Fried Chicken In Air Fryer Oven

Air Fried Chicken Legs

Love delicious, crunchy chicken that is bursting with flavor, crispy when you bite into it, and tender and juicy inside? This recipe delivers big time with a super-simple method to get addictive tastes-like-fried chicken, with a fraction of the oil

If youve never had air fried chicken, it might sound a bit funny, because food in an air fryer isnt actually fried. Air fryer food is more like ultra-convection broiled. This means you can use just a tiny bit of oil and still get delicious crispy chicken. Air fryers are awesomely easy to clean and so simple to use, making it the perfect tool to use for cooking drumsticks.

Were using an air fryer and the natural fat and skin on a chicken drumstick to mimic fried chicken in this irresistible crunchy air fried chicken drumsticks recipe without using any breading. The high-heat from the air-fryer helps to crisp up the chicken skin and fat, giving it a breaded crunch without any added carbs, gluten, or breading. This is a great reduced calorie way to enjoy crunchy chicken legs and it can be totally customized to herbs and spices you love!

Simply add chicken legs to marinade, shake, place in basket, and cook and youre on your way. If youre looking for a spicy kick, try our Air Fried Piri Piri Chicken which is a spin off this method, too or our baked honey mustard chicken drumsticks recipe that is loaded with out of this world flavor.

How Long Do You Fry Chicken

Depending on the size of the cut and the temperature of the oil, you want to fry chicken pieces about 10 to 12 minutes on each side. Smaller pieces, like chicken wings, will cook faster, while thighs and breasts will take a little longer.

Avoid burning by keeping the oil at a constant temperature. You will likely need to raise and lower the heat frequently as the chicken cooks. A candy or frying thermometer is useful for monitoring the oil temperature.

How To Make Air Fryer Fried Chicken

A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.

STEP ONE: In a large, shallow bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs until the mixture is well combined. In a second bowl, add the flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper and whisk well.

STEP TWO: Dip each piece of chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess. Next, dip it in the buttermilk. Roll it again in the flour, covering it completely. Set on a baking sheet and set aside while you dredge the remaining pieces.

STEP THREE: Spray all sides of the breaded chicken pieces with olive oil spray, as well as the inner basket of the air fryer. Place 4 or 5 pieces of chicken in the bottom of the basket .

STEP FOUR: Cook at 360 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Carefully flip the chicken and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until cooked to 165 degrees internally. Use a food-safe thermometer to check!

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Reasons Why You Will Love Air Fryer Recipes

• Cooking becomes really quick. If you compare it to cooking the same recipe in the oven, or on the stove then cooking in the air fryer takes less time.
• Its very convenient and it doesnt leave a mess. All youll need to wash after cooking is the Air fryer basket, and it can go in the dishwasher anyway.
• Its quite healthy as you can use just 1 tablespoon of oil if youre air frying chicken, but you will need 2 cups of oil if youre deep-frying on the stove.
• Its economical since you dont need as much oil when compared to cooking on the stove. It also uses less electricity than the oven.
• There are so many things that you can cook in the air fryer oven, you can even bake in it!

Dishes To Serve With Air Fried Breaded Chicken

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving:

Please note that nutrition information you see is provided and automatically calculated by Nutritionix. This may vary depending on the specific ingredients that you use. To ensure the most accurate information, I suggest entering your specific ingredients into a nutrition calculator.

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Does This Recipe Double Well

You are more than welcome to make as much or as little as you would like for this air fried chicken. The biggest thing is cooking in batches. That way, you can get an even cook on all your chicken. Make sure to check the internal temperature of the meat to ensure the chicken is fully cooked.

Let it rest for a few minutes, and then serve it up. Allowing the chicken to rest for around five minutes helps to ensure the moisture stays in the chicken. Otherwise, it can end up being a bit dry.

HERE ARE SOME HELPFUL PRODUCTS TO HELP YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE-

How To Make Crispy Fried Chicken In The Air Fryer

The secret to making air fried chicken that tastes just as good as frying is to marinate the chicken with buttermilk and spices and to bread it with a mixture of flour and corn starch.

The 2nd must is to generously spray it with cooking spray to ensure all the flour is coated with oil.

This combo will ensure air fried chicken that is tender and juicy on the inside and crispy crunchy on the outside with so much flavor and texture that we promise you will never go back to deep frying chicken.

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Ingredients For Air Fryer Chicken Thighs

Ingredients for discussion purposes, full printable recipe found below.

This recipe is not heavily battered like southern style fried chicken. Instead, we us a chicken thigh marinade made with milk and lemon juice.

• Whole milk: This whole milk and lemon juice concoction acts similar to buttermilk, so if you have buttermilk, you can just use that instead of the milk and lemon juice.
• Lemon juice: The lemon juice can be substituted with lime juice. it can be fresh or from concentrate.
• Chicken thighs: For the juiciest chicken, you want to use bone in with the skin on. If you would like to use boneless, skinless chicken thigh, you can do that as well.
• All-purpose flour: If you are eating gluten free, your favorite gluten free flour will likely work.
• Spices and Seasonings: Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cumin and dried basil. If your family enjoys other herbs and spices, feel free to get creative and use those in place of or in addition to the spices in this recipe.
• Non-stick cooking spray

• Bag Holder not required, but they are so handy!
• Meat Thermometer this is a go to for me when cooking any chicken or meat.

Flip The Chicken And Cook For An Additional 10 Minutes

After the first step of cooking the chicken, open the convection oven door and carefully flip each piece over with kitchen tongs. Close the door and place the timer on 10 minutes.

With a convection ovens fan-based heating system, you may notice that it doesnt need much time for re-heating. This means that additional time is adjusted depending on how your pieces of chicken are cooking. Keep an eye on them as they cook from both sides to make sure they are evenly cooked throughout and do not overcook them remove them from heat when golden brown or when their internal temperature with a meat thermometer reads 165°F .

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What Ingredients Do You Need

You only need a few ingredients to make the basic air fryer fried chicken. Adding a savory marinade or sauce will give it extra flavor, but the basic recipe is very simple . Heres what you need:

• Dredge chicken in flour again
• Arrange chicken in the air fryer
• The finished chicken is golden brown and crisp

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What To Serve With Chicken For A Complete Meal

I love to serve our air fryer chicken thighs with roasted vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts.

My kids love it with Parmesan Potato Wedges this simple dish adds the crunch and needs only potatoes, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and mayo.

Another great way to cook chicken thighs is to fry them with some onions and mushrooms. Add mushrooms and onions after you flip the chicken so the whole meal will continue cooking together for the remainder of the time.

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The Best Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks

The ultimate recipe for juicy tender air fried chicken drumsticks with an irresistible crispy crunch with just a little oil and some seasonings, no additional breading needed!

The only oil were using in this recipe is a tiny bit about two tablespoons of heart healthy avocado or olive oil.

Here at Sweet Cs we know we have lots of types of readers some who want lots of information about the recipes they are making, some who want just certain tips, and some who want to get straight to the recipe. While our posts are longer and broken up into many sections, we do this to provide you with enough information to feel empowered to make a great dish every time you step in the kitchen, no matter your comfort level cooking.

We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.

Tips For Perfect Crunchy Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks & Faqs

If you love air fryer chicken drumsticks, be sure to check my top tips for perfect air fried chicken below:

Preheat air fryer. Run your air fryer for a few minutes before adding the food so it is hot and ready to go when you go to air fry your chicken. This is optional, but I feel it helps the skin to puff up and get a crispy fried texture.

Sauce at the end. If youre going to sauce your drumsticks, wait until they have cooked and crisped to toss in sauce. You also can layer the sauce on to get a crunchy crust throughout the cooking, similar to my baked BBQ Chicken drumsticks.

Dont peek too often. Since air fryers are completely sealed off, its hard to judge your chickens doneness by the look of it. Check the temperature of the chicken when youre already opening the air fryer to flip them dont open it just to check the temperature or too much heat will escape.

Use a digital thermometer. When your timer is done, immediately test the temperature of the chicken pieces with a digital thermometer inserted into the middle of the thickest part of the chicken drumstick without touching bone. Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees internally. If chicken has not met 165 degrees internally, add another 2-5 minutes to cook time.

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Best Way To Reheat Fried Chicken

I have found reheating your chicken in the air fryer is the best method. You reheat for a few moments until it warms it up. This allows keeping the integrity of the breading.

If you do the microwave, it can make the breading and skin feel a bit softer and rubbery in texture. Go ahead and heat it as you would like. Just remember chicken is a bit delicate and can dry out if overheated

Cook The Chicken For An Additional 5 Minutes

Once the chicken is seared, it is time to finish cooking the entire dish. Place the skillet in an oven preheated to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 5 minutes. The goal is to reduce the remaining liquid and give the chicken some nice color. A light coating of butter will help the color develop on top of the chicken as well.

To check if its done, remove a breast from the skillet and cut into it with a knife to make sure that its cooked through . Depending upon how quickly you cooked your skillet ingredients before this step, you may need to cook for an additional 2 minutes. Be sure not to overdry it though take it out when its almost there and let carry-over cooking finish off your dish!

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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 The Best Air Fried Chicken

Just like any air fryer recipe, there are a few things to keep in mind to make this the most perfect air-fried chicken ever. The most important thing to remember is to know your air fryer. There are so many out on the market now. Yours might be bigger or smaller than mine and so you can cook more or less. Your air fryer might also come with recommendations for cooking fried chicken. Itll be best to follow your manufacturers instructions.

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Can I Use A Gluten

If you need a gluten-free option, go right ahead and reach for a gluten-free flour blend. You want something that mimics the texture of flour without being overpowering in flavor. You will dredge just the same and serve and enjoy.

The same goes for if you wanted to do a keto style breading. I am sure almond flour ground up fine would work great, or a blend of coconut and almond flour in one.

What Sauce To Serve This Chicken With

Chicken and sauce is a match made in heaven! And Im currently loving my homemade Yum Yum sauce. Its the sauce that you get at hibachi restaurants, and I love it so much and think that it works great with chicken, fries, in burgers, sandwiches, and more! Its almost like an all-purpose sauce that I add it to all of my food!

Homemade ranch is also always a great idea for dipping sauce! Its much better and creamier than store-bought, and you can even make cayenne ranch sauce by adding paprika, cayenne, and a little bit of hot sauce. So good!

If you end up seasoning your chicken with fajita seasoning, then this lime crema would be amazing!

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How To Bread The Chicken

You have two options to choose from:

• You could either bread the raw chicken breast in seasoned dried breadcrumbs, along with some oil that is drizzled directly over the chicken. This oil will help the breadcrumbs stick and together they will create that lovely crispy texture to the air fryer chicken breast.
• You could use the traditional way of breading chicken just like our mothers and grandmothers always did, by using the egg and flour method . This is also a good option, but the breadcrumbs method is definitely my favorite.

Whichever way you choose, please make sure to season the coating as thats where most of the flavor comes from.

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What Kind Of Chickendo You Use

Korean restaurants in my neighborhood usually use bone-in chicken pieces. You can use chicken wings or chicken drumsticks. I like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cut them into bite-sized pieces. That way you get more of the crunchy, sauce-drenched coating.

Once the chicken is air fried to a perfect golden brown, itis tossed with the sweet-spicy sauce and then garnished with toasted sesameseeds and sliced scallions. Ive also seen it garnished with roasted peanutsand sliced chiles, which is also delicious.

My whole family loves my air fryer version of Korean Fried Chicken. It is spicy, but even my 11-year-old son was immediately hooked

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Perfect Air Fryer Fried Chicken

This fried chicken is going to change your life! Its one of the best air fryer recipes ever! If you love fried chicken but hate the mess and the extra fat, then this recipe is for you! Succulent tender chicken surrounded by a crunchy, mouthwatering, seasoned coating. Air frying chicken is much healthier than deep fat frying it and youll still get that amazing outside that we all love. You may never buy fried chicken out again. Its just that good.

Using the air fryer eliminates not only the need for extra oil to fry it in, but it will also eliminate the mess. No more oil splatters all over your kitchen. And you wont have to worry about hot oil hitting you or anyone else who might be walking by. The mess, which is minimal, is contained in your air fryer. Genius! All of the best parts of fried chicken at your fingertips are in this recipe. Its going to become a quick family favorite for sure. And using the air fryer also just makes this so much easier to make. Ill confess the thought of making fried chicken before seemed daunting. With this air fryer recipe, I can make it every night!