Make These Lazy Air Fried Mac and Cheese Bites.
As I sit here munching on air fried mac and cheese nuggets, the word “Cheez-Its” keeps coming to mind. That’s because the crispy glaze combined with the concentrated flavor of the cheddar is a perfect match. I don’t think I’ve ever made a lazier, more satisfying appetizer. Consider it an early treat for Air Friday.
Macaroni and cheese, like casserole potatoes or oatmeal , are full of starch. When refrigerated, the starches in these foods will thicken and harden in a process called retrogradation . This is why leftover pasta is always so tough. Combine those cold, gelatinized starches with saturated fats, like in processed cheese, and you get a hard brick. You could go to a lot of trouble to roll the pasta into balls, coat it in breadcrumbs, and deep fry it to create fried mac and cheese. Or you can do it my way. This decidedly lazier method requires no breading but provides the same crunch.
How to Make Lazy Mac and Cheese
This works very well if you baked the mac and cheese in a baking dish because it is already tightly packed, however, if the mac and cheese has been chilled in a bowl it is absolutely fine. The shape doesn’t matter much if you cut them into pieces.
Remove the entire piece of mac and cheese from the container and place it on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife or serrated blade to cut pasta into 1-inch thick slabs. Turn the slabs over and cut them again into 1-inch thick sticks, then decide if you want to cut them again into shorter sticks or even into cubes. Place them in a preheated 400°F air fryer, leaving at least a half-inch of space between them to prevent them from melting together. Air fry the cubes for eight minutes and the sticks for 10 minutes, or until crisp and well browned on the corners. Cool the mac and cheese nuggets on a rack for a few minutes before eating.
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These pieces crisp up beautifully, and since they’re already filled with the cheese from the original recipe, you don’t need to add anything to get that crispy, Frico-like outer shell. Even the exposed edges of the pasta have a wonderful crunch. If you used a lot of cheddar in your mixture or added cheddar to your baked macaroni, you will get that Cheez-It flavor I’m talking about.
The outside of the pieces is crispy, but the inside is tender and soft. This is a huge reward for doing almost no work. They would be great as a party appetizer because they are easy to hold. I love simple mac and cheese bites, but I wouldn’t blame you for serving it at a party with a bowl of French onion dip.