Air Fryer Frozen Steak

Let's face it, sometimes we forget to take things out of the freezer! While cooking from frozen has never been my favorite way to cook meat, I was very surprised at how delicious and easy it was to air fry a steak from frozen. If fact, it worked so well that I plan on trying it with other cuts of meat, like chicken breasts. I used a frozen ribeye steak in this recipe and the results were excellent. In fact, I didn't see any difference in quality, texture, or taste from a thawed steak.

I also think it would work with a sirloin steak or even a filet, but since they are leaner cuts than the ribeye you won't have the benefit of the fat that renders and bastes the meat as it cooks. You can even air fry steak fries or waffle fries at the same time! Both the steak and fries take about 20 minutes in an air fryer, so if you have the room in your air fryer, place some fries around your steak (but don't crowd the steak or cover the steak with the fries) and cook both at once!

The more I use my Ninja Foodi air fryer, the more amazed I am by how delicious and easy air fryer foods can be! If you want a delicious side dish to serve with your air fryer steak, try out these delicious air fryer fried pickles!

I have created so many easy air fryer recipes and here are some of my favorites! Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Freezing Steak for the Best Quality

The way you prepare your steaks for freezing will impact the quality of the steak when cooked. What I recommend is to vacuum seal each steak individually and freeze up to 3 months for the best quality.

If your steaks are frozen all together in one bag, they will be difficult to cook correctly from frozen. If you don't have a vacuum sealer or need to freeze a large amount of steaks, you can also line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the steaks on the pan so they aren't touching. Put them in the freezer and, once they are frozen solid, you can wrap each one in plastic wrap and then place them into a bag for freezing. You can also use freezer zip lock bags, but make sure to get as much air out as possible for the best results. If you want to use a different type of airtight container, that is perfectly fine, but I would still wrap the steaks in plastic wrap first.

You do not want to freeze your steaks in the package that you buy them in from the grocery store, unless they are in cryovac bags already. Sometimes this is the case with meat, but more often it's done to preserve the freshness of fish and seafood.

I also recommend that, no matter how you freeze your steaks, you use them up within 3-6 months. After 6 months, they start to get those grey areas and, while the meat is still fine and safe to eat, the texture does change. The freezer dries out food after a period of time, so the longer its in the freezer the less juicy your steak will be.

Best Cut of Steak for Air Frying from Frozen

The best steak to use for air frying from frozen is a ribeye, in my opinion. The extra fat and marbling not only adds flavor to your steak, it results in a juicier piece of meat. You can use other cuts of steak, like sirloin or even filet. Whatever cut of steak you use, make sure it is one that you would enjoy cooking on the grill or thawing and searing in a pan to cook. Tough cuts like round steak aren't going to do as well in a dry cooking environment, instead consider something like this recipe for Swiss Steak. Either pressure cooking or braising tougher cuts like a round steak will give you better results in my opinion.

I also think that air frying steak from frozen is best when you like your steak cooked rare, medium rare, or medium. If you like it well done, I might consider braising it or thawing it first for better results. The reason is, it takes longer to cook a steak from frozen and the added time in a dry cooking environment will really dry out your steak and depending on the cut, could make it very tough.

Seasoning a Frozen Steak

One of the reasons I have been so against cooking steak from frozen is because of the seasonings. I simply couldn't wrap my head around how to season a frozen steak and while you certainly won't be able to season ahead of time and allow the salt and other seasonings to penetrate the meat, you can get a nicely flavored steak when seasoning it while frozen.

The seasonings you use are completely up to you, but at the very least I suggest using sea salt or kosher salt and black pepper. I also recommend going a little heavier on the seasoning then you normally would do if you were cooking a steak from room temperature. In my recipe, I used a combination of salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, and some oregano. You could also use some Italian seasoning, a Montreal steak seasoning, or anything else you like on your steak. I suggest using about 1½ the amount of seasonings (except for maybe the salt) you would normally use.

Even when you season your thawed steak just a few minutes before cooking, the seasonings (especially salt) do penetrate the meat fibers slightly. Some say that most seasonings only penetrate about ¼" into the meat, but that is still more than you will get if your steak is frozen. So, by slightly over seasoning it, I think the flavor is better.

It is also important to coat the steak with oil prior to seasoning it. This is so the seasonings will stick. If you absolutely can't have any oil, then spritz with cold water before applying the seasonings. You can use any kind of oil that you like, but I don't recommend using butter on the outside because it may burn during the cooking process.

Timing & Temperature for Air Frying a Steak from Frozen

The actual cooking time depends on a few things, but the most important factor is thickness of the steak. A ¾" steak is going to take less time than a 1 or 1 ½" steak. Always cook to desired internal temperature and not time. It's also important to take into account carryover temperature which happens after you remove the steak from the heating source or in this recipe, I actually just turn off the heating source and leave the steak in the air fryer to rest.

I can't stress enough the importance of a meat thermometer when cooking steak, or any meat for that matter. Especially when you like your steak cooked a certain way. Steak can go from being perfectly cooked to overdone in a matter of minutes. So, if you don't' have a good instant read thermometer, get one. My favorite is the Thermopen MK4 and while it's a little pricey, it is so accurate and has worked perfectly for me for years. A probe style thermometer is also a good choice in most cases, but it won't do much good when cooking from frozen.

How to Air Fry a Steak from Frozen

Prep

Remove your steak(s) from the freezer and remove the packaging. Spritz with olive oil (or your oil of choice) on the top of the steak. Liberally apply your seasoning blend and place the steak, seasoned side down, on the rack in the low position (in the Ninja Foodi PC & AC) or in the air fryer basket. Spritz the unseasoned side with oil and season steak liberally.

Air Frying

Turn your air frying on and set the temperature to 400℉/200℃. Air Fry the frozen 1" steak for a total of 20 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes to ensure even browning and to develop the crust on both sides. When the time is up, don't open the air fryer. Let the steak sit in the air fryer with it turned off for 5 minutes. This finishes the cooking process using just the residual heat and I found that it brought the temperature of the steak to a perfect medium rare.

If you want your steak cooked to a different internal temperature or if it is thinner or thicker, see the timing chart below based on desired result and thickness of the steak.

Once the steak is cooked to your desired internal temperature, transfer steak(s) to a cutting board and place some butter on top if desired. You can use plain salted butter like I did or try making a compound butter with various seasonings. Garlic butter would also be delicious and I recommend using roasted garlic instead of minced for the best flavor. Let the steak rest for another few minutes.

One quick tip, always underestimate your cooking time because you can cook it longer, but you can't uncook. My steak was just slightly overcooked for my liking, but it was still delicious!