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Crispy Air Fryer “Fried” Chicken is SO delicious and doesn’t have to cook in any oil! It is crunchy and golden on the outside, and tender, juicy, and full of flavor inside! This is how the chicken was meant to be eaten.
Air Frying is sweeping the culinary world and with good reason. Food is done quicker, it’s juicer and has beautiful crusts. Try yours out with these absolutely delicious air fryer recipes like this Salmon, this amazing Steak with Garlic Herb Butter, and this classic Chicken Breast.
Reason’s You’ll LOVE This Recipe
- NO OIL: The best part of this air fryer chicken is that you don’t have to cook it in oil. It’s healthier AND it tastes even more delicious.
- The texture is perfection: Even without frying it in oil, the texture is perfectly golden and crunchy on the outside and packed with flavor on the inside.
- Easy and mess-free: Cooking it in the air fryer means you don’t have to watch it cook in the oil, your stovetop doesn’t get splattered and clean up is a breeze!
The Best Air Fryer Fried Chicken Recipe
If you love fried chicken but hate the mess and the extra fat, then this recipe is for you! Air frying chicken is much healthier than deep fat frying it and you’ll still get that amazing outside that we all love. You may never buy fried chicken out again.
Once you try this, you will be hooked on air frying everything. Here are all of my tips on How to Use an Air Fryer and also which air fryer to buy!
Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken
Simple ingredients boast a huge flavor in this air-fried chicken. If you don’t have cajun seasoning feel free to sub it out for your favorite spices or you can leave it out altogether. If you don’t have buttermilk don’t fret, I have the solution for you, you can make your own. Get the recipe here.
- Chicken: I always use bone-in chicken thighs and legs for the most flavor!
- Salt and Pepper: Add these to taste.
- Buttermilk: The buttermilk adds flavor and helps the flour mixture stick to the chicken.
- Eggs: The eggs help bind the coating together.
- Flour: Want a crunchy coating? Don’t skip the dredging steps!
- Cajun Seasoning: Full of flavor, it’s perfect for chicken.
- Garlic Powder and Onion Powder: These add in some extra flavor.
- Paprika: Provides color and flavor.
- Olive Oil spray: This will help “fry” any of the leftover outside coating.
How to Make Crispy Air Fryer Chicken
This is pretty straightforward. The spray oil is used to help any coating that doesn’t get “fried” get cooked.
- Season the Chicken: Salt and pepper chicken thighs and legs.
- Mix: In a medium sized bowl add the buttermilk and eggs and whisk.
- Coating: In another medium sized bowl add the flour, cajun, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Dredge: Using tongs, dredge the chicken in the flour, then the buttermilk, and then lastly in the flour.
- Cook: Place in the bottom of the air fryer basket and cook at 360 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
- Oil if needed: Open the basket and spray any flour with cooking spray. Turn the chicken and cook for another 5-10 minutes until internal temperature registers 165 degrees and is no longer pink.
What kind of chicken is used in the air fryer?
- Can I use boneless skinless chicken? I don’t recommend using boneless skinless chicken. The skin helps the coating stick to the chicken, creating that luscious crispy outside. Having the bone in also adds moisture and flavor. You can use boneless chicken, you might need to adjust the cooking time, but look for chicken with skin for the best results.
- Can I use Chicken Breasts? I like using chicken pieces that are closer to the same size for more even cooking. If you use bone-in skin-on chicken breasts you’ll have success by adjusting the time. Again check your fried chicken with a thermometer. Also cook them separately from the smaller pieces.
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.
- Overcrowding: Do not over crowd your air fryer. Circulating air is how the air fryer cooks, and if you don’t leave enough space between the food for the air to penetrate, it won’t cook the same. You’ll have undercooked spots in your dish. If you need to cook your chicken in batches to make sure it’s not over crowded. Keep cooked chicken warm in a 200 degree oven while you cook the other batches.
- Know Your Air Fryer: Not all air fryers are the same and not all chicken is the same size. The times I used in this chicken recipe is a guideline. Make sure your chicken is cooked through. Insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken and make sure it reads 165 degrees.
- Don’t skip the cooking oil spray: This is important in creating that crunchy fried chicken. You’ll want to spray the bits of chicken that are still covered in uncooked coating. You don’t want the chicken to taste like flour instead of amazing.
- Parchment liners: If you want to eliminate some of the mess from the coating in your air fryer, they now sell air fryer specific parchment liners that have holes in them.
Do I Have to Use Buttermilk?
Yes, you really should! Not only does it add flavor but it actually helps the chicken maintain its juiciness inside while helping to create a crispy outside. If you have time you can even let the chicken sit in the buttermilk from an hour up to overnight. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can make your own using lemon juice or vinegar using this How to Make Buttermilk recipe.
Why isn’t my coating sticking to the chicken?
If your coating is falling off try letting the mixture air dry on the chicken before air frying it. Place the chicken on a wire rack after you’ve to dredge it to let the coating really adhere to the skin. 10 minutes is all it will take.
More Chicken Recipes to Love
Chicken is fabulous! It is a marvelous ingredient to work with. It has a mild flavor on its own, so it’s easy to marinate and flavor any way you like it. Whether your air frying it, put it on the grill, in the slow cooker or instant pot, it’s just wonderful. Try these other incredible chicken recipes.
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Crispy Air Fryer “Fried” Chicken
Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs and legs
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Salt and pepper chicken thighs and legs. In a medium sized bowl add the buttermilk and eggs and whisk. In another medium sized bowl add the flour, cajun, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Cook at 360 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Open the basket and spray any flour with the cooking spray. Turn the chicken and cook for another 5-10 minutes until 165 degrees and no longer pink.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was my first air fryer recipe ever! I doubled the recipe and this worked quite well, though I found I didn’t need to alter the amount of buttermilk/egg mix (used 2 cups/1 egg). Our family loves HOT and Spicy food so next time I would double or triple the amount of cajun seasoning – but this was a good starting point. Thanks!
Didn’t work whatsoever. Chicken came out undone or partially burnt.
Same here. Chicken was not even close to done and all the breading fell off.
The amount of ads is insane, especially when place phone on stand while reading recipe.
It was juicy but lacked flavor completely.
Really good! I cooked a quarter thigh leg pretty much following your recipe, even making the buttermilk. I kinda eyeballed the flour, using Old Bay instead of everything else. A good recipe, Amiga…I will be trying more. This is my kind of recipe, simple & without a lot of ingredients. Good job, Alyssa 🙂 I think I will try your chicken fried rice next.
Let me know what you think! Thanks for following along and trying out some recipes! Let me know if you ever need any recommendations.
The chicken came out delicious but the temperature and cooking time were off for some reason. I had 2 large thighs and cooked 15 minutes at 360 degrees, flipped them over and sprayed with oil and cooked another 10 minutes and reddish/pink juice was still coming out of them. I had to put them back in for another 10. Think next time I will up the temperature as the “chicken” setting on my air fryer is set up for 390 degrees for 20 minutes.
390 degrees??? I an electric air fryer and like all other electric ones I have seen, the maximum temperature is 200 degrees. Is yours Nuclear powered? 390 degrees will incinerate everything.
Um, what country are you in? Here in the U.S. ALL air fryers can easily reach 400 degrees (ours does this for a preheat). We have two very different ones, from two different makers, and they all can get up that high. Either you’re in some other country or you’re just not following the instructions properly (200 degrees won’t cook ANYTHING – it will only warm things up).
In the US they use Fahrenheit.. don’t act like you didn’t know that
Are you thinking centigrade or Fahrenheit? These temperatures are Fahrenheit.
Came out amazing! I butterflied boneless skinless chicken breast and closed them back up after coating them. A little extra olive oil spray on the inside where the airfryer won’t hit at well.. 2 additional rotations to make sure it’s all getting blasted including inside and BOOM!
Sliced into chicken strips to dip with but immediately thought of it for a great chicken parmigiana or sandwich 🤤
Do yourself a flavor and try this!
Nope, didn’t work in my air fryer. The chicken was not crispy at all. More soggy than edible. The search continues for the best results.
Best fried chicken I’ve ever made. The spices really make the skin taste very good, it was crispy and perfect! I agree I didn’t need nearly so much buttermilk or seasonings or flour, next time I’ll half it, or use more chicken!
Do I need to preheat air fryer before making the fried chicken
I always like to try and preheat my air fryer as a step when prepping for an air fryer recipe but it’s not necessary.
Delicious and crispy. Definitely did not need to waste two cups of buttermilk for this. I could have done it in half a cup. Same with the flour. Didn’t need 2 cups.
Tasted great
I used chicken breast instead and instead of the Cajun seasoning I used lemon chicken seasoning since I’m making Italian food. It came out perfect and I didn’t even need the full time😊😊
Disappointed. I cook all the time. I tried this recipe and I did what you advised by adding Olive Oil spray. Unfortunately , it made the flour mixture burn. All I could taste was a burnt,bitter tasting chicken. Yuck!
Forgot to rate!
Girllll, I know how to cook BUT having the descriptions of what to use and WHY is so convenient. Love the attention to detail.!!