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Tender and Juicy Air Fryer Chicken Breasts turn out perfect every time! Golden and crispy on the outside and moist and delicious on the inside. It’s so easy and bursting with flavor!
Air fryer food is so succulent and easy! Make this a meal and serve your chicken with roasted potatoes, easy corn on the cob, or these delicious air fryer mushrooms! If you don’t have an air fryer…it’s time to get one!
Air Fryer Chicken Breast Recipe
Air fryers have changed cooking. It’s so quick and easy and everything that comes out tastes amazing. I love it. This is such a healthy way to cook chicken or any other dish for that matter. It uses the same method as a convection oven but this way you don’t have to heat the whole oven for just a few chicken breasts. It’s quick and the clean-up is so easy.
Chicken can be finicky sometimes, and hard to get juicy and tender each and every time. The air fryer method takes a lot of the guesswork out for you. You will just need to check the temperature of the chicken to ensure doneness, because you don’t want to overcook it. Use leftover chicken in recipes like fried rice, pasta dishes, or delicious salads!
Ingredients You Will Need
This air fryer chicken recipe uses ingredients that you most likely already have on hand. This will be your go-to dinner for busy weeknights because it’s so quick and easy!
- Chicken Breasts: Boneless skinless chicken breasts are trimmed and ready to go!
- Olive Oil: Perfect mild flavored oil for the air fryer.
- Italian Seasoning: Perfect combination of spices.
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder adds great flavor!
- Paprika: Adds color and gives it that “wow” flavor.
- Salt and Pepper: Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Optional: Brussels sprouts or broccoli are my favorite.
Let’s Make Air Fryer Chicken Breast
I promise, you will make your chicken in the air fryer from now on. It’s so easy and fail-proof. Never wonder what’s for dinner again! This chicken is so versatile because it can be used in a lot of recipes.
- Oil: Place the chicken in the air fryer then rub with the olive oil to coat
- Combine: In a small bowl combine the spices and rub generously on the chicken
- Air Fry: Bake at 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 minutes then flip the chicken and add Brussels sprouts, if using. Cook for an additional 9 minutes or until the internal temp is 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Rest: Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying!
Tips For the Juiciest Air Fryer Chicken
Let’s make the BEST juicy and tender air fryer chicken breasts! The air fryer can work wonders, so here are my tips for making this recipe a success!
- Olive Oil: This helps to crisp the skin and helps the spices and herbs to adhere to the meat.
- Space: Make sure you create room between the chicken breasts to ensure even cooking. Don’t overcrowd the chicken and cook in batches if you need to.
- Temperature: Check the temperature earlier than you think because you don’t want to overcook the chicken. Appliances can vary so go by the temperature of your chicken to ensure it’s done.
- Rest: Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before cutting into it. This allows the juices to reabsorb into the chicken instead of spilling onto your plate.
- Spices: Mix it up depending on your menu. You can use Mexican spices, BBQ spices, sauce, Indian spices, etc. Whatever your menu calls for this is a quick delicious way to cook your chicken.
- Moist: Want to make sure your chicken is super moist and tender? Try marinating or brining your chicken for even greater juiciness and flavor.
Storing Leftovers
I love this air fryer chicken because it makes the best leftovers! It’s great for meal prep and to use for other recipes throughout the week.
- In the Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- In the Freezer: You can freeze the chicken in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
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Tender and Juicy Air Fryer Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
- optional: brussels sprouts
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the air fryer basket. Rub olive oil on the chicken.
- In a small bowl add the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Rub on each sides of the chicken.
- Bake at 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 9 minutes then flip the chicken and add Brussels sprouts, if using. Cook for an additional 9 minutes or until the internal temp is 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely delicious! Prepared exactly as directed and the result was super, super moist air-fried chicken! Will absolutely keep in my dinner rotation!! Thanks so much!!
Oh my gosh, juicy and delicious!
Since the breasts were a good 8 ounces each; I did have to increase the cooking time by five minutes.
I used wax paper for the prep work and that made the cleanup easy!
This will be a go to recipe for me – thanks for sharing!
Nothing at all “crispy” and had to cook for an additional 15 minutes
This recipe is “tender and juicy”. Nothing about being crispy.
This recipe seemed too good to be true when I came across it looking for something new to try for dinner. Only 18 minutes for chicken?! Flip once and you’re good to go? Impossible, I thought! And I was right. I don’t know what kind of air fryer you use, or if you used very thin chicken breasts to create this recipe, but 9 minutes per side at 360 degrees gave me beautifully cooked chicken on the outside and send-you-to-the-hospital raw chicken on the inside. I had to jack the heat up to 400 and cook for an additional 10 minutes so I wouldn’t kill my lovely family.
And that’s why she said to check meat temp is at 165°
Omg this made me laugh so much! Thank you for your comment because I am doing the recipe now and I had to add a few extra minutes as well.
I tried this for the first time at 360 for 9 minutes on each side. Dry and tough. Perhaps my chicken tenders were too small. I would try it again at 370 for 8 minion each side or larger pieces of chicken breast.
To clarify/ do you use the air fry or bake setting on the air fryer. Mine has both settings. ThBks!
I would use the air fry setting!
I have the large air fryer that doubles as an oven. Will it be too large for this chicken recipe?
No, that should work fine!
Worked exactly as advertised. So dang good. We brined the chicken first, which we’ve never done before. Game changer! Juiciest chicken breast I’ve ever had. We have a Chefman air fryer and the time and temp worked perfectly for two bone-in chicken breasts (1.6 lbs total).
Can I put oil on but spices in ziplock bag for coating?
Sure! That works great!
Celsius of Fahrenheit?
Fahrenheit.
Made this when was in a crunch for time!
Husband loved it and even expressed how good it was!
I made this recipe as written (used broccoli :P) and it was perfect! The chicken breast was done just right (I don’t like my chicken overcooked). I preheated my air fryer and followed your easy directions. Definitely a keeper 😉
Do the brussel sprouts come out crispy?
They have a browned, crispier outside edge and are tender on the inside.
No garnish. Food preping for the week. 360 degrees left chicken raw. Second batch cooked at 400 degrees. Perfect & delicious🙂
How about using broccoli instead?
You could do that!
What did you use to garnish the chicken?
Fresh parsley!