Viral TikTok recipe for homemade air fryer hot pockets isn’t really a hot pocket, but it is delicious

Welcome to AirFryDay, where — you guessed it — every Friday Mashable covers the latest trends, dispenses advice, and reviews recipes for your air fryer.

Let’s get this out of the way: This isn’t really a recipe for an air fryer hot pocket. It’s called that by the recipe creator, but think of it more as a sandwich pocket.

The term hot pocket conjures up images of greasy pepperoni, melty cheese, and a thin, pizza-dough-esque crust. Usually it’s in reference to the brand Hot Pocket, which is owned by Nestle. But this recipe, from Zach Rocheleau on TikTok, delivers a low-cal version of something akin to a Hot Pocket. And that ain’t half bad.

The idea from Rocheleau is simple. Stuff a sandwich with turkey, avocado, cheese, and roasted red peppers, air fry, and enjoy. Here are the basic instructions for making two pockets, which Rocheleau says come in around 300 calories apiece.

Ingredients

• Butter bread — four pieces

• Deli turkey — about four slices

• Avocado — about one-half of an avocado, smashed

• Shredded cheese

• Roasted red peppers

• Egg whites

Directions

1. With a rolling pin or similar tool, roll each piece of bread until it is fully flat and thin.

2. Paint the edges of the bread with egg whites.

3. Put a large pinch of cheese in the center of one piece of bread.

4. Drop two rolled pieces of turkey on top of the cheese.

5. Lay roasted red peppers on top of the turkey until totally covered.

6. Smoosh a large scoop of smashed avocado on top of the ingredients.

7. Brush the top piece of bread with egg whites, then drop it on top of the stacked piece of bread. The egg white side should face down.

8. Pinch the sandwich closed with your fingers then, using a fork, crimp the edges of the bread to create a seal.

9. Brush the outside edges of the sealed pocket with egg whites.

10. Repeat steps 1-9 to make a second pocket.

11. Spray the air fryer basket and pockets with oil or nonstick.

12. Air fry at 400 degrees for about five minutes or until bread is golden brown and toasty.

The details

First things first — here’s how the cooking process looked, overall, for Rocheleau. The TikTok laying out this recipe has racked up some 2.5 million views.

Mmmmmmn, Hot Pocket.
Credit: Screenshots: TikTok / @thezachrocheleau

Clearly I understood that this would not be an ooey-gooey hot pocket. Granted, you could likely stuff buttered bread with cheese and pepperoni to achieve that result. But in some ways, this recipe was even better.

It’s so simple! It’s so hard to screw up! It’s tasty! A few things I messed up that didn’t end up mattering:

• I didn’t have a rolling pin but used an empty rice wine bottle.

• I made a huge mess when I brushed my egg whites .

• I cracked the bread open while closing it up, leaving a massive gash.

There’s truly not too much to add to the recipe. It’s not trying to be ground breaking – it’s trying to make lunch easy and healthy.

Here are my ingredients, ready to rock. Pro tip: Squeeze some lime juice into the avocado to keep it from browning if you need to pause for a bit to take pictures.

Not pictured: egg whites in a small ramekan.
Credit: Mashable

Here is my bread rolled out. It took barely any pressure to do.

The idea is get thinner bread that covers more area.
Credit: Mashable

Here are the ingredients all crimped up and with a slightly broken seal that turned out fine. Closing the pocket is relatively delicate work, but the toasting process is forgiving. Rocheleau himself mentioned this will happen and that it is fine.

Little rip, no problem.
Credit: Mashable

Here are the hot pockets fully cooked in the air fryer. Easy.

No sure why the right side of the one hot pocket didn’t cook as thoroughly.
Credit: Mashable

And a cross section.

Lots of guac.
Credit: Mashable

So, again, not really a Hot Pocket. It’s a little pocket sandwich. And it was good! The turkey and cheese bring the savory while the red peppers and avocado add a bit of freshness.

This recipe takes a good sandwich and contains it, melts cheese, and makes things toasty and crispy. I can see myself using this as a base for lunches in the future. A “hot pocket” or leftover chicken, veggies, and some cheese? Why not.

I definitely recommend this recipe. It’s easy and supremely hard to mess up. After all, what’s not to love about a warm sandwich you can eat on the go?