Name: Air-Fryer Top Sirloin Steak with Roasted Mushrooms and Blue Cheese Sauce
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1½ pounds cremini mushrooms , trimmed and halved if large or left whole if small; 1 cup frozen pearl onions , thawed; 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 4 garlic cloves , minced; 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried; Salt and pepper; 1 (1½-pound) boneless top sirloin steak , 1½ inches thick, trimmed and halved crosswise; 2 ounces blue cheese , crumbled (½ cup); ¼ cup heavy cream; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Why This Recipe Works

Steak with blue cheese sauce, golden-brown mushrooms, and tender onions is typically restaurant fare. For an unfussy version to make at home, we employed our air fryer to cook both steaks and vegetables in one go. We started with relatively inexpensive but well-marbled top sirloin and robust cremini mushrooms. Frozen pearl onions added a classy touch while keeping the prep light. Ensuring the steaks and vegetables finished cooking at the same time initially presented a challenge—they cooked at different rates and the mushrooms took up an awful lot of space in the basket. Our solution was to give the vegetables a head start. Since mushrooms shrink as they cook, we soon had room to rest our steaks on top; this arrangement also lifted our steaks closer to the air fryer's heating element, enhancing browning. While the steaks rested, we microwaved a little blue cheese and cream to create a simple sauce, then stirred in more blue cheese chunks for pleasant texture.

Instructions

Toss mushrooms and onions with 2 teaspoons oil, garlic, thyme, and ½ teaspoon salt in bowl; transfer to air-fryer basket. Place basket in air fryer and set temperature to 400 degrees. Cook until mushrooms and onions begin to brown, 12 to 15 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.

Pat steaks dry with paper towels, rub with remaining 1 teaspoon oil, and season with salt and pepper. Stir mushrooms and onions, then arrange steaks on top, spaced evenly apart. Return basket to air fryer and cook until steaks register 120 to 125 degrees (for medium-rare) or 130 to 135 degrees (for medium), 13 to 18 minutes, flipping and rotating steaks halfway through cooking. Transfer steaks to cutting board and mushroom-onion mixture to serving bowl. Tent each with aluminum foil and let rest while preparing sauce.

Microwave ¼ cup blue cheese and cream in bowl, whisking occasionally, until blue cheese is melted and smooth, about 30 seconds, stirring once halfway through. Let sauce cool slightly, then stir in remaining ¼ cup blue cheese. Stir parsley into mushroom-onion mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Slice steaks and serve with mushroom-onion mixture and sauce.