Commonly used methods of arsenic (As) determination in plant material require dissolution of tissue in strong acids prior to analysis. Progress in the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) technique has made the determination of metals in solid samples possible. This study was undertaken to evaluate the possibility of As determination directly in ground plant tissue using GFAAS. The Perkin‐Elmer Model 4100 ZL atomic absorption spectrometer with Zeeman background correction and AS‐70 autosampler has been used for analysis. Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and com (Zea mays L.) tissues samples containing various As levels were used as test materials. Before injection of the plant slurry into the furnace, the ultrasonic agitator was used to mix the slurry in the autosampler cup to assure uniform distribution of plant powder in the whole volume of liquid. The furnace program contained a pyrolysis step using palladium as the modifier. The GFAAS method was compared with the hydride generation method performed on plant tissue digested with nitric‐perchloric acid mixture. Results show that slurry sampling As values agreed very closely with the standard wet digestion and hydride generation method values.GFAAS is an accurate method, eliminating the time and labor of the plant digestion step.