Air Fryer Mac and Cheese Balls are made using leftover Mac and cheese from your Thanksgiving dinner.
I don't know about you but I think I love Thanksgiving leftovers more than I love the actual Thanksgiving dinner.
In my house, we always take the leftovers and turn them into new recipes — like this one! My Air Fryer Mac and Cheese Balls are made using the leftover macaroni and cheese that I serve. They are easy and delicious.
How to Make Air Fryer Mac and Cheese Balls
You are going to start seeing a lot of delicious air fryer recipes soon because I gave myself an air fryer for Christmas as an early gift! I got the Ninja Foodi and I am SO IN LOVE with it.
I bought this model at Best Buy during their Black Friday event and scored it for $99. It runs normally around $180 so I was super excited to score this amazing deal.
In order to make this recipe, you are going to need some leftover macaroni. You cannot use this recipe with fresh Mac and cheese. It has to be super cold so that everything holds together well.
So — for this recipe, we used —
- crushed up round crackers
- egg
- salt
- pepper
- leftover mac and cheese
And that is really all you need. These come together in no time flat!
I bet you can even make these with my Southern Cream Cheese Noodles. It is a super creamy dish as well.
Once you chill your macaroni, you are going to scoop out about 2 tablespoons of mac and cheese, and roll it and form it into a ball.
You will end up with around 12-16 depending on how big you roll them.
Taking one mac and cheese ball at a time, dip and roll each ball in the egg and then dredge it through the cracker crumbs.
Make sure the entire ball gets coated in cracker crumbs. Continue with each ball until all of the macaroni cheese balls are covered.
Freeze the balls for 30 minutes while you preheat your Air Fryer to 360 F.
Carefully place the mac and cheese balls in the Air Fryer, making sure that they don’t touch each other. Fry for 10-12 minutes until golden. No need to touch them while they fry.
They will do their part and be just fine.
When they are done you can serve them just like they are or you can make a delicious dipping sauce like this homemade marinara or my homemade cranberry sauce to dip them in.
Looking for More Thanksgiving Leftover ideas? Check Out These Recipes
- Leftover Turkey Orzo Soup
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Cranberry Mayonaisse
- Everything Bagel Ham and Cheese Sliders
Air Fryer Mac and Cheese Balls
Creamy and crunchy mac and cheese balls the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 4 cups leftover mac and cheese
- 2 egg beaten
- 2 cups crushed round crackers
Instructions
- To make your mac and cheese balls, grab your leftover and chilled mac and cheese from the fridge.
- Take the crackers and using a food processor, grind them until they resemble bread crumbs.
- Next, scoop out about 2 tablespoons of mac and cheese, roll it and form it into a ball. This should make about 12-16 mac n cheese balls.
- Taking one mac and cheese ball at a time, dip and roll each ball in the egg and dredge it through the cracker crumbs. Make sure the entire ball gets coated in cracker crumbs. Continue with each ball until all of the macaroni cheese balls are covered.
- Freeze the balls for 30 minutes
- Preheat your Air Fryer to 360 F.
- Place the mac and cheese balls in the Air Fryer, making sure that they don’t touch each other.
- Fry for 10-12 minutes until golden brown and the crust is crispy.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!