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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!
You’ll love this crispy-skinned air fryer chicken, it’s incredibly satisfying and the recipe is super simple! Don’t forget to also try my air fryer fish recipe or for something totally different, my air fryer eggs!
How to Make Crispy Air Fryer Chicken
This recipe has a coating on the chicken that makes the skin crispy and perfect!
- Preheat your air fryer to 390 degrees.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, and the Old Bay.
- Dredge the chicken through the flour mixture, then into the egg, then back into the flour mixture again. Shake off excess flour very well.
- Place the four chicken thighs into the bottom of the cooking compartment. Cook for 25 minutes or until the chicken reaches 180 degrees.
- Remove and serve.
Air Fryer Chicken Breasts
Cooking chicken breasts in the fryer is just as easy as cooking any other pieces, except that chicken breasts can dry out faster. It’s better to use a batter, like my recipe, to seal in the moisture. If you use skin off, you can be prepared for dryer chicken, so if you don’t want to eat the skin, simply cook the chicken breast with the skin on and then remove it before eating.
- Prepare the skin-on chicken breasts in the batter according to the recipe
- Depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts, cook them in the Air Fryer for 25 minutes.
- If you have large ones, they will take longer.
- Chicken breasts should be cooked until 165 °F.
How Long Do I Cook Air Fryer Chicken?
These chicken thighs were done in 25 minutes, but the time depends on the thickness of the meat, whether you use skin on or skin off, and what cut of chicken you use.
- Chicken thighs – cook chicken thighs in the Air Fryer for 25-28 minutes until they reach a temperature of 180-185°F. While you can cook them to 165 °F for safety’s sake, it’s a widely accepted knowledge among professional cooks that cooking chicken thighs to a higher temperature breaks down the meat fibers more, and you end up with more tender chicken thighs.
- Chicken breasts– cook chicken breast in the Air Fryer for 25 minutes, depending on how thick the chicken breasts are. If you have large ones, they will take longer. Chicken breasts should be cooked until 165 °F.
- Chicken tenders – Chicken tenders in the Air Fryer will take only 15-16 minutes to cook, depending on their thickness.
The Air fryer cooks your food by circulating hot air around it evenly, which means that for the cooking to happen properly, all the surfaces of your food need to be exposed to the hot air. I made three chicken thighs in the air fryer, and they were perfectly crispy.
Look at how crispy that skin came out! My son devoured these – as 12-year-olds are wont to do – and asked for more! So, while I would only place four small chicken thighs in the air fryer, this would also work with chicken wings!
The air fryer can only handle a certain capacity—see the manual—so it makes only a small meal for two people. You can stack the chicken on its side if you want; just make sure that there is lots of surface area to cook on.
What I loved about this air fryer chicken is that I used no grease. None. I put the chicken in there, and it cooked up beautifully without adding grease.
The container itself is SO easy to clean. As you can see, you can fit another chicken thigh or a random piece of chicken in there, but you want to make sure that you follow the instructions regarding the amount of meat that you can place in there. You simply place the food into this little basket, and away you go! It’s so easy!
Tips and Tricks
- Some readers put a small bit of water in the bottom of their Air Fryer to prevent smoking; you can try this at your own risk! Apparently, putting a little water in the container under the basket can keep the grease from the food from causing smoke.
- Other readers have sprayed the chicken with cooking spray with good results, but I don’t usually bother as the chicken skin has enough grease in it
- If you are getting floury skin, then definitely use the cooking spray on the chicken. That means the flour isn’t absorbing into your egg layer and you didn’t have enough moisture.
Here are some More Recipes for You to Try:
- Butter Roasted Chicken – The Only Roast Chicken Recipe You’ll Ever Need Again.
- Better-Than-A-Restaurant Rosemary Lemon Butter Chicken
- Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
- How To Make Homemade Cajun Seasoning
- Baba Ganoush
This recipe uses one of my favorite seasonings in the world: Old Bay Seasoning. It’s a very East Coast spice mix ( I was SO happy to have it in New Jersey when we visited), 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 them. You could also easily do the same with the chicken drumsticks in the Airfryer if you want a gluten-free option!
So, who has an air fryer, and what do you think about it? Who has wanted to try an air fryer like 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
Air Fryer Fried Chicken
- Prep Time
- 4 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 minutes
- Total Time
- 29 minutes
- Course
- Main Course
- Cuisine
- Chicken
- Servings
- 4
- Calories
- 327
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- 4 small chicken thighs skin on
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- cooking spray if desired
Instructions
- Pre-heat the Air Fryer to 390 degrees.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and the Old Bay.
- Dredge the chicken through the flour mixture, then into the egg, then back into the flour mixture again. Shake off excess flour very well. If you want to, you can spray the chicken with cooking spray lightly at this point, but I don’t bother.
- Place the 4 chicken thighs into the bottom of the AirFryer cooking compartment. Cook for 25 minutes or until the chicken reaches 180 degrees.
- Remove and serve.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Shirley porter says
This was great, thank you!
Karen says
Did you stay the chicken with out after you dredred it through the flour mixture?
Kate B says
I did chicken thighs skin on and they were great, thank you.
Barb says
I think she meant spray with oil…
Bob says
Stay in school folks. You need to learn some English fool
DK says
I find that I don’t have to place chicken pieces in a single layer in my Philips Air fryer. I just tumble the chicken in and rearrange it so there are some gaps around the pieces. The heated circulating air gets right around all the pieces.
If you do it this way you might have to shake the basket a couple of times during cooking in order to shift the pieces around a bit. I’ve found with uneven pieces like whole wings I don’t even need to shake the basket because the irregular shapes of the wings create their own gaps.
Pat McEntee says
My strong recommendation is to always turn the food at least once. If you look inside the top of the fryer, there is an element. This cooks partially by heat AND by infra red radiation, similar to a broiler. Tossing and turning allows the food to get the caramelization to be more even. So while the heat may have cooked all the food, it may not have that crunchiness and flavor that the caramelization gives.
When I do my fries, I will toss then with a spatula three or four times to help each fry get browned on each side. It also helps me judge how well they are cooking.
Grammasue says
So did you use ANY oil AT ALL? I can’t imagine it getting crispy w/ANY oil!! Pls advise & thank you!
Valerie says
Thighs themselves produce a lot of oil, especially if you cook with bone in and skin on. I tried a similar recipe with boneless skinless chicken breast with no oil, cooking spray, etc. And it was SO dry. The breasts definatley needed some help, but I don’t think thighs would. Try just cooking one thigh and see how it turns out. Can always give to the dog if it is bad 🙂
Derek says
Dog can choke on chicken bones. So take the meat off first. 😉
Jereme says
Yes, be sure and take the bone out of the boneless chicken.
Lisa@eatfrysmith says
I’ve just finished cooking airfryer fried chicken. IT was tasty l loved this favor. you should try it
Rebecca Wilaby says
Hi. Ty for posting about the air fryer. I bought my parents went for Christmas and I was wondering if I’d made the right choice and after reading your review I think that it’ll be great so thank you very much for reassuring me I feel much better now and I look forward to trying your recipe for fried chicken
Arletta Arnspiger says
Thank you! Made this with boneless skinless thighs, just reduced the time and added some cooking spray! Love the spice!!
Jenna says
OMG! This is the BEST fried chicken I’ve ever had. You have the best recipie for this ever! It was so juicy and crispy. It was a HIT with my family. This will be my go to from now on. Thanks so much for sharing.
Jean Bellia says
I Now Have A Aire Fryer, I’ m So Ready To Use it But it Did not Come With Any Recipe Book. Now I Can Follow You.
Thank You So Much For Posting!
Jean
Kari says
Can I make this recipie using gluten free flour?
Vicki Church says
Just finished trying your recipe (exactly as stated) in my brand new air fryer. Perfect!!! Thanks for the recipe! Hope everything I try in here turns out this good!
Mary Anne says
Great recipe! I doubled the spices and used chicken legs!! My husband will want this every week. The chicken was crisp and moist. Sprayed both sides with canola oil before and turned halfway thru and sprayed again. Will make this again. AMAZING! Thank you. 25 minutes to cook only cooked 4 legs not to crowd and made 3 batches!! Yummy!!
sanchez says
Very simple fried chicken! I love it! Recently I’m thinking about buying an airfryer, maybe I can decide it already.
Robert says
Just got my Toastmaster air fryer for Thanksgiving looking forward to using it . Making fried chicken tonight
Danielle says
I made chicken thighs and they we’re amazing!!! I use flour, garlic&parsley,oldBay,&Goya…. Dipped in that then in egg& back in the flour mixture. Preheated for 15 min just to get the basket hot. I sprayed the basket & the chicken with crisco spray, let them cook till crispy looking then turned them, I just kept an eye on it& it came out nice&crspy!! My family loved it!!
Greg Majors says
I cooked them in flour also. They turned out great. Looks like the pictures. But one problem I had is the air frier smoked up the whole house. Anybody have this problem ?
Elaine says
I read on the Net that putting a little water in the container under the basket will keep the grease from the chicken (and I imagine other fatty meat) from causing smoke.
Emily says
These are legit! I completely had my doubts but the chicken tasted like I’d just bought it from a restaurant. I didn’t have old bays so I just used salt, pepper and Lawry’s seasoning salt. The on,y problem was the bottom was soggy, but I can deal with that.
Jenna says
I turned mine 1/2 way through and both sides were perfect!
Billie says
I have my chicken thighs in my air fryer (first use). It has occurred to me that you were not using boneless thighs. Probably totally over cooking them.
Greg Majors says
You are correct. They were not boneless. 360 for 28 minutes. But it started smoking the minute I closed the basket lol. Bachler for yeah ! Lol
Cher Peadon says
QUESTION:
I cook, pretty much, every day for 4-6 people, What size Air Fryer I should buy? Would love to try this recipe!
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
This one in our shop is a great choice and well reviewed! https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/product/simple-chef-air-fryer-air-fryer-for-healthy-oil-free-cooking/
abdul basit says
What if we cooked this for around 30 mins? I’d like to trying this recipe! Thanks btw
ChristyLeigh says
I got my Wise air fryer for Mothers Day and have had so much fun making everything from Cinnamon rolls to Fried chicken! This recipe was fantastic! I used a greek seasoning and parchment paper with holes in it made for the air fryer to reduce sticking. All the grease in the chicken thighs I didn’t need to add any extra oil. I put them in skin side down then flipped them over after 15 mins. Better than KFC!!! I had a sick little one home from school and was trying to make something she would want to eat! Which she inhaled! Sent a picture to my husband and he is jealous and excited for me to make them again for dinner! This recipe will be on hand and used alot!!! Thank you so much!!!
Roger the Consultant says
OK, so I received my air fryer today, purchased on Amazon Prime Days. Had plans to make some Brussels sprouts or green beans when I saw this recipe. I have regular old Old Bay in my spice drawer and had just purchased a load of bone-in chicken thighs at Costco this afternoon (before I knew the fryer was here). So why not? When I informed the wife and our guest that I was making this they both yawned. No oil? 20 minutes? Really? Really! We finished dinner a half hour ago. They both want to know when we are having this again. Your unlikely spice mixture and wonderful end result are to be savored. Thanks for posting this.
Eugene S Legg says
I wish I can post my Airfryer BBQ Chicken I made with my Phillips Airfryer XXL! They turned out fantastic and taste restaurant bought!
Rachel says
I did a couple of Ribeye Steaks in my Air fryer and they came out amazing. I just love it. My son who used to love all his stuff fried is now using the air fryer constantly and like the taste even better. Recently I had my sister over and she got to try the air fryer for the first time, now she is wanting one of her own. I haven’t tried fried chicken in it yet, but that is on the agenda for tonight now.
Cathy says
Rachel how did you cook the ribeye? Been wanting to try steak in mine
Tiffany Fisher says
My new favorite chicken air fryer recipe…pounded tender sized chicken breast to 1/2-1″ in size. Put in at 400 about 6 minutes on each side…used mist oil sprayer beginning and after I turned over…made a nice hard fried crust that was perfectly done and juicy…delicious! Used boneless chicken breast and gluten free flour…Thank you!
Tiffany Fisher says
My new favorite chicken air fryer recipe…pounded tender sized chicken breast to 1/2-1″ in size. Put in at 400 about 6 minutes on each side…used mist oil sprayer beginning and after I turned over…made a nice hard friend crust that was perfectly done and juicy…delicious! Thank you!
Leigh Anne Zerko says
I have a Cooks Essential air fryer. My favorite thing to cook in it is fried chicken. I do mine a little different. Dip in flour, dip into egg/milk mixture, then dip and cover in a mix of traditional breadcrumbs/panko breadcrumbs. I spray my chicken on both sides with some oil or Pam and then put in the basket. Cook on about 370-380 for about 12 mins, turn chicken over then cook another 12 mins (for bone in pieces like legs) ….. Viola!! It is perfectly fried chicken. Crispy on outside and so juicy on the inside. You MUST remember to spray the breaded chicken with oil or Pam or it WILL come out flour-y. The oil adds moisture and makes it crispy and done.
Leigh Anne Zerko says
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QPx2NzGU5gXnrbKV6
Not sure if this link will work, but it’s a pic of the legs I just cooked following the instructions and time/temp above!!! So yummy, crispy and juicy!!
Evelyn says
Leigh, I saw your picture and they looked fantastic.
MissPat says
I am new to air frying and tried making french fries in it and was terribly disappointed with the results but decided not to give up. I came across this recipe and decided to give it one more try. After reading the various comments, I let the thighs sit in the refrigerator for twenty minutes after coating them. I sprayed them with cooking spray before putting them in the fryer. I set the temperature at 360 degrees F. I turned them after thirty minutes and let them cook for another seven minutes. They came out perfect! Before I turned them I noticed that they still looked like the flour wasn’t going to cook properly but after being turned it crisped up nicely. The thighs were larger than I would have preferred but four just fit in my fryer basket and they still came out golden and crispy. I will be making this recipe often!
Tony says
Tried mine for the first time tonight, only changed one thing in the receipt, I dredged the chicken through Panko bread crumbs after the flour/egg/flour, and it turned out GREAT! Nice and crispy outside, very moist on the inside.
Leigh Anne Zerko says
I love it with the Panko breadcrumbs also!! Makes it really crispy like fried chicken!!!
Edith Evelyn Hall says
Isn’t 390 a little high temp for the chicken?
Joyce Huffman says
Have not tried fried chicken, going to try it tonight. Would like more air fryer recipes. My book does not have many. Most of them are frozen store bought foods. I like real homade foods. Thank you. You can email me some recipes if you have some.
judith rhonehouse says
i have a airfryer and love it. my friend bought it and did not like following instructions and pushing buttons. have done bacon, steak,dinner frys, andcube steaks but did not come out good. going to do chicken tomorrow. judy
Ginger says
Will chicken with the skin removed still come out with a crust? I’d like to try making it that way since the skin is where all the fat is.
Julie says
Yes!
Dee says
Just got a small air fryer and have no clue what to do. I would appreciate some receips
Debi says
Make this one. It is awesome.