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.
Have made these twice now! They are delicious and a quick recipe. Just know some steaks will have different cooking times. This will probably be a weekly recipe in our household, definitely recommend!
Delicious and my new go to when I need a boost in my protein and want to enjoy my dinner!!
I loved these steak bites! I skipped the garlic butter and added the red pepper flakes to the steak directly. These reheat well and are a great protein snack!
There are doooooooope. I’ve made them quite a few times now-basically anytime there’s a good deal on cheap steak. I gotta tell ya, I always go full hog on the garlic butter and use the real stuff. It’s for sure worth it.
If you like your meat to still be mooing, this probably ain’t the recipe for ya. BUT I have found that if I cut my steak chunks a little bigger (like, 1″ at least) I get a little pink in there. Also, I cook for about 5 minutes but try to flip the pieces half way.
Anyhoo, worth a try!
Showed the hubby this one and he was skeptical, but the steak came out super tender and held its flavor! It was easy to cook and clean up was a breeze. We dipped the steak bites in a sour cream/horseradish dip and it was delicious! Could work as an appetizer or dinner.
If you are craving steak this is a super easy way to get your cravings met 😋
Great steak and super easy to make! Quick steak made easy
I loved these steak bites! I don’t think I cut them small enough, because I had to cook for twice the amount of time the recipe calls for, but they still turned out great! Also the butter at the end is just *chefs kiss*
These were absolutely delicious! I didn’t add the brown sugar, just my personal preference. Soooo yummy! I did have to cook them longer, as I cut them into 1” cubes. Definitely making again ☺️
Made this recipe tonight and it was super good! Took a few extra minutes in my air fryer but over all super good!