Breaded okra is totally a staple in the south – but us northern folk still know how to fix it! I love making okra in the air fryer! Crunchy little nuggets of goodness! Last week, I was at the farmers market and found a bunch and decided I would make it for myself!
But this recipe also has a bonus recipe! That’s right – if you buy frozen breaded okra – I am sharing the best way to air fry that as well!
How to make air fryer okra
If you’re going to make it from scratch – it’s super simple! You just need fresh okra and then dice it in a chunky dice – about 1″ thick pieces. Then you’ll set up three trays for breading – first you need to roll in flour – I like to use Hooter’s Wing Breading – it has a ton of flavor – my best friend’s introduced me to it for fried fish and now I use it all the time. The 2nd tray will have a beaten egg with a little water in it and the third will have panko breadcrumbs. I like to use this Sweet & Spicy Panko when I can find it.
After you put the okra through the breading trays of Hooters breading – egg – panko – then you’re ready for the air fryer! You’ll spread them in a single layer and air fry at 375 for 12 minutes – shaking halfway through. They come out crunchy and ready to be dipped in ranch!
How to make frozen okra in the air fryer
This is even easier – you can buy frozen breaded okra at most stores and just pop it in the air fryer. You’ll air fry at 400 for 12 minutes. You’ll want to spray with olive oil when you put it in and shake halfway through and spray again. If you don’t spray with olive oil – it doesn’t get browned.
I made both fresh and frozen for this recipe and really liked them both! The frozen is easier and was only $1 at Kroger – hard to beat that! But the fresh was super crispy with the breading route that I took – and spicier! Yum!
Air Fryer Vegetable Recipes
Here are some of my other favorite air fryer vegetable recipes:
Air Fryer Breaded Okra
Ingredients
Breaded Okra from Scratch
- 10-15 okra chunky dice
- 1 cup Hooter's Wing Breading (or regular flour)
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 cup sweet & spicy panko breadcrumbs (or plain panko)
Frozen Okra from Bag
- 1/2 bag frozen breaded okra
Instructions
Make Your Own Fried Breaded Okra
- Cut stem end off okra and then dice remainder into thick chunks approx 1 inch each
- Beat egg and stir in water
- Set up three breading trays with Hooter breading, egg/water and panko
- Toss okra into flour – then egg – then panko
- Add in a single layer in air fryer
- Air Fry at 375 for 12 minutes – shaking halfway through
Air Fried Frozen Okra
- Add 1/2 bag of frozen okra to air fryer
- Air Fry at 400 for 6 minutes
- Open air fryer, shake okra and spritz with olive oil spray
- Air Fry at 400 for 6 more minutes
Thanks for your recipe. I’m going to make this in my air fryer just as soon as I can get to the store to buy some frozen okra! Let me tell you, I am southern born and bred, but I could NEVER get the breading to stay on my fresh okra long enough to fry it! My Mom could, but NOT me, EVER. I gave up long ago trying to use fresh okra and only bought the breaded frozen okra. I know this recipe will be just the thing.
Thank you for sharing. Love your blog!
Claudine in Fort Worth, TX
I’m glad you’re excited to try it – I didn’t have any issue with the breading sticking on the fresh with this recipe! Enjoy!
Just wanted to let you know your recipe card is missing the egg in the ingredients list. I am making this for hubby tomorrow and he can’t wait. Don’t have the Hooters breading but am going to add some canjun seasoning to the flour for a little back heat.
Sorry about that! I fixed it! Hope you like them!
I tried this mine was not cooked all the way and not crispy what is the mistake I might have made first time to use
Well – I’m not sure what size air fryer you used. You might have overcrowded your air fryer – which would prevent the okra from getting as crispy as you might like because mine were separated with space between for the air to circulate around. And you can always cook a bit longer – so they’re cooked through. But most likely – overcrowding. Hope this helps!
I did the version with the Kroger breaded okra. I have a toaster oven-style Air Fryer (Kitchen-Aid), and I have noticed consistently that it needs more time than the basket style air fryer. I cooked them longer and bumped temp up to 420 about halfway through, but eventually they came out flavorful and crispy! Thank you for the assurance that I could cook the breaded okra in my air fryer.
Glad it worked! I think the oven type might need more time because it’s not as enclosed -maybe the baskets – because they’re a little “tighter” hold heat better? But – again – glad it worked!!!!
Orka was mushy.
you might have had too much egg or too much okra in the tray and the air wasn’t able to circulate properly – i’ve never had it turn out mushy.
Thanks for the detailed recipe and cooking method. Before I found this I tried cooking frozen beaded okra at 360o for 11 min in my Ninja Foodie Air Fryer. It cooked but didn’t brown or crisp. Fortunately I had only made a small batch. After reading your recipe I bumped temp to 400o, preheated it, put more frozen breaded okra into the basket, sprayed with Canola Oil (because that’s what’s in my pantry) and started the cooking for 6 min. Opened the Foodie, stirred the okra, sprayed again, and cooked another 6 min more. Def much better cooked than at lower temp. Will need to figure out the oil spray a little better, or maybe raise temp. Thanks so much for this recipe
Glad it helped! I spray lightly with oil – that helps with the browning –