How To Air Fry Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is one of those entrées that the air fryer cooks so perfectly!
For keto fried chicken, sub out wheat flour with coconut or another keto friendly flour, and combine with 2 Tbsp. almond flour instead of cornmeal.
Faq For Fried Chicken In The Air Fryer
- How do you know when itsdone? The easiest way to check is with a thermometer. The internal temperature should be at 165 degrees F.
- Can I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts? I dont recommend it because you dont get the crispy skin!
- Is it healthier to make it in the air fryer? Its definitely healthier than regular fried chicken! The only oil you need to use for the air fryer is cooking spray. So, you definitely cut down on the fat and calories when you use your air fryer.
- Can I stack the pieces in the air fryer? No, you shouldnt do that! The pieces need to be in an even layer to cook properly. If you cant fit all of the pieces cook them in batches. You can keep the cooked ones in a warm oven while you finish the rest.
- Does the air fryer cook the chicken faster than frying? It takes longer to cook it in an air fryer, but its less messy and easier to make than frying it. Not to mention healthier!
Try These Sides With Your Fried Chicken
Alternative Pan Fry Method: If you dont have access to an air fryer, you can make this fried chicken using a traditional pan fry method. Add enough oil to a cast iron skillet so the oil is about 1 1/2 inches up the side of the skillet. Heat oil until it reaches 350°F. Add chicken pieces and fry for 8 minutes. Flip, and fry for another 8 minutes until golden brown. Test temperature you might need a few more minutes for the dark meat pieces .
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Tips And Tricks For Cooking Chicken In The Air Fryer:
As always, youll want chicken that is similar in size for each batch. Pound out breasts and thighs to an even thickness. If youre chopping or cutting your chicken, make sure to cut into uniform sizes. This is a simple way to ensure each bite is perfect!
While most air fryers do cook pretty much the same, some will cook a bit faster or slower than others and some will run a bit hotter or cooler. Get to know your air fryer and adjust the cook times accordingly. If it seems like things are often overdone, just start reducing the cooking time by a few minutes and checking for doneness early. For chicken, you can use a meat thermometer to ensure food safety by cooking the chicken to at least 165 degrees F in the center.
How To Reheat Fried Chicken
The air fryer is perfect for reheating fried chicken! Unlike the microwave , the air fryer will crisp the exterior back up as the meat heats through.
To reheat fried chicken in an air fryer, first take the chill off of the chicken by letting it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Then heat it in the air fryer at 370° F for about 4-6 minutes, until it is hot and crispy. Enjoy!
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The Best Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
We gathered up 11 of our favorite chicken recipes and popped them all right here for you! These are simple, family favorites that are so easy thanks to the air fryer.
Just like you’d find in a restaurant, these Southwest egg rolls make the perfect appetizer, snack, or main course! Loaded with protein and flavor, we like to serve these with a simple mashed avocado dip or some Southwest dip.
Deep Fried And Oven Fried Chicken Directions
Preheat oven to 300F
Soak the chicken legs in buttermilk for up to 24 hours before starting this recipe.
Break the eggs in one bowl and the flour and spices in a second bowl. Stir the spices well into the flour and beat the eggs.
over top of a baking sheet this will serve two purposes during your recipe.
Remove chicken one piece at a time from the buttermilk.
Dredge each chicken leg in the flour, then the eggs, and then the flour once again.
Place the coated drumstick on the cooling rack and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Pour your oil in a large dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat.
Fry the chicken legs in batches of 3 for 2-4 minutes until the coating is golden.
Remove the chicken to the cooling rack and repeat with the remaining chicken.
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Air Fryer Fried Chicken
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This Air Fryer Chicken recipe has had rave reviews from readers for years upon years now- and for good reason! This fried chicken uses no oil and has a crispy, delicious skin over tender chicken meat that your whole family will love!
Youll love this crispy-skinned air fryer chicken, its incredibly satisfying and the recipe is super simple! Dont forget to also try my air fryer fish recipe or for something totally different, my air fryer eggs!
Some More Recipes For You To Try:
- Butter Roasted Chicken The Only Roast Chicken Recipe Youll Ever Need Again.
- Baba Ganoush
This recipe uses one of my very favorite seasonings in the world: Old Bay Seasoning. Its a very East Coast spice mix but this Alberta girl has been using it for years already. Mike and I will simply sprinkle Old Bay onto our chicken drumsticks and roast them thusly, with nothing else on it. You could easily do the same with the chicken drumsticks in the Phillips Airfryer as well if you want a gluten-free option!
So, who has an air fryer, and what do you think about it? Who has been wanting to try an Air fryer as I have? Stay tuned for two more posts where I delve into this appliance and really try it out!
Love you more than chocolate,
Karlynn
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Can I Reheat Air Fryer Fried Chicken Drumsticks
So you have some leftover chicken and dont know what to do with them? Microwaving them can cause them to get soggy. The good thing about air fryers is that you can reheat the chicken legs and theyll taste as fresh, juicy, and crispy as if you just made them.
While preheating the air fryer at 375°F, bring out the leftover chicken and let it come to room temperature. Arrange them in single-layered batches and cook for about 4 to 6 minutes. Flip once, to ensure it heats up evenly.
Notes:
Other Air fryer Chicken recipes you may want to try:
How Do You Crisp Chicken In An Air Fryer
Here are a couple of things you can do to make sure you get the crispiest air fried chicken possible!
- Let the buttermilk drip off. After you soak the chicken in buttermilk, remove it and hold each piece above the dish for a few seconds to let the excess drip off. You want enough moisture for the breading to stick, but not so much that the dry ingredients cant absorb all the moisture.
- Spray with oil. Use a non-aerosol cooking spray to coat the outside of the chicken pieces. This helps wet any dry flour spots and allows the breadcrumbs to get that golden color and crispy texture.
- Leave spacein the air fryer. Make sure that you leave enough space between the chicken pieces for the air to circulate. If theyre touching or stacked, then youll end up with some soggy spots.
- Flip the chicken. After the first 7 minutes of cook time, flip the chicken, then finish cooking for another 3-4 minutes. This ensures that the air reaches all parts of the chicken pieces so they can get crispy all the way around.
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Our 11 Best Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
We love creating new air fryer chicken recipes the chicken always turns out so juicy and tender and the air fryer makes it so simple! We gathered up 11 of our family favorite chicken recipes for you to try!
The air fryer is the greatest new kitchen invention since the microwave. I believe that the air fryer is great for nearly anything you can cook, but chicken are one of my favorite things to cook in the air fryer!
Sure, you could just make air fryer frozen chicken nuggets, but youd really be missing out on all of the potential. Chicken turns out so moist and flavorful in the air fryer!
We gathered up 11 of our favorite air fryer chicken recipes and popped them all right here for you!
Just one thingwhich will you make first?
Freezing And Reheating Air Fried Chicken Strips
I find that these air fryer chicken tenders are best right out of the fryer basket. The breading gets a bit soggy as it sits since it isnt as crispy as a traditional fry method.
Id recommend making just enough to eat, but if you have a few extra you can store them in the fridge for 4-5 days and reheat them in a 350F oven until crispy and warmed through, probably 10 minutes. You can also reheat them in the air fryer for a few minutes.
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Whats The Best Chicken To Use
For my money and taste buds, nothing beats buying a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself. This way, you get some dark meat and some white meat. I also believe in using skin-on and bone-in chicken, which leads to more flavorful and juicier chicken.
That said, my family is not actually a huge fan of the same kind of fried chicken I like. They prefer simple chicken strips, so I did some of those, too, and they work really well.
Chicken strips cook faster than bone-in pieces, so you run the risk of overcooking them and drying them out. Be sure to check strips frequently until theyre just cooked through .
What You Will Need To Make Fried Chicken In The Air Fryer
Chicken: you can use your favorite cuts of chicken. Whether its half or whole chicken , or chicken wings, legs, or your favorite cut of chicken.
Buttermilk: The buttermilk is used to tenderize the chicken and break down the protein which will result is juicy flavorful chicken. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, scroll down for a 5 minute DIY buttermilk recipe.
Flour & Corn Starch: The chicken is breaded with a mixture of flour and cornstarch to ensure a super crispy exterior. The cornstarch helps the chicken brown on the outside and creates a seal that will keep the juices inside the chicken. If you dont have cornstarch on hand, you can use just flour until next time.
Spices: Spices are essential in this recipe because they bring out the flavor of the chicken and will make the chicken taste like your favorite fried chicken restaurants. It might seem like we are using a lot of spices but trust me, the result is amazing and worth every bite!
Hot sauce: Hot sauce adds flavor and color to the chicken and gives it an extra kick of spice. Its completely optional but highly recommended for maximum flavor! Use your favorite hot sauce or opt-in for Franks.
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Tips For Making Crispy Air Fryer Fried Chicken:
BRINE: Like my super popular Brined Fried Chicken, I highly recommend brining the chicken first. It greatly helps in keep the chicken tender. For this recipe, I use a traditional water based brine but you can also use buttermilk.
COAT IN FLOUR/CORNSTARCH: Coating the chicken in a mixture of flour and cornstarch will is my trick to making sure the skin is extra crispy. The cornstarch helps protect the chicken from moisture loss. To learn a little bit more about the actual science of why cornstarch makes things crispy check out this article from Cooks Illustrated.
SPRAY WITH COOKING SPRAY: You wont need to use nearly as much oil with air fryer fried chicken, but because you are using flour/cornstarch, you want to use a little bit of oil. Itll help things brown.
COOK IN A SINGLE LAYER: I have been making a lot of things in my air fryer lately and have discovered certain things, like fried chicken, need to be cooked in a single layer. This helps prevent the chicken from sticking together and ensures all spots get brown.
How To Make Crispy Air Fried Chicken At Home
- extra virgin olive oil cooking spray
- chipotle mayo and lemon wedges, to serve
Directions
Voila! There you have crispy fried chicken like a bought one. PSA, Air fryers also make delicious crispy fries. .
Alternatively, if youd rather get a bit more creative, check out KFCs Kentucky fried cooking recipes which put fun spins on different cuisines.
This article has been updated since its original publish date.
Recommended Reading: Emeril’s Air Fryer Cookbook
Air Fryer Fried Chicken Recipe Tips
- Dont skimp on the seasonings. It may seem like you are adding a lot of seasonings to the flour, but each piece of chicken only gets a fraction of the seasonings since theyre spread throughout the flour mixture.
- To keep the flour from clumping and sticking to your fingers, use one hand for wet and one for dry when dipping the chicken.
- Gently shake off any excess flour or buttermilk when you coat the chicken. This helps to keep the batter from falling off in the air fryer. Handle the chicken gently when flipping it over.
- Dont overcrowd the air fryer basket. The chicken pieces should be in a single layer, not stacked on top of each other. Cook in batches as needed.
- Using 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper makes it somewhat spicy. You can use less or omit the cayenne if you dont want spice.
- For extra flavor, serve with Buffalo Sauce or add 1/4 cup of hot sauce to the buttermilk mixture. Adding hot sauce to the buttermilk wont make it spicy, but will add more flavor. We dont find the hot sauce necessary, but some people like to add it.
Can You Reheat Them
One of my favorite things about the air fryer, is that you can reheat crispy foods like this, and they taste like theyve just been cooked fresh, rather than getting soggy.
The cooked fried chicken will keep well in the fridge and can be reheated in the air fryer at 375F for 4 to 5 minutes until cooked through.
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There Were Only 2 Steps For Prepping The Chicken For The Air Fryer
The marinade was key to the flavor of this dish.Chelsea Davis
I used chicken tenders instead of cutting the whole chicken breasts in half, which saved time and made each piece the perfect size for the air fryer.
I started by coating the tenders in the lemon-pepper marinade, letting any excess drip off.
Then I covered the tenders in panko, patting them down to make sure each piece was completely coated.
Without a good coating, the chicken won’t come out crunchy.
Buttermilk Is Best For Chicken Strips
Its important to marinate these chicken strips before frying them, whether you use a traditional fry method or the air fryer!
A buttermilk marinade with some salt, pepper, and lemon juice will help tenderize your chicken tenders and make them so juicy. The marinade helps lock in moisture even if you end up overcooking your chicken slightly. Its a must in my opinion!
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Frying The Chicken Pieces
Close the air fryer drawer and set the temperature for 390 degrees Fahrenheit and timer for 25 minutes.
After about 13 minutes, open the Air Fryer. Your chicken should look like the photo below on the left . Grab your Air Fryer oil spray bottle and spray those flour spots. Then grab some tongs and flip your chicken. Spray this side of the chicken as well, covering all flour spots. Close your Air Fryer and let it resume cooking.
Once you cooking cycle is done, use a quick read thermometer to ensure your chicken is fully cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove and enjoy
There you have it! Delicious Southern Style Buttermilk Soaked Air Fryer Fried Chicken.
If you like chicken, try these out:
If youre looking to fry fish instead, try this recipe for fish in your air fryer.
