Air Fryer Cheese Curds

Prepare a dredging station for the cheese curds. In one bowl, combine all purpose flour and garlic powder. In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs and minced garlic. In the third bowl, combine panko bread crumbs, plain bread crumbs, salt, chili powder, black pepper, and basil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to place cheese curds after they are dredged.
Work in batches of 4-5 cheese curds at a time. First, add to the flour and toss until coated. Then, dip in the eggs and allow excess egg to drip off. Last, roll the cheese curds in the bread crumbs. Repeat until all cheese curds are dredged and breaded. Place into the refrigerator until the air fryer is preheated. **We have found that double breading the cheese curds prevents the cheese from seeping out of the breading as it cooks. Simply repeat dredging in flour, eggs, then bread crumbs a second time. Skip repeating this step if you are able to refrigerate the breaded cheese curds for at least 45 minutes.
Preheat the air fryer to 350 F, air fryer setting, for 5 minutes.
Line the air fryer basket with foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Remove breaded cheese curds from the fridge and place into the basket in a single layer with a finger space in between. Spray the cheese curds with cooking spray to lightly saturate the breading. Cook for 6 minutes, stopping halfway through the cooking time to flip them over to promote even browning. **Depending on the size of your air fryer, this may take multiple batches. (We use an instant pot vortex and this recipe took 2 batches.) Place remaining curds back into the refrigerator as you cook.
While the cheese curds cook, prepare chili garlic ranch. In a small mixing bowl, whisk to combine ranch seasoning, sour cream, heavy cream, pepper, and chili garlic hot sauce. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Plate cheese curds in a bowl or on a platter and serve with ranch dip. Enjoy!

Description

Ingredients

Cheese Curds

Ranch Dressing

Instructions

Equipment

Nutrition