Chili Cheese Nuggets in Air Fryer

Indulge in the crispy and cheesy delight of Chili Cheese Nuggets made effortlessly in an air fryer. These bite-sized morsels combine the fiery kick of chili with the gooey goodness of melted cheese, resulting in a mouthwatering appetizer that’s perfect for any occasion. So, let’s jump in, shall we?

Who could resist the allure of gooey, melted cheese? And what about a serving of delightfully crunchy, spicy cheese balls? What if we married the two and created some out-of-this-world chili cheese nuggets?

Although it might be the norm to prepare these nuggets in a deep fryer with copious amounts of oil, that’s not necessary. Instead, I’m going to share how to make them in the air fryer, along with some key information to help ensure your cheese nuggets maintain their form.

If you’ve been around here before, you’ll know that I’m not a big fan of store-bought, frozen ingredients. I always prefer to put together everything from scratch for my family.

This way, I can ensure the quality of the ingredients in my dishes, free from any unwanted preservatives, and I can tailor the taste specifically to my family’s liking.

If you also like to take the DIY route, then welcome aboard! Allow me to guide you through the necessary steps to whip up some crunch-tastic homemade cheese balls.

If you’re planning to serve these at a party or on game day, you might want to leave out the chili from the recipe – they’ll be pretty spicy otherwise.

I’ll include an FAQ section to clarify any concerns, and you’ll be able to see the nutritional value as well.

A few things depend on your preference – like how spicy you want your nuggets, or how much cheese mixture you prefer.

To kick off the recipe, preheat your air fryer, prepare your cheese and chilli mixture, and get ready to roll them into balls.

Use a brush to apply your egg mixture, then roll the balls in flour. Transfer them to an airtight container and let them sit in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours to help them keep their shape.

Keep an eye below for tips and tricks from others who’ve tried this recipe. You might also like to check out my other air fryer recipes. While these chili cheese nuggets are a favourite, exploring other recipes can be just as fun! Happy cooking!

👩‍🍳 What You Will Find in This Post?

• A few tips on what you need to do to ensure that the cheese nuggets keep their shape.
• How to make sure that all the nuggets will bake evenly?
• How to bake the nuggets evenly on all sides without shaking them.
• A few serving suggestions for those nuggets.

🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?

• It is a healthier alternative to classic nuggets because they are not fried. We will use an air fryer for cooking them so that we will need almost no oil.
• It is a perfect recipe to use leftover mashed potatoes or boiled carrots if you have any of those.
• You can adjust the level of spiciness to your liking.

🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes

• Boiled Potatoes. I used boiled potatoes of the crumbly kind, but you can replace them with mashed potatoes if you have any leftovers.
• Gruyere and Gouda Cheese. I used these types of cheese for their intense and creamy flavor, but you can replace them with any other flavored cheese you prefer
• Mozzarella. I picked this cheese in this recipe for its texture. You can replace it with another cheese with a neutral taste that melts and spreads well when it’s hot. An excellent alternative to mozzarella cheese is to use Provolone cheese instead.
• Chili Pepper. I used two small dried chili peppers, but you can replace them with dried chili flakes or fresh chili peppers.
• Breadcrumbs.
• Eggs.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

First of all, you should boil the potatoes.

Quick Note: To save you some time, you can boil the potatoes in the microwave oven to hurry up the process.

Pro Tip: After you have the boiled potatoes ready, you should leave them for about an hour on the countertop to make sure that they cool down completely. The nuggets will not keep their shape if the boiled potatoes are still warm.

Grate the boiled potatoes with a grater and put them in a large deep bowl in which you will mix all the ingredients for the cheese nuggets.

In that bowl, besides the boiled potatoes, add the cheese, hot pepper, and an egg. Mix well all the ingredients. If you use cheese that is not salty, you can add more salt if needed.

In my case, I did not add any additional salt because the cheese had an intense taste already.

After you have well homogenized the composition, we should form the nuggets.

Pro Tip: Use a tablespoon, measurement spoon, a scale, or even better, if you have under your hands an ice cream scoop, to form all nuggets of the same size.

Before we start, take a large plate and pour the breadcrumbs into it. Then on another plate, beat an egg.

In order to obtain a more resistant and crispy crust, we will make a double breading.

For this, take a nugget that you just formed, and roll it well on a plate with breadcrumbs.

Quick Note: If you plan to eat these cheese nuggets with your hands, I will advise you to make them in an elongated shape, so they will be easier to eat. If you eat them with a fork, you can leave them rounded.

After you coated them with breadcrumbs or panko, roll the nuggets in another plate with a beaten egg and soak them one more time in the plate with breadcrumbs.

After you have finished forming all the nuggets, you can bake them right now, or if you want to make sure that they will keep their shapes even better, you may consider freezing them and then baking them after freezing.

Quick Note: As those chili cheese nuggets freeze well, you may consider making them in a larger amount and keeping them in the freezer for a quick snack on days when you don’t have time but need to serve something quick on the table.

Arrange the nuggets in the air fryer basket in a single layer. If you need to prepare more chili cheese nuggets, cook them in a few batches.

Pro Tip: For a better result, I recommend not overloading the air fryer basket. Consider leaving a little space between the nuggets so that the air will circulate easier between the nuggets and they will cook evenly on all sides.

Quick Note: As you can see, in my 5.8QT air fryer I put 12 cheese nuggets.

Cook the nuggets for 15 minutes at 400°F.

Quick Note: As the air fryer models differ from one model to another, also, if you have a different air fryer basket size, the cooking time may vary. Because of that, on every recipe, be with an eye on your dish and check it from time to time.

During baking, a little cheese will come out, but this is also very tasty and becomes crunchy. If it bothers you, you can remove those pieces just before serving.

Serve the spicy cheese nuggets while they are still hot near a sauce of your choice. I served them with a homemade honey dill sauce.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

Serve the cheese nuggets while they are still hot because when the nuggets are still hot, the outside will be crispy, while on the inside, you will get a fluffy hot cheese that spreads well.

Consider serving those cheese nuggets near a dipping sauce or roasted vegetables like are:

🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?

• If you have time, freeze the nuggets right after shaping them. By freezing them, the nuggets will keep their shape better during baking.
• Try to cover the cheese nuggets as much as possible with breadcrumbs. By covering well on all sides, we also will minimize the melted cheese flows during the baking.
• Let them cool down if you just boiled the potatoes for this recipe. This small detail will also help the cheese nuggets keep their shapes better.
• Use potatoes with a high starch content to make the nuggets fluffier on the inside after baking.
• If you make those chili nuggets, then they will freeze, don’t thaw them after freezing because they will become mushy and lose their shape. Consider cooking them directly from the frozen.
• Don’t cook them for too long, as the cheese will leak. As all the ingredients are already cooked, all you will need is to melt the cheese and give them a nice golden color.

♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:

📋 Recipe Card: