I Insist You Roast These Veggie Sides in Your Air Fryer

Welcome to The Cheater’s Guide to Thanksgiving. While there are plenty of tips out there for folks making scratch desserts and artisan loaves, the Cheater’s Guide focuses on the person who could use a helping hand—even from some unconventional sources. Some might call it “cheating” (like that’s a bad thing), but there’s nothing wrong with using modern technology and supermarket know-how to help you make a bangin’ traditional feast—with much less of the traditional work.

The air fryer is the single appliance that has had the biggest impact on my Thanksgiving cooking. This countertop convection oven increases cooking speeds, and takes some of the pressure off of my oven while it’s packed with poultry, pies, and casseroles. While you might be familiar with its crisping power for French fries and pizza rolls, the air fryer can do a lot more than that. It’s actually the best thing you can use for roasted-vegetable side dishes, and I must insist you do so. 

Even if you don’t love the idea of “cheating” your Thanksgiving, you can certainly appreciate a bit of help—this is just from a less-traditional cooking machine. The air fryer can speed up the lengthy roasting time of root vegetables, and cook softer plants in the time it takes you to answer the door four times. Here are my favorite Thanksgiving veggie sides that air fry like a dream.

Stuffed mushrooms

I would gladly eat a plate of these sausage-and-cheese stuffed mushrooms for a meal. (It's not hard to do.) They’re good any time of year, but the fungi really evokes the coziness of harvest season. Buy the whole creminis, or white button mushrooms that look rather large. If you can hand-select your batch from a bin, even better. (You can still stuff small mushrooms, but some of the itty-bitty ones are just ridiculous.)

Here’s my recipe for air-fried stuffed mushrooms. They’re great as a snack or appetizer, but a warning for Thanksgiving: It’s hard to eat just one. And unfortunately, you risk spoiling appetites before the big meal. Instead, add them to the roster of side dishes. Be sure to make a double batch or hide a few for yourself. You’ll thank me later.

Brussels sprouts

One of my favorite cruciferous veggies is Brussels sprouts. They’re fibrous, hearty, and a nice break from all the soft casseroles and mashed sides. To make a gorgeous display of roasted Brussels with delicate, charred outer leaves and tender centers, start by cleaning up your sprouts. That might be trimming down the dried woody stem, removing busted outer leaves, or if your Brussels are especially chunky, cutting them in half lengthwise, trying to split the stem so all the leaves stay attached. 

Put the prepared sprouts in a bowl with a bit of salt and enough cooking oil to lightly coat each piece. I usually pour a tablespoon of oil into a palm, rub my hands together and then go through the batch, coating and tumbling sprouts all the way around until I feel like I got them all. The salt should evenly coat the sprouts, too, after all the tossing. Put the sprouts into the air fryer in an even layer so they cook evenly (do two batches if you have to) and put it on the “air fry” setting for 10 to 15 minutes at 400°F. The Brussels are done when some of the outer leaves are crisp and blackened and the centers are easy to pierce with a knife. Toss them with a squeeze of lemon, roasted garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and flaky salt.

Sweet potatoes

The air fryer makes relatively quick work of these sturdy gems, and depending on the size of your taters and air fryer you can probably do about six at a time. Both whole sweet potatoes or peeled and cubed will cook quickly. 

For whole ‘taters, pierce the skin with a fork a few times and toss them in the air fryer in a single layer, it’s okay if they’re close together; they’ll shrink as they cook. Set the air fryer to 375°F and cook the sweet potatoes for 20 to 35 minutes, depending on their size. They’re done when you can easily pierce the potato to the center with a paring knife. 

For sweet-potato cubes, peel them first and cut them into one-inch cubes. Toss them in a bowl with enough cooking oil to coat them well, and scatter salt over top. Put the cubes into the air fryer in a single layer and cook them at 375°F for about 10 minutes. The sweet potatoes are finished when they’re fork-tender.

Green beans

Green beans might look scrawny, but they stand up to the hot winds of your air fryer quite well. That said, they’re also easy to over cook if you walk away from the kitchen, so check on them early and see if you need to add a minute or so. In an effort to keep the beans tender, I like to use a hot and fast air fry technique.

Trim your green beans as needed, and put them in a bowl with a sprinkle of salt and enough oil to thinly coat the beans. Toss them with your hands to thoroughly coat each bean. Put the green beans in a single layer in the air fryer. Cook them at 400°F for about five minutes and check their progress until they’re finished to your liking.

Chestnuts

Great mixed into stuffing, as a lovely appetizer, or a nice way to end the meal, air-fried chestnuts are simple and easy to make. You can read all the nutty details here, but here’s the TL;DR. Score the chestnuts with one long cut that goes across the entire length or width. It’s nothing too dramatic, but make sure you cut deep enough to go through the outer shell and the fuzzy inner skin. 

Put the chestnuts into the air fryer, cut side up. Air fry them at 400°F for about 10 to 15 minutes. They’re ready to eat when the shells have peeled back and you can see the faintest blush of browning on the exposed inner flesh. When they’ve cooled, squeeze them on the side that opposes the cracked open part and the shell should peel off easily. 

Squash

Cold-weather squashes are one of my greatest vegetable loves. Their dense, sweet flesh, usually brightly hued, is at its best after roasting, and needs only a swipe of salty browned butter with sage to take it right over the top. 

Split the squash (delicata, butternut, and kabocha all work well) and de-seed it. Squash skin is perfectly edible, but some can remain thick and less palatable, so use your discretion if you’d like to peel it or leave it on. Slice the squash into rounds, strips, or chunks of about the same size and thickness. Put them in a bowl with a bit of salt and enough cooking oil to coat the pieces well. Toss it all together with your hands and put the squash hunks into the air fryer in a single layer. Air fry them at 400°F for eight to 20 minutes, depending on the squash and how large the pieces are. They’re done when they’ve picked up some color and they’re fork-tender.