Air fryer ravioli is a quick and easy appetizer the whole family will love. Toasted ravioli is beautifully crispy on the outside, and seasoned with basil and oregano.
Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. Ready in less than 25 minutes!
Fried ravioli is such a fun appetizer to get at restaurants.
With crispy breading, creamy filling, and marinara sauce for dunking, there’s a lot to love!
Toasted ravioli was popularized in St. Louis, Missouri. From there it has spread.
It is typically made by dunking ravioli in eggs, milk, and/or buttermilk. Then it’s coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.
Unfortunately, finding vegan fried ravioli is a rarity. (Although, I did score some recently in Kansas City!)
Luckily, it’s super easy to make fried ravioli at home, using store-bought vegan ravioli.
You can use either fresh, thawed, or frozen ravioli.
Plus, thanks to the convenience of the air fryer, it’s not oily or heavy like its deep fried counterpart.
It tastes a lot healthier than what you might find at a restaurant. But you still get all of that delicious flavor.
This mouthwatering appetizer is:
- Beautifully crispy
- Flavorfully seasoned
- Stuffed with delicious filling
- Easy to make
- Completed with pantry-friendly ingredients
- Sure to please the entire family
Vegan toasted ravioli is a wonderful appetizer for a dinner party or games night.
Or you can smother it in sauce, and serve it alongside a veggie.
Voila, you have lunch or dinner!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need for this air fryer ravioli recipe.
Vegan ravioli: Either fresh or frozen will work here.
In these pictures, I used Trader Joe’s vegan ravioli. Kite Hill ravioli is also terrific.
Panko breadcrumbs: Panko is a Japanese style of breadcrumb. It is ideal for a perfectly crisp, crackling exterior.
You can find it next to the other styles of breadcrumbs in the center aisles of the grocery store.
Aquafaba: Aquafaba is the liquid inside of a can of beans like chickpeas or Great Northern beans. Simply open a can & use the liquid inside for dipping.
Or if you make your own beans from scratch, you can use the liquid the beans cooked in.
Aquafaba is great for getting breadcrumbs to stick to the ravioli. And it helps them to get toasty brown.
(Keep scrolling for alternatives to aquafaba.)
Nutritional yeast flakes: This inactive yeast adds delicious cheesiness to the breading. (Learn more about nutritional yeast flakes here.)
Seasonings: Fill out the breadcrumbs with these delicious seasonings – dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Oil spray: A light spray of oil helps the toasted ravioli to brown. I use a refillable, non-aerosol style sprayer.
Marinara: Use your favorite marinara as a dipping sauce.
Where to find vegan ravioli
While you could make your own vegan ravioli from scratch, for this recipe we’re going the easy route and using store-bought.
That’s what makes this appetizer recipe so fast, easy, and convenient.
You can find vegan ravioli in most natural grocery stores, like Whole Foods.
Kite Hill makes two flavors – spinach or mushroom. Both types include almond milk ricotta.
Depending on the store, it is sold in either the refrigerated or frozen section.
Trader Joe’s also sells their own cashew cheese ravioli in the refrigerated section of the store.
Either frozen, thawed, or fresh ravioli will work for this recipe. You can use it straight out of the freezer (without thawing first) or refrigerator.
Through the magic of the air fryer, the time and temperature are exactly the same.
If the frozen ravioli are stuck together, move them to the refrigerator to thaw before using. Once thawed, it isn’t difficult to carefully pull them apart.
(If there’s a little bit of tearing, don’t worry about it. the panko breadcrumbs will cover that area just fine.)
Step by step instructions
(For full ingredient amounts, keep scrolling to the recipe box at the end of this post.)
Do NOT boil the noodles. For this recipe, we’re breading them straight out of the package – fresh or frozen.
Start by making a breading station.
On a plate combine:
- Panko bread crumbs
- Nutritional yeast flakes
- Dried basil
- Dried oregano
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Pepper
Put aquafaba in a bowl.
One at a time, dip vegan ravioli into aquafaba. Shake off excess liquid.
Then dredge in seasoned breadcrumbs.
(The bread crumbs stick best when dry. If yours stop sticking well, replace with fresh panko & re-season.)
Move breaded ravioli to the air fryer basket in a single layer, being careful not to overlap.
(If necessary, air fry in batches. Keep in mind subsequent batches may cook more quickly, because of a hot air fryer.)
Spritz ravioli with cooking spray then air fry at 390 degrees for 6 minutes.
Flip ravioli one by one. Then air fry 2 more minutes.
Serve air fried ravioli with warmed marinara for dipping.
Make it your own
You can make this air fryer toasted ravioli your own by varying the ingredients.
- Replace aquafaba with non-dairy milk blended with a small spoonful of cornstarch.
- Or you can replace aquafaba with a very thin layer of vegan mayo on each ravioli like I did with my eggplant parmesan recipe. (Be sure to remove any excess mayo.)
- Replace seasonings with several generous shakes of Italian seasoning blend.
- Omit the nutritional yeast flakes if you don’t have them or don’t like them.
- Instead of seasoning the panko yourself, you can use store-bought seasoned panko that uses Italian seasonings.
Serving ideas
Serve with a delicious dipping sauce:
Make it a meal with these side dishes:
- Broccolini with garlic & kale
- Tomato cucumber salad
- Avocado caprese salad
- Air fryer asparagus
- Grilled Portobello mushrooms
- Red wine mushrooms
- Sautéed kale
Storage
Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator.
They will keep for about 3 days.
To reheat, put the breaded ravioli into the air fryer in a single layer.
Air fry leftovers at 390 degrees for 3 to 4 minutes.
Since they are already browned on both sides, you won’t need to flip them.
More vegan air fryer recipes
Craving even more vegan air fryer recipes?
Here are some popular ones you’ll love:
- Fried pickles
- Fried artichoke hearts
- Stuffed peppers
- Baked potato
- Roasted garlic
- Vegan arancini
- Vegan pulled pork
Vegan fried ravioli in the air fryer
Ingredients
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch salt & pepper
- ¼ cup aquafaba liquid from can of chickpeas or other beans*
- 8 ounces vegan ravioli frozen, thawed, or fresh
- Spritz of cooking spray
- ½ cup marinara for dipping
Instructions
- On a plate, combine panko bread crumbs, nutritional yeast flakes, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Put aquafaba into a small separate bowl.
- Dip ravioli into aquafaba, shake off excess liquid, and then dredge in bread crumb mixture. Make sure that the ravioli gets fully covered. Continue until all of the ravioli has been breaded.
- Move the breaded ravioli into the air fryer basket in a single layer. Be careful not to overlap the ravioli too much in the air fryer, so that they can brown evenly. (You don't want it to be too overcrowded. If necessary, air fry in batches. Keep in mind that subsequent batches may cook more quickly, because of a warmer air fryer.)
- Spritz the ravioli with cooking spray.
- Set air fryer to 390 degrees. Air fry for 6 minutes. Carefully flip each ravioli over. (Don't just shake the basket. If you do, you'll lose a lot of bread crumbs.) Air fry for 2 more minutes.
- Remove ravioli from air fryer and serve with warm marinara for dipping.
Sarah
These look delicious—we really like the Rising Moon ravioli too! And I agree—panko is my fave bread crumb! Can’t beat that crispy crunch!
Cadry
Thanks, Sarah! Once you get hooked on panko, there’s no going back to other bread crumb choices for breading. It’s so perfectly crunchy!
Becky Striepe
Cadry, these look amazing, and I love your video. So smart adding crunchy panko to the outside.
Cadry
Thanks, Becky! That’s nice to hear. Got to love the finger foods.
Jojo
Wow! I am a huge ravioli fan but I never knew that frying it was a thing people did. I need to try this ASAP!
Cadry
Apparently, fried ravioli was popularized in St. Louis, Missouri! I had no idea until I was working on this post. Iowa isn’t too far from Missouri, and so fried ravioli is something I’ve always known about. I just figured it was a common thing! If you’re a huge ravioli fan, you’ll love it breaded and fried!
Shauna
VegNews Magazine pinned this on Pinterest! How exciting. Also every time you post an air fryer recipe I get closer and closer to buying one. I need one so bad!!
Cadry
Oh, that’s great! I had no idea. Thanks for letting me know, Shauna! It took me a while to give in to the air fryer mania, but I’m glad I finally did. I use it daily!
Darlene
YUM! Neither my omni husband or I thought of this but he said he’d pick up some ravioli when he goes to the grocery this week. Girl, you need a You Tube channel!!!!
Cadry
That’s great, Darlene! I hope you enjoy them. You are in luck – I have a YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/user/cadryskitchen
Eve-Marie
So you don’t cook the ravioli according to package directions before breading and air frying? Thanks!
Cadry
That’s correct. You don’t cook the ravioli according to package directions before breading and air frying. They will cook in the air fryer instead.
Eve-Marie
Thank you for such a fast response, you are awesome! Trying this tonight 😊
Cadry
My pleasure! I think you’re going to love it! Let me know how it goes.
Eve-Marie
They turned out great – an easy, fun, and delicious recipe – thanks!
Cadry
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear it. Thank you for coming back and letting me know!
Ginny McMeans
I saw this recipe and thought it looks so delicious and couldn’t wait to try it. What a fantastic bonus when it turned out to be a favorite of my husbands too. I’ve made it at lest 10 times now. Thanks so much.
Teri
Love this recipe! I just use almond milk and cornstarch for the dipping step (rather then aquafab) and then the panko crumbs and seasonings as listed in the recipe. We also alternate using marinara to dip them or a no oil vegan pesto that I make with basil and peas. I’m going to try this with the Engine 2 ravioli brand from Whole Foods next time we visit one.
Cadry
I’m so glad to hear that you are both enjoying it! What a good idea to use different dipping sauces to mix things up. Thanks for the feedback!
Laurie
Thank you for this recipe! I used soymilk to make the panko stick and it worked perfectly. This will be a new favourite around the house, I can already tell!
Cadry
I’m so happy to hear that, Laurie. Thank you for letting me know!
tehodler
This is neat. I saw it on Twitter. Thanks for posting it.
I’ve been experimenting with flax meal soaked in hot water as an egg replacement and I have had a lot of success. I might try it with this recipe.
Cadry
Thanks! Flax eggs are really popular. I especially like them with baked goods. In this case, the ravioli really don’t need much to get the bread crumbs to stick. So I would think a flax egg might be a little heavy.
If you didn’t want to use aquafaba as written in the recipe, I’d use vegan mayonnaise instead, and wipe off the excess before dipping in breadcrumbs. Or you can use non-dairy milk with cornstarch. Whatever you choose to use, let me know if you try it and how it goes!
Teri
These are the best! We make them often and use the almond milk and cornstarch option. We also use the same panko crumb mix for cauliflower gnocchi and potato puffs, all in the air fryer.
Cadry
I’m so happy to hear that, Teri! And good ideas on the cauliflower gnocchi and potato puffs. I’ll have to try that!
Manisha
I have the air fryer that attaches to the instant pot and it does not have a basket. Do you think it will still work? Looks so yummy!
Cadry
I haven’t tried the Instant Pot air fryer, but I’d think it would work just fine. From what I’ve read about that air fryer, you may need to cook it a little longer than a standard air fryer. However, you’ll know the ravioli is ready when it looks nice and crisp. Let me know how it goes!
Pamela
Husband and I tried these as new air fryer owner. I am just starting my vegan journey. We tried the Wild Mushrooms and Spinach Florentine and both were good without sauce, with marinara, and with the aioli dip from the air fried artichokes recipe (tried those today also and very good). Will make again.
Cadry
I’m so glad that you and your husband enjoyed them, Pamela! Thanks for the great feedback!
Jo Lynne Owen
These look marvelous. Can they be baked ahead and reheated in a regular oven the next day?
Cadry Nelson
Thanks, Jo Lynne! I haven’t baked these. However, here’s what I’d recommend. If you want to prepare them ahead of time, I’d probably just do the breading step. Then keep in the freezer (if using frozen ravioli) or refrigerator (if using refrigerated ravioli).
When you’re ready, bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. If they’re browning too quickly, cover them in foil so the filling can get warm enough.
Let me know how it goes for you!