Air Fried Breaded Tofish & Optimum HealthyFry Air Fryer Review

Optimum HealthyFry Air Fryer

I’ve hankered after an air fryer for a few years but part of me thought, ‘yeah, nice idea but would I ever use it?’ Well, I’ve had my Optimum HealthyFry Air Fryer for a few weeks now and so far in it I’ve made:

  • breaded tofish (recipe below)
  • loads of batches of spicy crispy tofu (this stuff is AMAZING and I can’t stop making and eating it)
  • two batches of spicy polenta chips; and
  • lots of batches of new potatoes (that come out like mini jacket potatoes).

so let’s just say it hasn’t been sitting on the worktop taking up space unnecessarily. I scoffed the polenta and new potatoes before taking pics but I’ll post the recipe for the tofish below, after I’ve talked a bit about the HealthyFry.

Crispy airfried tofu
Crispy airfried tofu

First of all, you may be wondering what exactly an air fryer is. Unsurprisingly, it’s a kitchen appliance that fries food by circulating hot air around the food, thus negating the need for any (or hardly any) oil or deep-frying. You end up with food that’s as crispy as if you’d fried it conventionally but without actually frying it. Clever, huh? You can cook fresh or frozen food (e.g. chips), vegetables, tofu and you can even make cakes in it. As far as I’m aware (or so Google tells me), the only thing you can’t cook in it is anything coated in a wet batter, as the hot air circulating would blow the batter off – hence my breaded not battered tofish.

Froothie Optimum HealthyFry Air Fryer

As well as being easy to use, the HealthyFry is also easy to clean – the basket, drawer and baking pan are all non-stick and although the crispy tofu stuck to the basket because of the marinade, cleaning it was a breeze after leaving the basket to soak for a while. It’s also easy to use – you can choose from the presets or set your own cooking time and temperature, then watch it count down on the screen.

So, am I pleased with my new toy? Hell yeah! I am totally addicted to spicy crispy tofu (coat tofu in a sauce of your choice – I’ve been using Peri Peri sauce or BBQ, then put in the air fryer at 185C for about 20 minutes) and although I’m not going to lie and say the breaded tofish is as nice as the battered one, it’s certainly a lot healthier (making it a perfect candidate for the #jumpstart17 campaign) and contains far fewer calories if you’re bothered about that kind of thing. There’s also no danger of hot oil catching fire and burning the house down which is a nice added bonus.

Buy the HealthyFry

If you’d like to get your  hands on the Optimum HealthyFry Air Fryer, it’s currently on sale at the discounted price of £129 (saving you £70) and, as I’m an ambassador for Froothie, I can offer you free p&p, saving you a further £10 – just type ‘FREE AMBASSADOR DELIVERY 3437’ into the comment box when you order and the postage cost will be refunded to your card.

Air Fried Breaded Tofish

Breaded air fried tofish

As I already mentioned, although this isn’t as nice as the battered tofish (although, you of course maybe prefer breaded to battered), it’s still a great vegan substitute for fish to go with chips from the chippy and some homemade vegan tartare sauce (vegan mayo with a bit of pickle relish mixed in) – the tofu remained moist while the breadcrumbs crisped to perfection and the nori sheets gave it an authentic fishy taste. I used Follow Your Heart’s Vegan Egg to stick the breadcrumbs onto the nori sheets but if you haven’t got any (I recommend you give it a go though, it’s great for making vegan fried egg sandwiches), you could probably use soya milk or a flax egg.

5.0 from 4 reviews
Air Fried Breaded Tofish
 
Air Fried Breaded Tofish Cuisine: Vegan Author: Cathy @ Planet Veggie Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 20 mins Serves: 1
Author:
Ingredients
  • For the marinade
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp salt
  • For the tofish
  • Half a block firm tofu, cut in half (I used Tofoo which doesn't need pressing but if you use Cauldron, press it first)
  • 1 nori sheet cut in half
  • 1 quantity VeganEgg (115ml ice cold water whisked up with 10g [2 tbsp] Vegan Egg)
  • Golden breadcrumbs
Instructions
  1. Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice and salt and leave the tofu to marinade for a few hours
  2. Wrap a strip of nori around each piece of tofu
  3. Coat the tofu in the VeganEgg mixture (or soya milk or flax egg if using)
  4. Dip the coated tofu in the breadcrumbs, pressing firmly until all the tofu is covered
  5. Cook in the air fryer for 15 minutes at 180C

More airfryer recipes

Fava Bean Kiev from Farmersgirl Kitchen

Smokey Maple Roasted Chickpeas from Fab Food 4 All

Chocolate Banana Cashew Cake from Tin and Thyme

Disclosure: I am an Ambassador for Froothie and any links to their products in this post are affiliate links which, if purchased through, won’t cost you any more but will earn me a small commission. I only endorse products I am happy with and I have not been paid for this post.




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11 comments

  1. Oh I really must have a go at making your Tofish. I’ve been telling myself this for far too long now. I’m loving the HealthyFry and using it far more than I thought I would. A very useful piece of kit to have in the kitchen.

  2. This is a great idea for my veggie husband for the next time we get fish and chips in from the chippy! The veggie alternatives are always a bit grim I find… The Air Fryer looks fab… I used to have one years ago but used it so much it eventually conked out!!!!

  3. This sounds lovely! I eat a fair bit of tofu but can never quite get it as crispy as I’d like. Sounds like I need to get me an air fryer!

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