Total: 10 min Diners: 4

Croquettes are probably one of the dishes we liked the most when we were kids and now as adults we still like them just as much or even more. What has changed is that, during our childhood, it was our mothers and grandmothers who spent hours cooking the béchamel sauce and worked patiently waiting for the dough to be cold before shaping and frying them. It is also true that for many of them it was the resource used to hide those foods that made us wrinkle our noses a little if we saw them directly on the plate. And everything is so good inside a croquette!

But when it’s time for us to make the croquettes, it’s easy to panic, because no matter how much will you put into it, we know how most of the mothers give the recipes. Toast the flour with the butter, add the ham, and then gradually add the milk as you ask for it, as if the dough was giving you conversation while you are there giving it with the whisk.

Homemade croquettes like grandmothers used to make in less than 10 minutes

Take note, because preparing the béchamel sauce to make homemade chicken croquettes or whatever you want is as simple as putting your favorite filling in a bowl, add vegetable broth, chicken, meat … or the type of milk you want, soy, nuts, skimmed, lactose-free … and mix everything with the Mix Bechamel Instant. In just two minutes, you will have a croquette dough, as in the best restaurant or as the one that would make the greatest expert in croquettes in the world, but in a moment and without any difficulty, with an impressive flavor, homemade and to your taste… you can look like real chefs, and all thanks to Los Milagros de Santa Rita…

The step that comes next, shaping the croquettes, you can do it very easily if you grease your hands with oil so that the dough does not stick to you. It can also be done with two spoons or by putting the dough in a piping bag and cutting it with scissors as you extrude it.

Finally, you only have to choose the batter, which can be the traditional one of flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs or with some innovation, such as using Panko, the famous Japanese batter, for the last layer or changing the egg for Fijarina, an egg substitute that is suitable for vegans and intolerant people.

How to make chicken and ham croquettes

Ingredients (for about 20 croquettes)

Chicken broth concentrate, 130 ml Whole milk, 150 ml Mix Bechamel & Croquettes Instant Santa Rita, 80 g Iberian ham finely chopped, 70 g Cooked or roasted chicken finely chopped, 70 g Beaten egg, quantity needed Breadcrumbs or panko for breading, quantity needed

(With these quantities you will get a creamy bechamel sauce, but with enough consistency to shape them without difficulty).

Step 1

In a large bowl, pour the 130 ml of chicken stock and the 150 ml of milk, which can be cold from the fridge and add the 70 g of ham and the 70 g of cooked chicken very finely chopped.

Step 2

Add 80 g of the Mix Bechamel & Croquettes Santa Rita, stirring with a spoon until it has a homogeneous consistency, (a trick to make it easier to shape the croquettes is to let the dough rest for about 5 minutes in the freezer, but it is not essential and we can make the croquettes perfectly without performing this step).

Step 3

We finish kneading with your hands (better greased with a little oil, so that the dough does not stick to us) and we give the desired shape to the croquettes, balls, elongated …

Step 4

We put a beaten egg in a deep dish, and in another we put breadcrumbs or panko, we take the croquettes and pass them first through the egg, and then through the breadcrumbs or panko.

If you can not or do not want to use eggs for the batter, you can use Fijarina, mixing it with tap water until you have a thick batter through which we will pass the food to batter before passing them through breadcrumbs or panko.

Step 5

Fry in plenty of very hot oil (180°C). When they are golden brown, take them out and let them rest on a large colander to release excess fat. Some people leave them on absorbent paper, but I do not like it because when they are left on the paper, the fat that the croquettes release on this then reabsorbs and makes the part of the batter that is in contact with the greasy paper is much less crispy.

They are now ready to plate and eat!

They are ready to serve!