Crowd-pleasing starters, sharing plates, and bite-sized snacks. Most of these come together in under 30 minutes and are designed to disappear fast at the table.
Crispy Turkish-style fan-cut zucchini in about 30 minutes: scrape grooves with a fork, fan-cut so the slices stay joined, salt for 10 minutes, dredge in herbed flour and a parmesan-egg coat, then pan-fry in olive oil and butter 5 minutes per side. Serve hot under a cold garlic-dill yogurt sauce. Serves 2.
Ham, corn and mozzarella cups: fold thin ham slices into muffin liners, fill with drained corn, a knob of butter and a pile of mozzarella, then bake at 180°C until golden and melty.
Cheesy pepperoni pizza muffin bites: blend cheddar, eggs, cottage cheese and tapioca starch into a smooth batter, fill an oiled muffin tin, top with pizza sauce and pepperoni, and bake at 200°C until golden and puffed.
Garlic bread rolls: spread tortillas with garlic-herb butter, stack with mozzarella, roll into a tight log, slice into rounds and stand them up to bake at 200°C until the cheese bubbles and the edges crisp.
Everything-bagel tortilla bites: spread a tortilla with cream cheese, dust with everything-bagel seasoning, roll, slice into rounds, brush with butter and bake at 180°C until golden and crisp.
An air-fryer blooming onion: make deep cuts in a peeled onion, soak in ice water, coat in seasoned flour, an egg-milk wash and breadcrumbs, then air-fry at 180°C for 25 minutes until golden and bloomed.
Hot, stretchy cheese-and-onion dip: slow-roast buttery onions in the air fryer at 180°C for 25 minutes, top with a mozzarella-mayo-garlic mix, and air-fry 10 minutes more until bubbly. Scoop it up on toast — dangerously good.
Crispy air-fryer onion bhaji: soak sliced onions in ice water, toss with corn and rice flour, garam masala, cilantro and jalapeño, form rough patties and air-fry at 200°C for 12 minutes. Golden Indian fritters without the deep-frying.
Thick onion rings stacked with cheddar, wrapped in flour-dusted bacon and baked on a rack at 180°C for 15 minutes until golden and crispy. Four ingredients, ready in 25 minutes — a crunchy, cheesy bite with no bun.
Viral cheesy onion-ring chips: scatter mozzarella and parmesan on parchment, lay onion rings on top, season, and bake at 200°C for 15 minutes — then cool 10 minutes so they set into shatter-able chips. Serve with a minty yogurt dip.
Bacon-wrapped camembert: weave bacon into a mat, stuff a halved camembert with garlic, honey and herbs, wrap it tight in the bacon and bake at 180°C for 25 minutes until crisp outside and molten inside.
Bacon-wrapped onion rings: shape cheesy garlic beef into rings, set inside large onion rings, wrap each in bacon and bake at 180°C on a rack until golden and crisp. A meaty, cheesy BBQ bite.
Candied pickle bacon: coat bacon in brown sugar and seasoning, drizzle with sriracha, top with pickled jalapeño and bake at 180°C until the sugar hardens into a sweet-spicy candy shell. Sweet, hot, crispy.
Pizza onion rings: arrange frozen onion rings on a tray, top with mozzarella and pepperoni, and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. A 3-ingredient pizza-meets-onion-ring snack.
Crispy cheesy potato roll: bake thin potato slices on a sheet of melted mozzarella until golden, then spread with cream cheese, layer smoked salmon and cucumber, roll up and slice. A showstopper potato roulade.
Creamy three-cheese onion dip: melt gouda, cheddar and maasdam into buttery onion ribbons in the air fryer, stir smooth, brown the top, and finish with crumbled bacon. A molten dip for toast or grissini.
Rice paper feta burek: mix feta with egg and mozzarella, roll the filling in softened rice paper, coil into a spiral, sprinkle with sesame and air-fry at 180°C for 15 minutes until golden and crispy. A quick burek-style snack.