place a cup of water in the instant pot and lower in your frozen florets in its steamer basket.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Set the valve to sealing and cook for ZERO minutes.
4. When it beeps quickly manually release pressure.
5. Load the cauliflower and broccoli into the air fryer basket, sprinkle with favourite seasonings and spray with a little extra virgin olive oil.
6. Cook for 8 minutes on a medium heat.
7. Serve.

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