Air fryer chicken croquettes (croquetas de pollo)
Crisp outside and creamy inside, these Spanish tapas-bar croquettes turn a rotisserie chicken into something you’ll want to make twice.
- 180 min total
- 50 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $1.75 a serving
- 550 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups rotisserie chicken, very finely chopped
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 cups milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
From your pantry
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 550 calories, 26 g protein, 46 g carbs and 29 g fat, and costs about $1.75 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the chicken very finely, almost to crumbs, and the onion.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Dolly’s tip: Tiny pieces are what make them creamy. Big chunks poke through and split the coating.the butter in a large over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, until soft but not .
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in ⅔ cup of the flour and cook 2 minutes, , into a thick paste.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Pour in the milk a little at a time, hard, then cook 8 to 10 minutes, constantly, until very thick and pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: It’s ready when a spoon dragged through leaves a clear path for a second. That thickness is what lets you roll it.in the chicken, salt and pepper, spread it in a shallow dish, press plastic wrap onto the surface, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until firm.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Timer: 120 min
Dolly’s tip: Don’t rush this. Warm filling won’t hold a shape.Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Set out three shallow bowls: the remaining ⅓ cup flour, the eggs beaten with a fork, and the panko.
Scoop tablespoons of filling and roll them into little logs between damp hands. Roll each in flour, then egg, then panko.
Heaping. Heaping means a rounded mound piled above the rim of the spoon or cup, not leveled off. It’s a little more than the measure, on purpose.
How you’ll know: The pile sits above the edge of the spoon, and you leave it there instead of scraping it flat.
Dolly’s tip: Keep one hand for the egg and the other for the dry bowls, or your fingers get breaded too.the air fryer to 400°F. Brush the croquettes with the oil and cook them in a single layer, not touching, 8 to 10 minutes, turning halfway, until and .
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 9 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Cook the remaining croquettes the same way and serve hot.
Dolly’s tip: The middle is molten when they come out. Give them 2 minutes before you bite in.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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