Appetizers

Air Fried Cheese Curds

Posted by iavogoodmeal on

I held out on buying an air fryer for THE longest time, my question was “how is it different from an oven” … can’t I just bake things? Who needs another appliance taking up space in my kitchen. Well, last Thanksgiving I had a few Crate & Barrel gift certificates expiring and decided to get one. HOLY MOLY! I didn’t know what I was missing out in life. Frozen egg rolls? Air Fryer. Trader Joe’s Hash Brown Patties? Air Fryer. Homemade Falafel? Air Fryer. You get the picture … 

So over Christmas when a friend sent me fresh cheese curds from up-state New York, I knew I had to make air-fried cheese curds. The first time was kind of a disaster, I set the heat too high and the cheese curds exploded. Not a pretty sight. I’ve tinkered with this recipe and think what you’ll see before is a winner. 

Tips & Tricks

  • If you softer cheese curds, you’ll have better luck freezing the cheese curds for about 30 minutes before you dredge them, it’ll prevent them for exploding even at a lower temperature 
  • Overseason the breadcrumbs, the cheese sucks up flavor and you don’t want to end up with flavorless curds (though they would still be pretty darn good!)

Recipe Information

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 14 minutes
  • Yield: 16-20 cheese curds

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of fresh cheese curds
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour 
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 2 tsp Cajun seasoning 
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt/pepper

Directions

  1. In a shallow bowl mix panko, paprika, garlic powder, cajun seasoning and salt/pepper
  2. Create a dredging station of a bowl of flour, the seasoned panko and the beaten eggs
  3. If freezing cheese curds, remove from freezer
  4. One at a time, coat each individual cheese curd in flour, then egg , then panko ensuring the cheese is fully covered in breadcrumbs
  5. Place cauliflower on a lined sheet and spray with avocado oil spray
  6. Air fry at 350F for 10-12 minutes flipping over once half-way
  7. Complete in small batches and serve with your favorite sauce – ours is chipotle ranch!