Halloumi Fries Recipe
An attempt to recreate the best halloumi fries I’ve ever had!
As some of you may remember, Adam and I went to Helsinki, Finland last year and loved it. The city is so welcoming and beautiful, the people are lovely, and the food blew us away! One of our favorite restaurants there was a vegetarian gem called Yes Yes Yes. Every inch of this place is perfectly instagram-able (evidence here!), and everything we ordered was incredible. Seriously, such good food – Adam didn’t even miss the meat. But the star of the show was most definitely the HALLOUMI FRIES.
If you’ve never tried halloumi before, it’s very popular in middle eastern countries and Greece – but you can find it at all over the world (including the United States!) now. I had tried it once before, so I knew Adam would like it even though he hadn’t ever heard of it… and boy was I right. These halloumi fries were INSANE. Perfectly crispy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside, and topped with a simple yogurt sauce, pomegranate seeds and fresh mint. He took a bite and said “they’re like classy mozzarella sticks!” See them pictured below – so pretty!
Air Fryer To The Rescue
After our trip, we kept talking about recreating the dish at home – but I didn’t want to attempt to deep fry cheese in our kitchen! I though about pan frying them, but I wasn’t sure we’d end up with the crispy halloumi fries we had in mind. (Even though pan fried halloumi is also awesome!)
Then I got an Air Fryer… and as I was brainstorming recipes for that collab, I realized that this was my chance to finally recreate this recipe! I was a little nervous that this healthier cooking method would take away from the dish, but it really didn’t! The halloumi still got crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. Such a win!
This blog post isn’t sponsored, but I’m so grateful I was able to collaborate with this Power Air Fryer 360 because I’ve LOVED experimenting with this fun kitchen appliance. I now make sweet potato fries pretty much every week, and it makes the best coconut shrimp and breakfast potatoes (recipe coming soon!). It also has 11 other settings in addition to air fry: rotisserie, dehydrate (makes great kale chips!), bake, broil, toast, roast, pizza, slow cook, bagel, keep warm, and reheat. The possibilities are endless!!
And one more thing before we get to the recipe! I got a few questions on Instagram asking where I find halloumi in Chicago. I found it at my local Jewel-Osco, but I’ve also seen it Marianos. And even though I haven’t gotten it at my Trader Joe’s, I’ve heard they have it sometimes, so you can keep an eye out there, too!
Halloumi Fries Recipe
Ingredients
1 package halloumi cheese
1/2 cup all purpose flour
olive oil spray
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 tbsp water
salt and pepper
pinch of gyro seasoning
pomegranate seeds
fresh mint
Instructions
- Spray Air Fryer Basket with olive oil spray so the fries don’t stick. (I usually put a cutting board or some kitchen paper behind the basket so I don’t get oil all over my counter!)
- Cut the halloumi into “fries”. Press all sides of each of the halloumi sticks into all purpose flour to coat and place on the air fryer basket.
- Preheat Air Fryer to 400 degrees. Spray a little bit more olive oil spray on top of the halloumi.
- Air Fry for 14 minutes, rotating the basket halfway through.
- While those are air frying, whisk together greek yogurt, water, salt/pepper, and gyro seasoning in a bowl.
- When the fried halloumi is golden brown, drizzle the yogurt sauce over the top, and generously sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and fresh mint.
How To Serve Halloumi Fries
Obviously my favorite way to serve these fries is with yogurt sauce, pomegranate seeds and mint. It’s the BEST combination of flavors – salty cheese, smooth mild sauce, a pop of tartness from the pomegranate, and then a kick of fresh mint.
If you don’t like or can’t eat yogurt, you could serve the sauce on the side so it’s not a required part of the dish. Even though I’d recommend eating them as soon as they come out of the air fryer, if you know some people won’t get it to it right away, the dipping option would also prevent them from getting soggy. (But try to eat them right away, okay?!)
Also, I’m assuming if you don’t like/can’t eat yogurt, you also don’t like/can’t eat sour cream. But if I’m wrong, you could sub sour cream in for the yogurt. And lastly, if you can’t find fresh pomegranate seeds, you could drizzle pomegranate molasses over the top for a kick of sweetness.
Halloumi Fries Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 package halloumi
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- olive oil spray
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp water
- salt and pepper
- pinch of gyro seasoning
- pomegranate seeds
- fresh mint
Instructions
- Spray Air Fryer Basket with olive oil spray so the fries don't stick.
- Cut halloumi into "fries". Press all sides of each fry into all purpose flour to coat and place on the air fryer basket.
- Preheat Air Fryer to 400 degrees. Spray a little bit more olive oil spray on top of the halloumi.
- Air Fry for 14 minutes, rotating the basket halfway through.
- While those are air frying, whisk together greek yogurt, water, salt/pepper, and gyro seasoning in a bowl.
- When the fried halloumi is done, drizzle the yogurt sauce over the top, and generously sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and fresh mint.
Notes
Serve warm!
Want to remember this Halloumi Fries Recipe later? Pin the image below!
PS. You might also like Travel Guide: What to do in Helsinki, Where to Eat in Helsinki, Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread, Caramelized Onion Tart with Mushrooms and Alouette Cheese, and The Best Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms.
