Potato-Crusted Vegetables Are The Perfect Way To Mix Up Air Fryer Meals

Your air fryer is good at frying many things, but you may be a little wary of using it for vegetables. Unlike chicken or pork, vegetables just don't seem to come out all that well in the air fryer, wilting and drying out because of the intense heat. When you try to fry them in batter, the hot air just blows the wet batter off and makes a mess of your food and your fryer. Is there any way you can make vegetables in your air fryer without turning them into a dried-out inedible husk?

You'll be glad to know there is such a method and it involves rolling your vegetables in a "potato crust." As Allison Robicelli of The Takeout explains, this "crust" is actually just dehydrated potato flakes, better known as instant mashed potatoes, which forms a protective shell around the delicate vegetables to protect them from the intense heat. A good example of a potato-crusted vegetable are potato-crusted peas, which are peas rolled around in egg whites and then in potato flakes — very similar to how you would bread chicken with an egg wash and coating. The peas are then cooked in the air fryer for 7 to 10 minutes or until the crust has turned golden-brown and crispy. 

But how exactly do these potato-crusted vegetables taste? While it may be all well and good to cook them without making a mess, it wouldn't be worth it if they didn't turn out to be anything worth trying.

Admittedly, you may have some questions about this method, with the most important question being if it's any good or not. Does rolling your vegetables in a potato flake crust actually help? According to Robicelli, not only does it work but it also makes for a delicious and very easy snack or side-dish.

Robicelli explains that when she prepared potato-crusted peas in her air fryer, the end result was a soft, sweet, and tender interior — much like what you would expect from an average pea — with a crispy, almost potato chip-like coating on the outside. Unlike the usual liquid-based batters like tempuras, the flakes adhere to the surface of the vegetables and don't blow off, allowing the vegetables to cook without exposing them to the intense dry heat. Robicelli also explains that this method can be done with just about any frozen vegetables you have, such as broccoli, asparagus, or okra, so it needn't be limited to small vegetables like peas.

If you don't happen to have potato flakes, you can also crush up potato chips – considering potato flakes are dehydrated crispy pieces of potato similar to how chips are just fried or baked slices of potato — and use them as a substitute. Take note, however, that unlike the plain potato flakes, crushed potato chips will add more salt to your vegetables, so it's best to use or omit as much as you want based on personal taste.

Ever had an onion ring and thought that it could use a little bit of a saltier flavor? Have you even had fried zucchini and thought it needed a little more meat to top it all off? If you ever had any of these thoughts, you'd be surprised — and glad — to know that you can actually use pork rinds as a substitute breading for your vegetables in the air fryer.

You can use whatever method you like to crush your pork rinds, whether it's tossing them in the blender or food processor or just crushing them in a plastic bag and rolling pin. A good recipe for pork rind breading has you combine 1/2 cup of crushed pork rinds with two tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Coat your vegetables in an egg wash, an egg that's been thoroughly beaten, and then roll your vegetable in the pork rind-cheese breading. You may want to do this once or twice depending on the size of the vegetable you're using, as any loose breading will be blown off by the circulation within the air fryer, so don't be afraid to give the vegetables a good coating just to be safe.

Whether or not you use breadcrumbs, crushed potato flakes, or pork rinds as a coating, you can be glad that you can enjoy crunchy and tender fried vegetables without any oil or fat — and all within just a few minutes thanks to your air fryer.