You can turn any vegetable into a crunchy snack. Yes, even the weird ones you would never consider snacking on. They just need a thin, crispy, buttery partner to really shine.
This simple snack reminds me of freshly fried tempura vegetables, but it isn’t deep fried, and there’s a flaky wrapper instead of an airy batter–but as soon as you bite into one, you’ll understand the comparison. Both crispy coatings are delicate and light, and live to highlight the vegetable within. Somehow, this combination actually transforms the most humble of veg into a treat.
How to make phyllo veggie sticks
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Rummage through your fridge’s crisper drawer, your vegetable bowl, root cellar, or wherever it is you keep the stuff, and pull out any surplus vegetables. Everything is fair game. Green onions, shallots, celery, garlic–if you can coat the produce in fat and salt, and wrap it in phyllo, then it qualifies. Cut, peel, deseed, and prep the produce appropriately.
Break the veggies down into sticks, or pieces that are three or four inches long, and roughly a 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. If you make the vegetable sticks much thicker, the phyllo dough could burn before the vegetable cooks all the way through. I broke down a green bell pepper into a few strips, and cut asparagus, carrot, broccoli, shallot, and scallions into small pieces. Broccoli florets will flare out about an inch, and that’s fine; it’s the stalk that you want to keep on the thinner side.
Toss the trimmed vegetables into a bowl and drizzle them with enough oil to lightly coat. Sprinkle on a 1/4 teaspoon or more of salt, and toss to season. You can add herbs or spices at this stage too, but I found that limiting the seasoning to salt allowed the quiet flavors of the produce to pop.
Unravel one sheet of thawed phyllo dough, taking care to rewrap the remaining phyllo stack so they don’t dry out. Using a pastry brush, swipe a layer of melted butter over half of the sheet. Fold the unbuttered half down over the buttered half. Butter the “new” side that is now facing up. You’re creating thin layers of dough and butter so later when the butter melts, and the dough crisps, a flaky layer is born.
Sprinkle this top butter layer with a little salt. Place a vegetable piece on one end of the dough and start rolling it up like a little veggie cigar. Roll it all the way to the end and place it seam-side down. Do a final swipe of butter on top, and over any extra long vegetable ends that might be poking out. Repeat this with all of your veggies. For small cuts or stout vegetables, like shallots, broccoli florets, small potatoes, or mushrooms, you can fit two or three pieces onto the dough before you start rolling.
In an air fryer that’s been preheated to 350°F, cook the phyllo-wrapped veggies for a total of eight to 10 minutes on the “air fry” setting. Check on them after five minutes, and give them a flip if necessary. If you’re using vegetables that have a lot of moisture, like tomatoes or zucchini, they may require a midway flip to crisp up on the bottom.
Cool the veggie sticks on a wire rack briefly, about five minutes, before tucking in. Even the toughest vegetables were perfectly tender, not mushy, and the phyllo was golden brown and irresistibly crisp. Don’t forget to do the extra salt sprinkle on the phyllo before you roll it up. It might seem redundant after you season the veggies, but the dough needs some love too. Serve alone, or alongside a bowl of reverse hollandaise sauce or your favorite dip.
Phyllo Veggie Sticks
Ingredients:
- 10-12 pieces of vegetables, cut to about ½-inch thick
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- ½ teaspoon salt, and more for sprinkling
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 10-12 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed
Set the air fryer to the “air fry” setting, and preheat to 350°F. Put the veggies in a bowl. Drizzle with oil, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Toss to coat.
Working one sheet at a time, lay out a sheet of phyllo onto a work surface. Use a pastry brush to spread a thin amount of the melted butter onto half of the dough. Fold the unbuttered side down over the buttered end. Butter this “new” side facing up. Sprinkle the butter with a little salt. Add a veggie stick to the end of the phyllo and roll it up all the way to the end. Place the stick with the seam side down, so it doesn’t unravel. Swipe the top with a little more butter. Repeat this with all the veggies.
Cook in the air fryer at 350°F for eight to 10 minutes, checking on it after five minutes to see if they need to flip. Cool briefly on a wire rack before eating.