8 Christmas Air Fryer Recipes to Surprise Your Guests
The end of the year is approaching, and it’s the ideal time to delight your guests with delicious recipes. Since you know that holiday preparations like last-minute shopping and cleaning your home may leave little time to cook, we’re here to bring you some easy and delicious Christmas air fryer recipes.
An air fryer is the perfect appliance to get results much faster than a conventional oven. In addition, the recipes are healthier because they require less oil. With this in mind, let’s take a look at 8 delicious recipes that you can cook in your air fryer for Christmas Eve to delight your family and friends.
1. Christmas stuffed turkey
There’s no doubt that turkey is the Christmas recipe par excellence. The tradition of having turkey for dinner at this time of the year is widespread in Spain and America, and dates back to several centuries ago, with the arrival of English settlers to the United States. This dish, besides being delicious, is a great source of protein, B vitamins, and minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc.
Ingredients
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- 25 g of bread crumbs
- 2 turkey breasts
- 200 g of sausages
- 1 chopped garlic clove
- 75 g chopped shallots
- ½ bunch of chopped sage
- 50 g chopped apricots
- 4 pieces of rope of 15 to 20 cm
- 45 g chopped blanched chestnuts
- 30 g cranberries soaked in brandy
Instructions
- Heat the air fryer to a temperature of 180 °C, and add the shallots together with the chopped garlic with two tablespoons of olive oil, in a paper air fryer basket.
- Cook for about three minutes, stirring gently, and remove to cool the vegetables.
- Now, in a large bowl, mix the chestnuts, apricots, sausage, and breadcrumbs to make the stuffing and season.
- Mix the preparation with the vegetables cooked in the previous step.
- Open the turkey breast butterfly-style and place it on a meat chopping board. Season and pour the stuffing mixture in the middle of it, spreading it evenly.
- Make sure the ends of the breast meet. Tie about two outer inches of the turkey at four equidistant points. Wrap the turkey roll in cling film and place it in the refrigerator for twenty minutes. Then remove the cling film and brush the turkey with olive oil.
- Put it in the air fryer and cook for thirty minutes at 130 °C, turning it halfway through cooking or until golden brown.
- Finally, garnish with the cranberries and serve.
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2. Christmas air fryer recipes: Halloumi cheese sticks with honey
Do you like sweet and sour dishes? Then this recipe won’t fail: halloumi cheese fingers with honey. Originally from Cyprus, halloumi cheese is made from a blend of sheep’s and goat’s milk, which gives a gourmet touch to any recipe. These cheese fingers can be a good appetizer, before serving the main course.
Ingredients
- 25 g liquid honey
- 1 chopped red chili
- The zest of one lime
- 225-250 g halloumi cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of lime juice
- 60 grams of polenta or corn flour
Preparation
- In an aluminum air fryer pan, mix the olive oil, fresh chili, and honey. Put it in the air fryer and let it heat until it starts to bubble. Then, add the lime zest and lime juice.
- Raise the temperature of the air fryer to 200 °C.
- Meanwhile, cut the cheese into “fingers” or sticks. Spread them in polenta or cornmeal and distribute them in the basket of your air fryer. It’s best not to stack them, to prevent the cheese from sticking.
- Spray the cheese fingers with an oil spray. Then, cook these little “sandwiches” for twenty minutes at about 180 °C, turning them over halfway through cooking.
- You can present them spread with the honey and chili mixture.
3. Roast suckling pig
Piglet is another traditional Christmas Eve recipe. Ideally, the meat should be tender and juicy and the skin should be crispy. Let’s take a look at the necessary ingredients and the instructions to make this delicious dish in an air fryer.
Ingredients
- 1/2 suckling pig
- Lard
- Coarse salt to taste
- 1 dash of brandy
Preparation
- To save time, you can first preheat the air fryer. In the meantime, spread the suckling pig with lard and add salt.
- Place the suckling pig – skin side down – in the tray of your air fryer and pour a dash of brandy over it.
- Cook it for 45 minutes at 180 °C.
- After this time, turn the suckling pig over and reprogram the appliance for another half hour at the same temperature. The result: an easy-to-prepare dish with a real Christmas flavor!
4. Air fryer croquettes
If you have little time to prepare a special dinner for Christmas Eve, but you want to surprise your guests, you can put some frozen croquettes in your air fryer in one of its presentations. The preparation time is only twenty minutes, so this recipe is ideal to get out of a spot of trouble@
Ingredients
- Oil
- Frozen croquettes
Preparation
- Preheat your air fryer to 200 °C, for three minutes.
- Spray the frozen croquettes with an oil spray or lightly brush each one with oil and place them spaced in the air fryer container.
- Reduce the temperature to 180 °C and let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes. You can move them around to prevent sticking and to cook them well.
5. Christmas air fryer recipes: Beef Wellington
Sirloin Wellington consists of a beef tenderloin covered with pâté and duxelle, wrapped in slices of ham and puff pastry. This Christmas dish is very sophisticated and is usually made in the oven, although that doesn’t mean you can’t make it in an air fryer. In fact, this appliance will give it an even crispier texture.
Ingredients
- 1 shallot
- 1 beaten egg
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 40 ml of brandy
- 50 g of foie pâté
- 10 slices of ham
- 200 g mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 10 ml Worcestershire sauce
- 2 rectangular pieces of puff pastry
- 1 kg beef or veal tenderloin
Preparation
- Place the sirloin, marking it well on all sides to brown the meat.
- Let it rest and get to work with the duxelle, which is a mince of vegetables: mushrooms, shallots, and garlic. Cut them into very small pieces and fry them in a pan with oil. You can add a little brandy.
- Spread slices of ham on a tray, creating a “bed”. On it, put the chopped vegetables and then the sirloin steak, previously spread with mustard. Add salt and seasoning to taste.
- Heat the oven fryer at 180 °C (350 °F) for eight minutes and place the sirloin on one of the pieces of puff pastry.
- Brush with beaten egg and fold the puff pastry sheet over the sirloin, sealing it as if it were a candy, from the inside out. Trim the remaining puff pastry.
- Decorate with the puff pastry. You can even make shapes like Christmas bows, and paint the surface once again with egg.
- Place the piece in the appliance and bake for 25 minutes at 190 °C.
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6. Crispy salmon
We’ve already shown you cuts of beef tenderloin, pork, and turkey. Now, it’s time for fish! Salmon is a very elegant dish that is linked to special situations, and Christmas Eve is undoubtedly one of them. In addition, the fat in this fish is rich in omega 3, which helps to reduce unhealthy cholesterol.
Ingredients
- Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
- Salmon without skin
- A squeezed lemon
- Rosemary and oregano
Preparation
- In a bowl, mix the squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, and rosemary.
- On a cutting board, suitable for fish, spread the mixture on the salmon with a brush. Let it rest for about ten minutes to absorb all the flavor and aromas.
- Preheat the fryer to 200 °C for five minutes.
- Place the fillets on special air fryer baking paper, spray them with oil spray, and place the container in the appliance. Let them cook for 15 minutes, turning them halfway through the cooking time.
7. Christmas air fryer recipes: Apple pie
No Christmas Eve dinner is complete without a sweet table, and that includes various desserts, such as pies, puddings, and cheese cake that you can make in your air fryer. In this case, we’ll show you how to make a delicious Christmas apple pie in your air fryer.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3 apples
- 150 ml milk
- Oil spray
- 90 gr cornstarch
- 1 spoonful and a half tablespoon of sugar
Preparation
- Peel the apples and grate them. You can also chop them. The important thing is not to puree them.
- In the meantime, beat the eggs with the sugar until white or until you obtain a pale preparation. Mix it with cornstarch.
- Grease the mold of your air fryer and put the apple cut into pieces as a base. Then, pour the batter, letting it flood the fruit. Turn on the air fryer and let it heat up to 180 °C for ten minutes. Then, put the mixture in the air fryer, lower the temperature to 160 °C, and leave it for about forty minutes more.
- When you remove it, let it cool and place powdered sugar on top to decorate.
8. Christmas cookies
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Finally, if we talk about snacks to close the Christmas Eve dinner, we can’t leave out the undisputed star of these dates: Christmas cookies! This is one of the most popular Christmas desserts in the world, as it’s loved by both adults and children. Plus, the best thing is that making Christmas cookies helps to awaken all their creativity and imagination when preparing them!
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 300 g of flour
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 220 g of brown sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
Preparation
- The first thing to do is to mix the softened butter with the sugar until you get a uniform dough. Then, add the egg to the mixture, as well as vanilla and honey. Beat so that everything is integrated.
- Add flour, baking soda, and spices and continue mixing until you get a consistent dough without lumps.
- Cover the dough with cling film and let it rest for one hour in the refrigerator.
- Sprinkle the worktop with flour, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is one centimeter thick, and make the shapes you like best: it can be Christmas trees, snowmen or Christmas canes.
- Put the cookies on baking paper in the basket of the fryer, close, and set at 160 °C, for ten minutes.
- The cookies can be decorated with icing or powdered sugar.
Use your air fryer to make delicious recipes this Christmas Eve!
As you can see, the versatility of an air fryer allows you to prepare traditional dishes for Christmas Eve quickly and healthily, without giving up the delicious flavor that characterizes these celebrations.
There are many different recipe options to prepare for your friends and family to celebrate the holidays and bring in the new year. We encourage you to take a look at this list and use your imagination and creativity, as well. Whether you want to make something sweet or savory, explore new possibilities in your kitchen. Happy holidays!