On the hunt for a vegetarian appetizer that is crispy, flavorful, and everything you love? These spicy cottage cheese bites are perfect- they are super crispy and savory from the outside and pillowy soft on the inside.
Sounds interesting? Here’s everything you need to know about making these the right way.
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Ingredients For the Recipe
You’ll need a very simple set of ingredients to make the spicy cottage cheese bites.
For the Cottage Cheese
- Cottage cheese (cut into cubes): 8-10 pieces
- Green capsicum (diced): ¼ cup
- Onions (diced): ¼ cup
- Mustard oil: 3 tbsps
- Red chili powder: 1 tbsp
- Coriander powder: 1 tbsp
- Cumin powder: 1 tsp
- Tandoori masala: 1 tbsp
- Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp
- Dry mango powder: 1 tsp
- Chaat masala: 1 tsp
- Lemon juice: 2 tbsps
- Salt: 1 teaspoon or as per taste
- Curd (thick): ½ cup
- Besan: 2 tbsps
How to Make the Spicy Cottage Cheese Bites
Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s what you need to do to make them.
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F for 5 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, add the mustard oil and red chili powder and whisk.
Next, add all the remaining powdered spices and mix well.
Add the curd next to the spice mix along with the besan and mix well.
Take the cottage cheese cubes, capsicum, and onions and coat them well with the curd mixture.
Take a skewer and insert the potatoes and the veggies alternatively.
Spray the air fryer basket with oil.
Next, place the skewers in the air fryer basket, spray a bit of oil on them, and cook them at 400°F for 8-10 minutes.
You can flip them once or twice in between so that they are cooked well.
Serve hot!
Frequently Asked Questions
Fancy some extra crispiness to your spicy cottage cheese bites? Use rice flour instead of Besan, or a 1:1 mixture of both. If you don’t have rice flour, you could also use cornflour instead.
Another cool trick to get that little crumb on the cottage cheese cubes is to roll them in some breadcrumbs after you have coated them with the chickpea flour mixture, and then proceed to air fry them.
Cottage cheese can sometimes get hard, especially if it has been refrigerated for long, or stored incorrectly, regardless of whether it is store-bought or not. A quick way to fix that and get your cottage cheese cubes to be soft again is to immerse them in a bowl of warm water and let them stay for at least 15 minutes.
Then, get them out, place them on some paper towels to soak off all the excess moisture, and use them for the recipe as you would. 
While air frying these cubes is the best way to go- it always yields the perfect crispy outside and soft inside balance that you’re looking for, there are other ways to cook them. You can deep fry them if you can’t compromise on the crispiness, or bake them if you prefer sticking to healthy cooking methods. 
Any leftover spicy cottage cheese bites can stay fresh in the refrigerator for upto 5 days. Remember to use an airtight container to store them. 
Tips & Tricks to Make the Spicy Cottage Cheese Bites
Think the recipe is easy enough? Keeping these additional tips and tricks in mind will help you take it up a notch.
- If you’re a vegan and want to try out this recipe, use tofu and any plant-based yogurt of your choice instead of cottage cheese and yogurt.
- Want these spicy cottage cheese bites to have some extra cheesiness in taste and flavor? Add some Parmesan to the chickpea flour batter or into the breadcrumbs (if you’re using them too).
- Want to make these in a big batch and store them later? You could do that too! Get them ready, transfer them to a baking tray and freeze them for an hour or until they turn solid, then, transfer them all to a freezer-safe container or a Ziploc bag and store them for upto 4 months.
- Remember not to overcrowd the air fryer basket with too many of these- leave a little space between each of them to allow the hot air to circulate well.
- Also, make sure you flip each cottage cheese bite midway through the cooking process so that they are crispy from all sides.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
These soft and delicious spicy cottage cheese bites can be paired with tomato ketchup, coriander chutney, or any other dip of your choice. They can be served as an appetizer or a side to any other main dish of your choice or enjoyed as a healthy, protein-rich evening snack.
Loved trying these spicy cottage cheese bites? On the hunt for some more such fun and interesting appetizer and snack recipes to try out? Here are a few you might want to check out.
- Zucchini Baton Fries with Chili Mayo Dip
- Air Fryer Crunchy Spicy Chickpeas
- Cheesy Chicken Tenders with Chili Mayo Dip
📖 Recipe
Spicy Cottage Cheese Bites
Ingredients
- 8-10 pcs Cottage cheese , (cut into cubes)
- ¼ cup Green capsicum , (diced)
- ¼ cup Onions , (diced)
- 3 tablespoon Mustard oil
- 1 tablespoon Red chili powder
- 1 tablespoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin powder
- 1 tablespoon Tandoori masala
- 1 tablespoon Ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Dry mango powder
- 1 teaspoon Chaat masala
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Curd , (thick)
- 2 tablespoon Besan
Instructions
- Pre-heat the air fryer at 400°Ffor 5 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, add the mustard oil and red chili powder and whisk.
- Next, add all the remaining powdered spices and mix well.
- Add the curd next to the spice mix along with the besan and mix well.
- Take the cottage cheese cubes, capsicum and onions and coat them well with the curd mixture.
- Take a skewer and insert the potatoes and the veggies alternatively.
- Spray the air fryer basket with oil.
- Next, place the skewers in the air fryer basket, spray a bit of oil on them, and cook them at 400°F for 8-10minutes.
- You can flip them once or twice in between so that they are cooked well.
- Serve hot!
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