Air Fryer Yuca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. A delicious Caribbean side dish.
Air Fryer Yucca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
I’m not a Fast Food Junkie and I don’t often opt for what is the easiest and quickest way to cook a meal.
On days when I don’t feel like cooking and do need dinner from a quick Fast Food place, I do try to make it one that at least uses real ingredients. Pollo Tropicale in Florida grills their chicken and uses wholesome ingredients. Their Chicken is similar to Pollo Loco in California. Their fried yuca with the creamy curry mustard sauce IS. TO. DIE. FOR!
That alone was worth the trip. Before leaving Florida and coming back to LA, we stopped there just to buy an order of Fried Yuca and load up on their creamy curry mustard sauce. I froze several containers of the Sauce and then, figured out how to make my own homemade Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce.
Air Fryer Yuca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce is as good as from Pollo Tropicale, but without all that grease. My Pressure Cooker Cuban Yuca Con Mojo is also equally as good and cooks in just a few minutes, as well!
Air Fryer Yucca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
You will need a Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker and an Air Fryer for this recipe.
If you do not have a Pressure Cooker, and why don’t you, you can boil the Yuca on the Stove.
Recipe and method are the same for frozen Yuca and works the same way as fresh.
Cut off ends of Yucca and cut in half
Yuca can be cut before or after cooking. I usually do it before cooking, just to be done with it.
Jump to Section
How to Cut Yuca
- With a sharp knife, cut off the ends of the Yuca and cut them in half or in thirds. Yuca Root can be very long. Cut the Yuca into 3-4 inch pieces. It makes it easier to peel in smaller pieces, rather than in one big long piece.
- Plus, that is a good size for the Air Fryer Yuca Fries.
- Yuca is very hard, so be careful not to cut off your fingers. Seriously, sharpen your knife before you get started.
You can see that super thick skin, which is also quite hard, almost like the bark on a tree. Yuca has a woody and fibrous core, which will need to be removed.
Pro Tip: Please make sure to be careful when removing the skin of the Yuca. Do not let your pets near it. Do not use it for compost. Do not taste the Yuca raw. Yuca has has linamarin which when eaten raw converts to cyanide in the stomach. Proper cooking of Yuca, eliminates that potential.
Use a Sharp Knife to Remove the Skin
If you want to use a Potato Peeler, make sure you have a very strong one that won’t break. The skin is pretty thick.
For me it is easier to use a very Sharp Knife and slice off the skin. Keep the Yuca with one cut side on the cutting board, like a tree stump.
Add Yuca to a Steamer Basket
If using a pressure cooker, place the pieces of Yuca into a Strainer Basket.
This will make it easier to remove. If using a Stove Top, boil some water, add the Yuca and cook it until almost fork tender, about 15 minutes.
Air Fryer Yuca pairs very well with Instant Pot BBQ Chicken sandwiches!
Place Steamer Basket in Pressure Cooker
While the yuca is cooking, think about making some Air Fryer Southern Fried Catfish {Louisiana Cajun Style} for the main course.
On the stove top, yuca takes about 25 minutes to cook. Under pressure, it only takes about 9 minutes.
Pollo Tropical Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
Make sure you mix up some Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce and then set it aside, so that the flavors can get nicely married and become as one.
The ingredients need time to merge and marry for optimal flavor.
Toss with Oil and Salt
Coconut oil or canola oil is good to use as they are both high burning oils. You want to make sure that the yuca fries will cook and crisp and not just burn.
This Olive Oil Sprayer / Mister for Cooking works really well for spraying food.
Add Yuca Fries to Seasoned Air Fryer Basket
Before using an air fryer, make sure to ready my article on Properly Seasoned Air Fryer Basket.
If you want a crispier fry, just cook a bit longer than the time indicated on the recipe card below.
Air Fryer Yucca Fries w/Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
These Air Fryer Yucca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce just may become your go to snack!
Enjoy along side my Pressure Cooker Dirty Water Hot Dogs or my Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings, for a wonderful meal.
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Salbree Steamer Basket
- 3.5 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- Olive Oil Sprayer / Mister for Cooking
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
Caring is sharing! If you would like to support This Old Gal, please share this recipe on Social Media, so that I can continue to bring you more wonderful recipes!
If you share a picture of something you make from our blog, tag it with #thisoldgalcooks so we can see it. We might feature it on Instagram! It makes my day when I see you’ve made one of our recipes!
Here is the handy printable recipe:
Air Fryer Yuca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
Print Pin Save RateIngredients
Pressure Cooking
- 2.5 pounds Raw Yuca (peeled, cut, cored)
- 1.5 cups Water
Air Frying
- 2 pounds Cooked Yuca (more or less)
- 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil (or coconut)
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
- 4 oz Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce (or more)
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Cut off ends of yuca and cut in half, width-wise.
- Use a very sharp knife and with the piece of yuca standing on the flat side, cut the skin off from top to bottom.
- Add water to pressure cooker.
- Place yuca in steamer basket and place steamer basket into pressure cooker.
- Lock on lid and close pressure valve. Cook at high pressure (most machines default to high pressure) for 9 minutes.
- When beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
- While yuca is cooking, prepare Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce and set aside.
- Remove basket with yuca from pressure cooker and drain out water.
- Place yuca in mixing bowl and coat with oil and salt.
- Place yuca in basket of air fryer and place basket with yuca into air fryer.
- Cook at 380 degrees for 12-15 minutes, flipping yuca fries half way through. Check and cook until yuca fries are golden brown, a bit crispy and soft on the inside.
- Serve with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this Air Fryer Yuca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce!
Air Fryer Yuca Fries with Creamy Curry Mustard Sauce
My first time ever cooking yuca and I really appreciated all the cooking tips you gave with the recipe! Decided to attempt these in an effort to mimic the yuca fries I get from a local Peruvian chicken restaurant. I think with more practice I’ll eventually get there, but these were delicious for my first try! Very crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. The sauce was a bit too mustardy for me, even after letting it rest in the fridge for a couple hours. I ended up adding some more curry and also cracked pepper, but the flavor went very well with the fries. Thanks for the recipe!
We really loved these! I get cassava in my CSA box & have struggled to use it. Will DEFINITELY be making these again! Mine cooked up kimd of crunchy & the flavor was like a cross between a potato chip & a McDonald’s french fry. We put a little malt vinegar on them & devoured them!
Thank you, Lisa. I love the crunch with the soft centers. Enjoy. Jill
I forgot to take a photo, I was too excited to eat them!!
I’m a pressure cooker/air fryer newbie ~ less than a week. I have a number of food allergies (celiac, nightshade allergy) and cassava/yucca is my “treat”, but recipes for the air fryer were challenging to find. This recipe worked really well, and was awesome for a beginner to follow. Thanks so much, from one old gal to another!
Thank you, Kat. I am glad you enjoyed my recipe. Jill
Deeeeelicious!!!!!! Yummy!!! Great recipe Thanks for your recipe!!!
Thank you, Silvia. Jill
My local supermarket had frozen yuca on sale. I love yuca fries, but I had only had them in restaurants, not homemade. I remembered I had seen this recipe, so I went for it.
They were absolutely delicious, and were a wonderful accompaniment for Friday evening cocktails. I served them with chipotle dipping sauce.
Thanks so much for your perfect instructions.
Glad you enjoyed them. Thank you so much. Jill
Hi Jill,
I’m dying to make these. Our favorite local Peruvian restaurant makes amazing fried yucca, but my husband can’t have fried food anymore. He’s also South American and so has a particular fondness for yucca. And now so do I. 🙂
My question is, should I be using the standard 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pressure cooker, or cover the yucca fully with water? The recipe card says to cover with water but photo instructions say to place steamer basket on top of water. It may not make a difference since yucca is so tough but I wanted to check with you first.
PS. Your cookbook just arrived from Amazon and I’m looking forward to cooking my way through it. Thanks!
Hi Mary. I edited the recipe card to make it clearer. Please let me know if you are able to follow now. Thanks. Jill
Wonderful, thank you for the clarification, Jill. Also I now see I misspelled yuca throughout my entire comment. Apologies, I feel so silly! (Can I blame it on autocorrect?? ?)
I am glad it is easier to decipher. No worries about the spelling. I’m sure it was autocorrect. 🙂 Jill
Hi can i use frozen yuca?
Hi Genna, I had the same question and had a little frozen yuca. I let the yuca thaw, cut it into fries (removing the stem). I microwaved it in a bowl covering the yuca with water for about 7 min until it was a little fork tender. I drained it and then laid it out on a towel. Then I covered it with coconut oil salt and pepper. (Could have used more salt because when I tried to add more later it wouldn’t stick. My air fryer was set at 190° and timed for 10 min shaking in between. They came out very crisp!