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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
This recipe is perfect for those days when you’re craving the crunch of fried chicken without the grease. Made in your air fryer, it’s also incredibly easy to clean up afterward.
You’ll love this crispy-skinned air fryer chicken, it’s incredibly satisfying and the recipe is super simple! Why not also try this Air Fryer Fish recipe? Or, for something totally different, try some Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs.
Reader Review
This recipe is just the easiest, quickest and best fried chicken recipe ever! So much flavor from so few ingredients. Comes out juicy and with a nice crust! You’ll never go back to KFC once you make this! Thanks Karlyn! Go Oilers!
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This is an easy recipe.
- Total Time: This chicken will take approximately 25-30 minutes to make, depending on the exact thickness of your chicken.
- Variations: Play with the seasoning levels to make the coating more or less spicy. Try replacing part of the flour with cornstarch for a lighter taste, or mix in some breadcrumbs for extra crunch. Make a batch of Baba Ganoush to use as dip, and set out a platter of veggies or some Biscuits and Gravy to round out the meal.
- Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need two medium bowls, a whisk, an air fryer, a large plate, some tongs, cooking spray, and a food thermometer.
What You’ll Need For Ingredients
Chicken: This recipe is optimized for chicken thighs but you can use it for any cut of chicken. You’ll need to adjust your cooking time accordingly. Boneless pieces will take significantly less time, while large pieces with bones will take longer. Skin or no skin is entirely up to you. Make sure to keep an eye on the chicken as you cook it, since specific times can vary significantly.
Coating: The coating for this chicken is a simple blend of flour and seasoning. All purpose or whole wheat flour are both fine. This recipe calls for Old Bay Seasoning in particular. If you don’t enjoy those flavours, or can’t find any in stores, feel free to use whatever seasonings you enjoy best on chicken. You can even try making your own Homemade Cajun Seasoning or Chicken Seasoning to use instead.
How to Make Air Fryer Fried Chicken
This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Preheat air fryer to 390°F and spray the basket with cooking oil.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In another medium bowl, beat the eggs. Set aside.
- Dredge chicken thighs though the dry mixture, shaking off the excess, and then dip into the egg. Let excess egg drip off and then dredge in the flour mixture a second time.
- Spray the tops of the chicken thighs with cooking oil and then place them into the air fryer basket.
- Cook for 15 minutes and then turn the pieces over.
- Cook for 8-10 more minutes, or until chicken reaches the internal temperature of 185°F.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Perfect Companions: This tasty fried chicken will pair well with many different side dishes. Try serving it with a Classic German Potato Salad or this Dill Pickle Pasta Salad. Serve it with some Air Fryer French Fries or change it up and make some Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries instead. Or simply make your favourite mashed potatoes and gravy. There are so many wonderful options.
Other Cuts of Chicken: If you are using boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe, you only need to cook them to an internal temperature of 165°F. The same applies to other boneless pieces, such as boneless skinless chicken thighs. Thinner cuts like chicken tenders will need significantly less cooking time, while drumsticks would likely take nearly as much time as bone-in thighs. As always, exact cooking times will vary based on the size of the pieces you are cooking.
Storage Instructions
Fridge: Once the fried chicken is fully cooled, you can store it in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 days. You may want to add a piece of paper towel to the container to help absorb extra moisture and keep the chicken from getting soggy. reheat in the air fryer for a few minutes to get it crispy again.
Freezer: For the sake of easier defrosting and reheating, spread this chicken out on a platter or plate and freeze it until solid. Then, put the leftover chicken in a freeze safe container and freeze it for 3-4 months. Reheat in an oven or air fryer.
More Delicious Chicken Recipes
Looking for more easy dishes to make with chicken?
Try this amazing Butter Roasted Chicken.
Or if you’re craving that classic flavour combination of lemon and rosemary, make some Better-Than-A-Restaurant Rosemary Lemon Butter Chicken.
For a full meal, check out Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Potatoes.
Slow Cooker Chicken Stew is another great, one pot meal.
There you go, everyone. Another fabulous way to make use of your air fryer. Try this recipe and let me know what you think.
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, well beaten
- 4 large chicken thighs, skin on
- 1 ½ tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon seasoning salt
- neutral cooking oil, avocado, canola, vegetable
Instructions
- Pre-heat your air fryer to 390°F. Spray the interior basket lightly with the cooking oil.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, seasoning salt, and Old Bay seasoning.
- Dredge a chicken thigh through the flour mixture until well coated. Shake off any excess, then dredge the chicken thigh in the egg mixture, coating completely. Return the chicken thigh to the flour mixture and dredge it again until completely coated. Shake off any large excess of flour.
- Place the chicken thigh on a plate, then repeat the process with the other three thighs.
- Once done, spray the tops of the chicken thighs with cooking oil until they are evenly coated to prevent any dry spots of flour.
- Place the chicken thighs in the basket, skin side down (top side down), leaving enough room between them for air to circulate. Spray the bottom of the chicken thighs with the cooking spray.
- Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, then open it and with a pair of tongs. Turn each piece of chicken over. If desired, you can spray the top again with cooking oil for extra crispness. Continue cooking the thighs for another 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is 185°F when tested with a meat thermometer.
- Remove to a platter and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Don't know in Canada says
what is Old Bay??
aznnorth says
Mixed spices brand name. Very familiar in US southern cooking esp used for fry chicken.
Robin says
I have to laugh because I am a Marylander and everybody here knows what Old Bay is. It is a spice that usually is for steamed crabs and crab dishes. It is delicious.
Karlynn Johnston says
Once you start using Old Bay, you put it on everything! Fries, seafood, chicken….
Theresa says
Facts! I put old bay on everything 🤣
Joanne says
I modified the recipe a bit….soaked the drumsticks, bone in, skin on, in buttermilk, salt, pepper and cayenne for 2 hours and shook off the buttermilk, coated in flour, let sit for 10 minutes, dipped it back into the buttermilk and then again the flour, to make an extra thick crust. Let is sit again for 10 minutes. I cooked for 25 minutes at 375F, and I’m in Canada, so rather than trying to find the Old Bay spice, I just found a recipe on line and mixed it up. I added a bit of Montreal Chicken Spice, I didn’t have seasoned salt? I did spray with coconut oil to make sure all the crust would be nice and crispy. and it turned out amazing.
aznnorth says
Dont know where you live but Old Bay is available at major grocery chains in Canada. I found 1 liter bottles at No Frills.
Theresa says
I live in Toronto Ontario and get it at the local grocery store! You can also get it on Amazon 😊
Sara says
Definitely a keeper! I made it with boneless skinless chicken thighs that I sprayed with a little canola oil it was as good as deep fried chicken. I did not have seasoned salt so instead I added some salt, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika to the flour and Old Bay seasoning mix and it was perfect! Thank you for sharing this great recipe 🙂
celia says
far too much commentary before the recipe.
Fernanda Lopez says
At the very top of the page, there is a jump to recipe option. That will take you straight to the recipe. I hope this helps
Billy Bob says
I bet you’re a lot of fun at parties aren’t ya Sandy.
Debbie says
Not a fan…I used much more seasoning than the recipe called for and it was still flavorless. My husband said it was the worst fried chicken he had ever had.
I don’t typically leave bad reviews but this is too highly rated for what it was.
Robert says
Great & simple recipe , I like mine SPICY for an …. i’m incorpotating 1 teaspoon of Siracha sauce beaten per egg !
Kyle says
Turned out Great. Followed the recipe to the letter and was moist and crunchy. I would make sure the airfryer is nicely pre-heated as this might help solve some of the mushiness I’ve seen on some of the comments. Also I did flip mine 1/2 thru the time. Im in Utah and Old Bay was found in the grocery store in the same isle as baking items.
Robert says
There’s a new thing called internet ….if you don’t have..you can go out of the trailer park an go to any McDonald for free Wi-Fi
holly says
it’s not a crime or a shameful thing to be poor. it is, however, shameful to be disrespectful.
Don hill says
Mine didn’t look anything like hers … mine still had some unbrowned flour on it. But did taste good and chicken was done just a bit of a look diappointment
Daniel DiMayo says
It’s such a great feeling when you try something new and fail miserably…🙄. I’m starting to think outside of breakfast food and baking, I am simply incapable of cooking. I followed these directions perfectly, yet I still struggled mightily, and even worse it seems like I’m the only one. 🤦♂️
So I just put the chicken in the flour, then the egg, I let the excess run off, but when I put it back into the flour, the coating immediately sticks anything and everything, coming completely off the chicken. How do you possibly put it back into the flour while it’s wet with egg and not experience issues? Nobody mentions it, so can someone pretty please tell me what I’m doing wrong?
Clue: it seems like there isn’t much egg left and I only cooked 2 pieces. But I let the excess run off for 30 seconds, so idk how 1 beaten egg would suffice 4 pieces?
It sure does smell good while it’s cooking though! 11 mins left (hopefully)
Thank you in advance!
CherryB says
I never heard of Old Bay and I don’t like hunting through text trying to look for clues as to what it is when I’m ready to cook.
JerryD says
You got google too the same as the rest of us.
Johanna Barker says
I found old bay seasoning at Safeway.
Robert says
Also sold on Amazon
J says
Have you received a head injury lately? What the actual F is wrong with you?
J says
This was in response to CherryB
J says
Just stick to McDonalds.
Rose says
I’ve never heard of it either .so I scrolled down to ingredients list. ,and what do ya know ,it says old bay seasoning .so the next step. since I’m Canadian ,I have to go to Google .and find out exactly what herbs are in it how much of a salt content and is it available here in Canada. Not a big deal
Val says
Delicious moist chicken without deep frying! My kids continue to request this over & over & it’s fast and easy!
Angela Waters says
Delicious!
Sarah says
I haven’t made fried chicken in years due to what a hassle it always ends up being. I think some people think the more complicated they make their fried chicken recipe, the more it’ll convince you it’s great chicken. This recipe is a testament to “the simpler, the better.” Honestly, the Old Bay is the real MVP here. It eliminates opening a billion spices and herbs only to get a flour that is half as seasoned as this one. I’ll never season flour the same ever again. I used drumsticks instead of thighs (they were on sale) and one egg was a bit too little to dredge the six drumsticks. You could add an extra egg but I just loosened it up with a splash of milk. If you do drumsticks, lower the heat to 370 and 25 minutes was perfect, flipping 15 minutes in. Really make sure to spray your chicken with cooking spray to prevent those floury bits.
This chicken was so juicy and delicious, we made it two nights in a row! Will it wow the fried chicken snobs out there? No. But they’re probably not looking around on how to air fry fried chicken in the first place, unless it’s to start fights with people about how air fryer fried chicken is blasphemy or how you can’t possibly make a good piece of fried chicken with such few ingredients.
Anne says
was going to use the recipe tonight on chicken legs. I didn’t see any instruction for doing legs. should I just follow the thigh recipe?
Karlynn Johnston says
You bet, you will just cook them for a shorter time!
Jim says
That’s d*** chicken I ever ate great recipe the only thing that really p***** me off was all the comments and the b******* any way you can just delete all of those Derogatory comments I would have really liked to be able to comment They’re comments but I didn’t see how I could Anyway reading half of them just made me real mad please get rid of them just delete them get them off your site One suggestion I did is I put it on a cooling rack to let everything dry off and get Soak in and absorb the flour when I took it out of the air fryer I put it back on the rack to rest And cool and come up to the temperature you set
D*** fine chicken I really enjoyed it and I don’t like thighs So be proud of your recipe get rid of these a******* rating please delete them
And put a rating system where I can rate the recipe and the comments
Sorry for the comment that became a story but I think it was worth it
Thank you IM FULL
Chris M Tauscher says
I live in the west. I do use old bay seasoning, but was out. But just for fun the last time I looked at a map of the united state Maryland is not in the south. How It Was Made
Old Bay, a blend of 18 spices, was invented by German refugee Gustav Brunn who came to Maryland in 1939. The spice was named after a ship line of the Chesapeake Bay and quickly grew to be very popular later during the later 20th century. McCormick & Company bought the spice in 1990 and distributed it across the state. The company still manufactures it in Hunt Valley, MD, but Old Bay is now distributed to a much wider area.
Victor says
Great recipe. Just one question. The bottom of the chicken is on the mushy side rather than the crunchy. Any advices?
Jenn says
With air fryer recipes, you usually flip half way through cook time.
Chloe says
I’m gonna cook this tonight, but I just love how everyone is roasting tf out of Sandy. Like girl you’re getting roasted by moms in a recipe comment section lol
Carole says
First time I have been on this site. A lot of aggression aka angry people. Anyway I’m going to try this chicken it sounds fab. And at the end of the day ..that’s ALL that matters
Deb says
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I made this for dinner and it’s juicy, crispy, and the way I’ll cook my fried chicken going forward. I cooked chicken breasts and one was larger than the others so I set the timer for 30 minutes and kept on top of things, checking the inner temperature several time with my meat thermometer. I’m already looking forward to the leftover chicken that’s going into sandwiches tomorrow. The seasoning mix was great too. I added my own Cajun spice mix instead of the seasoned salt mix. Tasty, juicy, crunchy outside… yummmmmm!
Kathy says
So delicious and easy to make! A keeper!!
Adam says
Will make again. Super easy. So good. I made a double batch and the last few I did a final roll in some crunched up voodoo kettle chips. Added a nice bit of crunch.
Southern bell says
This sounds like face book instead of Pinterest!!!
Karen says
I really liked this recipe. I started out with a different recipe as I marinated the chicken in buttermilk, garlic and S&P. I then decided to use my air fryer instead and looked up recipes and found this … so … it turned out yummy!!
Laurie says
I took Jeff’s comment as referring to himself and making a joke. I didn’t take it as a comment on the author of the recipe.
Vickie says
New to using an air fryer. Tried this recipe & it was delicious. Juicy & crispy. My husband gave it a big thumbs up. Had no trouble finding Old Bay seasoning in the midwest. Sometimes you might just check in the seafood dept. Also made your seasoned salt to use.
Stephanie Taylor says
Made this tonight but with potato starch instead of flour for my son who is celiac. it was amazing and turned out so much better than I expected. He wants it every night now.
I added some garlic powder and a bunch of seasoned salt and the flavor was great and the chicken was nice and juicy
Eva says
Delicious and perfect fried chicken without the oil! Made it a bunch of times and always came out perfect. Do you think it would work on skinless boneless thighs too?
Stephanie Taylor says
Made this tonight but with potato starch instead of flour for my son who is celiac. it was amazing and turned out so much better than I expected. He wants it every night now
Tim says
In what world would 4 chicken thighs feed four people (4 servings) LOL! Good recipe
Muriel White says
I googled recipe for ideas for air fryer fried chicken and saw this so tried it.
My pkg of thighs had five. I followed your recipe but not having old bay seasoning I used Dash, onion and garlic powder.
After reading some reviews I did turn them over half way through. I am new at using the air fryer so learning as I go along. (Have had one for two years lol). I use the liners for easy clean up. ***FYI my son learned the hard way. DO NOT put liner in while pre heating as it catches on fire.
Bottom line they were very juicy but needs more flavor.
Sarah says
How can you give a three star rating saying the recipe doesn’t have enough flavor when you didn’t follow the recipe? You literally didn’t use the seasoning the recipe calls for.