These simple air fryer steak bites with garlic butter make a great low carb snack or quick weeknight dinner protein option. Since they don’t require any time in a marinade, you can have them seasoned and air fried in around 20 minutes. And thanks to lean top sirloin, the recipe makes 4 servings with 25 grams of protein and just 200 calories each!
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How to Cook Steak Bites in the Air Fryer
I’ve included a visual recipe walkthrough below with tips and ingredient notes. You’ll find a full recipe card to print at the bottom of the post if you’re feeling confident and want to skip down. If you have any recipe questions I don’t cover in the recipe card or post, drop a comment at the bottom of the post.
Season bite size pieces of top sirloin with a quick homemade steak seasoning.
I’ve included a note in the recipe card for different cuts of steak you can use. All the nutrition information is pulled from the USDA FoodData Central. If you’d like to see a quick reference cheat sheet for different cuts of steak, check out this steak nutrition guide from friend of the blog, Matt Rosenman.
Once you’ve decided on your cut of steak, here’s everything you’ll need for the steak seasoning:
- kosher salt and black pepper
- chili powder
- garlic and onion powder
- brown sugar
You’ll also need a half tablespoon of olive oil or your choice of oil. Like I mentioned in my BBQ pulled chicken thighs and Mexican shredded chicken thighs, tossing the meat in a little oil before seasoning helps everything stick for max flavor.
Preheat an air fryer for 5 minutes at 400ºF before adding the seasoned steak bites.
You should hear some sizzle when you add the steak bites to the air fryer basket. This is the only recipe on my blog that calls for preheating the air fryer. In this case, you want the basket to be hot so you can get a mild sear on the steak without overcooking the center of your steak bites.
Air fry the steak bites for 4-6 minutes at 400ºF.
Every air fryer is different, but my 8-quart Instant Pot Duo Crisp cooked nearly every test batch to the 140ºF-145ºF range in about 4 minutes. And by the 6-minute mark, my test batches were around 150ºF-160ºF. We won’t get into the “rare vs well done” argument here!
Melt butter and mix with garlic powder, parsley flakes, and crushed red pepper.
Apparently some people don’t enjoy butter on steak. So this step is totally optional. But for the rest of us sane folks, it’s a great way to pack extra flavor into your steak bites. Since it’s a quick recipe without any time in a marinade, we’re really after surface flavor.
Like I mentioned in my air fryer chicken nuggets guide, cutting proteins into bite size chunks and seasoning all sides is a great shortcut method for packing flavor in without marinating or brining.
If you wanted to really show off, you could sauté freshly minced garlic and maybe even some shallots and fresh herbs in a pan before adding in the steak bites. Which brings up a good point.
Can I make these steak bites without an air fryer?
Yep! Get a large skillet (cast iron if possible) with lots of surface area really hot before adding a little oil and the steak bites. Cook for 2-3 minutes before stirring to finish cooking, about 4-5 minutes total. A meat thermometer would come in clutch here.
Toss the air fried steak bites in the garlic butter.
And that’s a wrap. You’ll want to serve your steak bites fresh out of the air fryer. So be sure to plan out your sides before you start cooking.
Serving Your Air Fryer Steak Bites
Pictured above is a simple combo of steamed broccoli with lemon juice and parmesan with an air fryer baked potato. More pairing ideas:
- oven baked crinkle cut fries (the garlic parmesan version)
- use my air fryer Greek chicken and potatoes recipe as a template for steak and potatoes
- the best air fryer green beans
- you can swap the air fryer for oven baked in all 5 of my air fryer brussels sprouts recipes
- or do the same oven swap for any of my air fryer potatoes recipes like cajun fries or ranch potato wedges
These air fried steak bites would also be great as a toothpick-friendly appetizer with something like this creamy horseradish sauce or Oh My! steak sauce.
However you end up serving your steak bites, I’d love to hear about it. Come back and leave a recipe review or join my Facebook group and share it with the 15,000+ healthy home cooks there.
Air Fryer Steak Bites
Ingredients
For the Steak Bites
- 16 oz Top Sirloin Filet*, cut into bite size pieces
- ½ Tablespoon (8g) Olive Oil
- ½ Tablespoon (6g) Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
For the Garlic Butter
- 1 ½ Tablespoon (21g) Butter
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ Red Pepper Flakes
- ¼ teaspoon Parsley Flakes
Instructions
- Toss the steak pieces with the olive oil. Mix the brown sugar and spices together and coat the steak in the seasoning. Set aside.
- Preheat an air fryer for 5 minutes at 400ºF. Once heated, add the steak to the basket and air fry for 4-6 minutes at 400ºF to your desired doneness.
- While the steak cooks, melt the butter and mix in the garlic powder, red pepper, and parsley. Toss the finished steak in the garlic butter before serving.
These are yummy and tender. I used London Broil. However, we aren’t into hot spicy foods so I’d lessen the chili powder next time. This recipe, though, is certainly a keeper and I will make them again; probably many times.
Yummy!!! A f so easy to make! I used a little accessory basket. Preheated it for minutes, to get sear…3 minutes, toss. 3 more minutes. Perfect!
These were awesome! I had some sirloin I needed to cook up. Decided to try this recipe during my lunch break and it’s delicious! Just made some frozen broccoli with it. My husband was a fan too. I think this will be a weekly staple for us! Thanks!
I found some ribeyes on-sale in my local store last weekend, so I decided to make these for Saturday dinner. I made the recipe to the letter sans brown sugar, added just a touch more butter at the end. I served it with steamed parsley rice, French beans with almonds and lemon, and stuffed mushrooms which I broiled in the oven side-by-side. My wife was swooning over dinner, and asked when could I make this again.
First time ever making the recipe in first time putting my steaks in the air fryer turned out. Perfect flavor is wonderful thanks for the recipe. I will keep this one in my favorites and make again.
I made these steak bites randomly because I took my steak out the freezer to thaw and thought.. WHY NOT?!
Oh my gosh I didn’t know how GOOD steak is in the air fryer! I was a little skeptical I’m gonna be honest. Honestly I made them without the butter and they were amazingggg (but still added parsley, and garlic salt on top instead of garlic powder because I used the powder to season my meat). If you’re curious and hungry… make these!
Used cube steak, which I cut into bite size pieces. Deleted brown sugar and chili powder. Used store bought garlic butter to toss steak bites and served over buttered noodles with parmesan and a kale salad. Delicious and tender!
Had a little 8 oz sirloin that I was looking to do something quick with so I just made half the recipe. Wow, so tasty! So much so I forgot to use the butter. Will be doing this again with the butter. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes, Thank You!!! 💜
Made 4 pcs. To try out and must say I was impressed 😀 Making the rest tonight with sum red mashed potatoes & mixed steamed veggies!
This was excellent! Will be great for meal prepping too!