Ham and Cheese Croquettes (with air fryer option)
Croquettes are little fried bites filled with a delicious mixture of ham, melty cheese, and mashed potato. They're crunchy on the outside, creamy and cheesy on the inside, and easy to eat with your hands. You can choose to fry them in a pan or in the air fryer.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Chill Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings (12 croquettes) 1x
- Category: appetizers
- Method: air fryer (optional)
- Cuisine: Spanish, Italian, American
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 small onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2/3 cup leftover, store bought, or prepared instant mashed potatoes
- 2 oz. prosciutto or Serrano ham, diced or torn into small pieces, divided
For the Croquettes
- Flour (to coat hands)
- 2 eggs + 2 teaspoons water
- 3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 oz. fontina cheese, cut into 12 small cubes
- Vegetable oil for frying (or vegetable oil spray for air fryer method)
- Aioli for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Make the filling: In a medium skillet, add the butter and minced onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and flour and cook for 1 minute. Then, slowly add the milk a little bit at a time, and then add mashed potatoes. Mix until smooth, then remove the pan from the heat, and mix in half of the diced ham (1 oz.) Chill well before breading (the filling mixture will thicken in the refrigerator).
- Set up for breading croquettes: place flour in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine eggs and water with a fork. In another small shallow bowl, combine the two types of breadcrumbs.
- Using a cookie scoop or a large spoon, portion the chilled filling into 12 evenly sized balls. Working one at a time, place a cube of cheese and a small amount of ham in the center, and wrap the filling around to enclose the cheese. Then, briefly dip each croquette into the egg wash, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Repeat once more for a thicker crust. After breading, place the croquettes on a wire rack and refrigerate uncovered for at least 30 minutes.
- Fry croquettes: in a large skillet, add enough oil to coat the bottom by at least ½ inch and heat oil to 325-350 degrees F. Carefully add the croquettes to the oil and fry in batches until golden brown on all sides (about 2-3 minutes per side). Alternatively, to cook croquettes in the air fryer: preheat to 375 degrees F. Spray croquettes liberally with nonstick spray and cook for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Serve warm with aioli on the side for dipping (optional).
Notes
- When forming the croquettes, it's less sticky/ messy if the mixture is very well chilled, so you can put them back in the fridge at any point and continue the process once they are cold. It also helps to lightly coat your hands with flour.
- I chose to mix in half of the ham and use half for stuffing to make sure there’s ham in every bite. If you’d rather not deal with the stuffing part, you can mix all of the ham into the dough, and grate the cheese rather than cut into cubes and mix that in too. That's a little bit easier, you just won’t get the oozy cheese mozzarella stick aspect.
Find it online: https://butterandthyme.com/ham-and-cheese-croquettes/