Air fryer halloumi
Golden, crisp-edged halloumi straight from the air fryer, drizzled with honey and chile, with a chopped tomato and cucumber salad, warm pita and cool tzatziki.
- 20 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $5.80 a serving
- 700 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 8 oz halloumi, 1 block
- 1 cucumber
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- ¼ red onion
- 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 pita bread
- 1 tsp honey
- ½ cup tzatziki
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
Each serving has about 700 calories, 35 g protein, 53 g carbs and 40 g fat, and costs about $5.80 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No pita bread? Flour tortillas work.
- No honey? Maple syrup works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the halloumi into 8 slabs about ⅓ inch thick and them dry with a paper towel.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Brush the slices with 1 teaspoon oil and lay them in the air fryer basket in one layer.
Air fry at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway, until on both sides.
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.
Timer: 9 min
While it cooks, the cucumber and tomatoes, the onion and the mint. with the rest of the oil, the lemon juice and the salt.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
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.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Warm the pita in the air fryer for 1 minute.
Timer: 1 min
the hot halloumi with the honey and pepper flakes and serve with the salad, pita and tzatziki.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Eat it hot. Halloumi firms up and squeaks more as it cools.
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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