The Fried Food That Looks Fancy, But Was Actually A Common '50s Struggle Meal

No matter your income or lifestyle, there's no way around it — groceries are crazy expensive right now, and many of us are looking for ways to use food wisely and make sure as little as possible ends up in the trash can. Chicken croquettes (and their seafood counterpart, salmon croquettes) were popular in the 1950s, and there's a good chance you enjoyed this old-school chicken dish at your grandparents' house. Chicken croquettes are much like chicken meatballs — a blend of chopped roasted chicken (often leftovers), bread crumbs, and seasonings — that were dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. They often include mashed potatoes and vegetables and are typically served with a simple gravy or béchamel sauce, turning a struggle meal of leftovers into a treat.

Chicken croquettes certainly make sense as a way to save money. While there are recipes out there that you can follow, it's the type of dish that you can adjust based on what you have available in your fridge. To crisp them up, you've also got some options. Fry them in oil, pop them in the oven (this is how I remember my mom making them in the 80s), or even toss them into the air fryer for some extra crunch (just be sure to spritz them with oil first). Whip up gravy from a packet or make a simple béchamel (white sauce) to drizzle on top, and you've got a super-easy dinner that no one will guess was made up of the odds and ends you had leftover in the fridge.

When creating a tender, well-seasoned filling, you have many options that will please your taste buds as soon as you bite through the crispy exterior of a chicken croquette. Some recipes call for mixing mashed potatoes with cooked, chopped chicken to create a delicious, savory interior. This works well to thicken the chicken mixture so you can easily roll it into balls. Adding a few shakes of instant potato flakes to your coating is a smart move too — boxed potato flakes are a simple hack for super crispy fried chicken, and we think they'd work well on the outside of croquettes, too.

Another tip in many croquette recipes: chill your mixture in the fridge for a bit before you roll it into balls and dip it in breadcrumbs. This helps the chicken base to firm up, making less of a mess when you roll them up. Finally, you may want to pop your croquettes in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before you get them sizzling — this can help the coating stick as they cook, which can be especially important if you're using a deep fryer. No matter what you use for the mix, chicken (or salmon, for that matter) croquettes are a great way to make leftovers into something pretty tasty.