Fried Chicken:
This fried chicken is a simple, quick, tasty, and much healthier way to make fried chicken. Using the air fryer not only speeds things up, it makes perfect crispy skin, juicy, tender meat. So much flavor!
With the use of no oil at all, this fried chicken recipe will satisfy your fried chicken cravings without all the unnecessary added fat and calories. And there is no breading, so while this isn’t a KFC type copycat (find that here: Fried Chicken), you get crispy skin and tons of flavor without the added calories.
Prepped and cooked in just 25 minutes, this crispy air fried chicken recipe is a great meal for when you are in a hurry but still want a delicious and filling dish. Ditch the deep fryer and indulge in the succulent taste of air fried chicken without indulging in all that deep fried fat.
Can You Cook Frozen Chicken In The Air Fryer?
Of course! With the air fryer you can definitely cook frozen chicken in there.
Having the option of skipping the defrosting step makes my heart happy.
Oh how I hate only having a short amount of time to prepare a meal and then realizing that I forgot to defrost the chicken. That can definitely add time to the prep.
That is one of the many great things about the air fryer. You don’t have to defrost your chicken ahead of time.
You can throw your chicken in frozen.
Rub whatever desired seasonings on your chicken, put your poultry in the air fryer, and cook until done. It’s as easy as that.
Cooking times will vary from recipe to recipe. Basically though if you are cooking a chicken breast you can cook a frozen breast for 20 plus minutes preheated at 390 degrees.
For other cuts of chicken, like frozen chicken nuggets, typically plan on a slightly shorter cooking time, around 18 minutes or so.
However, for this air fried chicken recipe I prefer to use unfrozen chicken thighs and cook them in the air fryer at 350 for about 20 minutes, flipping chicken thighs at about 10 minutes into it.
The cook time produces a fabulous cook on the chicken thighs.
Can You Stack Chicken In An Air Fryer?
As tempted as you may be to put tons of chicken all at once in your air fryer, I would not recommend it.
You may be able to get away with stacking chicken wings or chicken nuggets but definitely not full on chicken breasts. They are too large and the hot air won’t be evenly distributed around the surface of the chicken breasts.
Can I stack anything in the air fryer? Yes.
Just remember when deciding whether or not a food will cook properly in the air fryer if stacked, ask yourself if the food is small enough to allow space in between the other food pieces.
If you are stacking large pieces of food, there won’t be space in between the other food pieces, preventing the hot air from reaching all the surface areas of the food.
Since chicken wings or nuggets are smaller than chicken breasts, they may be okay to stack. Just as mentioned before though, you just have to make sure there is space in between.
Note: When you make this fried chicken air fryer recipe, make sure that as you place the thighs in the basket that there is room in between the pieces. Leaving plenty of room in between the thighs will help ensure that there is an even cook and they will cook faster too.
Is Air Fried Chicken Healthy?
This air fried chicken recipe is definitely a much healthier fried chicken recipe. There is no oil used, which significantly decreases the fat and caloric intake compared to chicken fried in a deep fryer.
Plus, if you choose to use oil when using an air fryer, the amount of oil used or needed is much less than the amount used in a deep fryer.
Air fryers use little or no oil. Why is this important?
- Less oil equals less fat
- Lower calorie intake when less oil is used
- More oil can potentially increase chances of heart disease
So, if you are in the mood for some delicious, mouth watering, home cooked fried chicken, using an air fryer as a means to accomplish this objective is a much healthier alternative option to the traditional deep fryer.
A lot of deep fried recipes can use up to a few cups of oil, whereas with an air fryer you don’t have to use oil a lot of times and if you do it is as little as about a tablespoon of oil.
So, is air fried chicken healthy? Overall air fried chicken is considered to be a healthier fried food option than deep frying your food in tons of oil in a traditional deep fryer.
However, are there still healthier options than frying food in general? Of course, but fried food is delicious and if the air fryer can make a delicious food category that is known to be a unhealthy, healthier, then great.
You can now enjoy this food with a lot less guilt.
Everything in moderation of course, but isn’t it great that an air fryer can significantly decrease the calories and fat, offering a healthier avenue to fried food!
What Can You Fry In An Air Fryer?
Now that it has been established that air fried food is a healthier option to the deep fryer, what else can be air fried? The possibilities are endless with what you can fry in the air fryer.
Some Air Fryer Food Options:
- Seafood
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Beef
- Veggies
First though, try this fried chicken (air fryer + oven) recipe. You will not be disappointed. I am sure it will become your new favorite way to make chicken.
Plus, since frying food just got a little bit healthier, and there are so many air fryer worthy foods, here are some other great air fryer recipes. Try Roasted Cauliflower —Air Fryer, or Coconut Shrimp— Air Fryer. Both dishes will definitely leave you wanting more.
Fried Chicken (Air Fryer + Oven)
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs with bones and skin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Pat chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Set air fryer to 350 degrees.
- Place the chicken thighs in the air fryer basket, making sure there is room between them.
- Put basket into the air fryer, and close it. Then start the air fryer. Cook in air fryer for 18-22 minutes.
- Flip chicken thighs at 10 minutes, and cook for additional 8 minutes.
- Use a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken, cook until it reaches 165 degrees F.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Katerina @ diethood .com says
I can’t wait to try this recipe!! It sounds incredibly delicious!!
Beth Pierce says
This looks perfectly crispy and juicy! I love fried chicken-especially for lakeside lunches; can’t wait to try this out!
Charity says
That crispy skin looks irresistible! I seriously need to buy an air fryer.
Cheryl S says
perfectly crispy and juicy without all the calories of frying in oil!! love it!
Mallory Lanz says
This crispy skin on this is amazing! My husband loves it!
Katie says
My family would go crazy for this. Can’t wait to try it!
Toni says
This was really good!! Would love to make it again!
April says
It looks so crispy and delicious!
john airfry says
Oh yes very crispy