Air Fryer Cheese Crisps and Every Other Cheese You Can Air Fry

One ingredient, no oil.

Every other cheese follows the same physics. In hot, moving air a cheese dries into a crisp, melts and runs, or browns and keeps its shape, depending on how much water it holds and how it was made. Know the group and you know the method.

Which cheeses work in an air fryer

Which cheeses work in an air fryer depends on what you want them to do, and the table below sorts the common ones by how they behave in hot, moving air.

Hard, aged cheeses crisp

Hard, aged cheeses crisp because they start out dry. USDA FoodData Central puts hard Parmesan at 30 grams of water per 100 grams, against 48.4 for whole-milk low-moisture mozzarella and 79.8 for cottage cheese. Heat any cheese long enough and, as Serious Eats explains, the water cooks off, the proteins shrink and brown, and the fat escapes. On a lasagna that is a ruined topping; on a liner it is a crisp.

Serious Eats also notes that Parmesan and Pecorino Romano separate into clumps rather than melt smoothly, which spoils a sauce and keeps a crisp lacy. America's Test Kitchen traces frico, the Italian original, to using up scraps of cheese, with Montasio the traditional choice.

Soft melting cheeses need a coat and the freezer

Soft melting cheeses such as low-moisture mozzarella, string cheese and cheese curds need a coat of crumbs and time in the freezer before they meet the air fryer. Bare, they slump through the basket in minutes, and fat speeds the slide: the University of Wisconsin's Center for Dairy Research explains that fat globules break up a cheese's protein network, so a fattier cheese melts sooner and at a cooler temperature. Freezing gives the crumbs time to brown before the center turns liquid.

Frying cheeses hold their shape

Frying cheeses hold their shape in an air fryer because of how they were made. Halloumi is cooked in hot whey, which kills its bacteria and deactivates the rennet, a dairy scientist told America's Test Kitchen. With no bacteria making acid, its pH stays high and calcium keeps the proteins locked together, while leftover milk sugar browns the surface.

Queso de freír, the Dominican frying cheese, is a type of queso blanco, which the Hispanic Cheese Reference Guide from Dairy Management Inc. says is generally curdled by adding acid to milk heated to about 176°F (80°C) and does not melt well under high heat. Serious Eats puts acid-set cheeses such as paneer in the same camp: acid dissolves the calcium glue in the curd, so heat drives out water instead of making the cheese flow. More in the guide to the best melting cheeses.

Air fryer cheese crisps recipe

This air fryer cheese crisps recipe makes about 12 crisps, each 2 inches across, from 3 ounces of cheese. Prep takes 5 minutes, and most baskets need two batches of 4 to 6 minutes.

Ingredients

• 3 ounces (85 g) Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano, finely grated (a scant 1 cup)
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper or 1 teaspoon everything bagel seasoning (optional)
• A silicone air fryer liner, or parchment cut to fit the basket floor (read the liner warning below first)

Method

1. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F (175°C) for 3 minutes with the basket empty, never with a liner inside.
2. On the counter, spoon the cheese onto the liner in heaping tablespoons (about 7 g each), 1 inch apart, and press each into a flat 2-inch round. Fill the edges and corners first so the cheese weighs the liner down. Add the seasoning.
3. Set the loaded liner in the hot basket and air fry for 4 to 6 minutes, until lacy, bubbling and golden. Check at 4 minutes; the last minute separates nutty from bitter.
4. Rest the crisps in the basket for 1 minute, then slide them onto a rack. They harden in about 2 minutes.
5. Bend one in half. If it doesn't snap, blot off the fat and give the batch another minute.
6. Repeat with the remaining cheese. Refrigerate leftovers airtight for up to a week, as America's Test Kitchen advises, and re-crisp them for a minute at 350°F.

Variations

Skip added salt: USDA lists hard Parmesan at 333 milligrams of sodium per ounce. Sharp cheddar makes greasier crisps (33.3 grams of fat per 100 grams to hard Parmesan's 25.0), so blot them and allow 6 to 8 minutes. Mozzarella crisps puff and stay chewy unless cut half-and-half with Parmesan. Cottage cheese crisps work slowly: drain the curds, spread them thin and allow 12 to 15 minutes at 375°F (190°C).

How to air fry other cheeses

To air fry other cheeses, match the method to the cheese's group in the table above.

Air fryer mozzarella sticks

Air fryer mozzarella sticks hold together only if they go in frozen solid under a double coat. Dip 3-inch sticks of string cheese or low-moisture mozzarella in flour, egg and panko, then egg and panko again, and freeze them for at least an hour. Spray with oil and air fry at 400°F (200°C) for 5 to 7 minutes, pulling them at the first leak. Cheese curds and Babybel rounds, wax removed, work the same way. Breading and sauce details are in the mozzarella sticks recipe.

Air fryer halloumi

Air fryer halloumi needs only a brush of oil. Cut it into 1/2-inch slices or sticks and air fry at 400°F (200°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until deep golden, then eat it hot. For a crunchier shell, toss the sticks in cornstarch first, as in these halloumi fries. Queso de freír and paneer cubes cook the same way.

Air fryer baked brie

Air fryer baked brie needs a little less time than the oven. Score the top of an 8-ounce round, rind on, set it in a small oven-safe dish and air fry at 350°F (175°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sides bulge and the center feels loose; wrapped in puff pastry, it needs 12 to 15. Add honey after cooking, since sugar scorches fast under the fan. Here are ten more ways to bake brie.

Air fryer queso

Air fryer queso works best with process cheese, which is built not to break: CDR explains that melting salts and water go in during its manufacture to keep the fat emulsified. Cube 8 ounces of deli American or Velveeta into a small oven-safe dish, add half a 10-ounce can of diced tomatoes and green chiles, and air fry at 350°F (175°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes. Fill the dish no more than two-thirds full. Natural-cheese dips are in cheese dips for parties.

Cream cheese in the air fryer

Cream cheese in the air fryer becomes a warm dip with a seasoned crust, often called smoked cream cheese though no smoke is involved. Score an 8-ounce block, set it in a small oven-safe dish, brush it with oil and coat it with a barbecue rub or everything bagel seasoning. Air fry at 300°F (150°C) for 15 to 20 minutes, then top it with pepper jelly and serve with crackers. Keep the heat low: at 52.6 grams of water per 100 grams (USDA), cream cheese splits if rushed.

Air fryer cheese mistakes

Most air fryer cheese mistakes come from the fan or from too much heat.

Using a liner that can move. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service warns that a liner that shifts can block airflow or touch the heating element and raise the risk of fire, and it advises avoiding baking paper and foil altogether. A silicone liner that sits flat is the safer choice. If you use parchment anyway, cut it no bigger than the basket floor, load it before it goes in, and never preheat with it inside.

Turning up the heat for crisps. At 400°F a cheese crisp scorches at the edges before its middle dries. At 350°F it browns more slowly and evenly, and you get time to catch it.

Crowding the basket. Breaded sticks that touch steam instead of browning, and crisps that touch fuse into one sheet. Leave an inch between pieces and fill the basket no more than about two-thirds, the limit the fire service recommends.

Trusting the clock over the cheese. Baskets differ in size and power, so check the first batch early.

Questions about air fryer cheese

These are short answers to the most common questions about air fryer cheese.

Can you put cheese in an air fryer?

You can put cheese in an air fryer as long as it sits on or in something, such as a liner, an oven-safe dish, bread or a coat of crumbs. Loose shreds melt through the basket onto the drawer, where they burn and smoke.

How long does it take to melt cheese in an air fryer?

Melting cheese in an air fryer takes 2 to 4 minutes at 350°F (175°C) for shreds pressed onto toast or nachos, and about a minute for a slice on a hot burger. A grilled cheese needs about 4 minutes a side at 360°F (180°C), with a toothpick pinning the top slice against the fan, and 2 to 3 ounces of a fast-melting cheese such as deli American or young cheddar.

What is fryer cheese?

Fryer cheese, usually sold as frying cheese or queso de freír, is a firm white cheese made to brown without melting, so it can be fried or air fried bare. Halloumi and paneer behave the same way.

Why are cheese crisps chewy instead of crunchy?

Cheese crisps come out chewy instead of crunchy when the mounds are too thick, the cheese is too moist or they leave the heat too soon. Give a chewy batch another minute once it has cooled.

Are air fryer cheese crisps keto?

Air fryer cheese crisps made from Parmesan suit a keto diet: USDA lists hard Parmesan at 0.9 grams of carbohydrate and 10.1 grams of protein per ounce, and nothing else goes in them. For other low-carb picks, see the best cheeses for keto.

Start with Parmesan air fryer cheese crisps

Start with Parmesan air fryer cheese crisps, because they teach the timing every other cheese needs. Grate a 3-ounce wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano, run one batch at 350°F and check at 4 minutes. Then try halloumi at 400°F, and save the brie for company.