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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
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.
Notes
Nutrition
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Nadine says
two thumbs up from my husband. I didn’t have old bay spice first time I’ve heard of it, will have to get some. Instead I used 1/2tbs of Montreal Chicken Seasoning and 1tbs of Clubhouse Garlic and Herbs. Had skinless boneless chicken thighs cooked for 27mins at 390 flipped chicken 3 times. Chicken was perfectly cooked tender and juicy. Thank you, first time trying fried chicken in the air fryer. As husband said this is now added to one of my go to meals. Went great with Thanksgiving dinner left overs.
Jeff says
Never heard of old bay? You call yourself a cook? Maybe not.
Lauren says
Seriously?! It’s a super popular seasoning, especially on the east coast. Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean this person can’t cook!? get a group dude and deal with your own crap instead of being an online bully.
Marlene M Graham says
Old Bay is also popular in the South, but don’t be rude to someone that lives in an area where it is not sold.
Sandy says
How rude, and ignorant. Not everyone lives in your little world. It is really only popular in the south, I know many of you think the world revolves around you but it so much does not.
South sucks and their food sucks. Southern food= overcooked on outside, raw in the inside, sugar coated everything, turning baked beans into candy, grits – oh boy just what I wanted to eat, sand, I think salt and sugar are the only “spices”, oh yum – fried snot – okra. Old Bay sucks. If you use it, you cannot cook without someone holding your hand how to spice things up. Sheep. Funny coming from the most uncultured group – southerners.
Also, she never claimed she could cook.
Debra says
I thought we were merely talking about a recipe here. Did the Old Bay hater even try the recipe? However, congratulations, you did manage to express the ugliest comments. Do you get paid to be a troll? Or, maybe you just needed to go off on a righteous rant, show your culinary ignorance and be the biggest bully.
On a more important note, this recipe is an absolute winner!
Have a sun-shiny day y’all!
Denise Allison says
Followed the recipe to the letter, but for some reason my chicken came out still covered in flour. Not a lot, but enough to where we felt weird about the chicken. Ended up tossing it & just frying chicken the old fashioned way. I’ll try again another time, maybe using less flour
Mary says
Wow, talk about the pot calling the kettle black…Who is the rude one here Sandy?? Why would you come on here and attempt to belittle at least 30% of the country?? I guess you think all we eat in the South is fried chicken, okra, and grits..? That would be like Southerners assuming that all Northerners/New Yorkers just eat hot dogs from carts, pizza, and grinders. How small-minded you are in YOUR little world. Not all Southerners are “ignorant”, by the way, quite far from it. Maybe the person that cooked you some Southern food wasn’t very good at it?? Additionally, we have plenty of culture in the South, thank you very much. Have you ever been to Asheville (nick-named the Paris of the South), Raleigh, Atlanta, New Orleans, Charleston, etc?? LOTS of museums, Broadway shows, fine dining establishments galore, etc. Just FYI, Old Bay is not just for Southern cooks. Having lived all over the country, I can confidently say that plenty of Northerners & people in the western states use it as well. Try being a little more open-minded. Bless your heart.
michael small says
wow….a bunch of crybaby ignorant adolescents,,,grow the hell up and act your age and not your shoe size….punks.
Mary says
Wow, talk about the pot calling the kettle black…Who is the rude one here Sandy?? Why would you come on here and attempt to belittle at least 30% of the country?? I guess you think all we eat in the South is fried chicken, okra, and grits..? That would be like Southerners assuming that all Northerners/New Yorkers just eat hot dogs from carts, pizza, and grinders. How small-minded you are in YOUR little world. Not all Southerners are “ignorant”, by the way, quite far from it. Maybe the person that cooked you some Southern food wasn’t very good at it?? Additionally, we have plenty of culture in the South, thank you very much. Have you ever been to Asheville (nick-named the Paris of the South), Raleigh, Atlanta, New Orleans, Charleston, etc?? LOTS of museums, Broadway shows, fine dining establishments galore, etc. Just FYI, Old Bay is not just for Southern cooks. Having lived all over the country, I can confidently say that plenty of Northerners & people in the western states use it as well. Try being a little more open-minded. Bless your heart.
Susan says
Thank you for your reply to Sandy, with the proper restraint and logic. Nice touch, “bless your heart”!
Sherry says
I think you won the on line bully contest. Now being a born and raised Southerner myself I take offense in your post. You need to expand your tastebuds I think. You’re missing out.
Norma says
Sandy, the last time I checked, I95 still runs North and South. Please don’t hesitate to use only the northbound lanes. Love,
Your Southern Friends and Neighbors
Mona Copeland says
If you don’t like Southerners or the south, don’t come down here! Funny, you’re the only one I’ve ever heard say that. Most people love southern cooking. You’re sad.
Shelly says
Lol old bay is popular in the north too…for seafood….sounds like you’re probably an ignorant little sh*t.
Rachel says
Who hurt you?
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
Valerie Erickson says
My fryer has the rotisserie and basket. I find no recipes for the basket. Am not sure wheather to put the chicken in that or just on a
wire rack?
Sue S says
Whoa…INCREDIBLE!!! I love this recipe. (followed it to the “T”) You are one very talented fellow Albertan. You recipes are awesome…some old, some new…you never dissapoint.! Proud to have you in our province!
Thanks so much for all you do.
Iso says
To be completely honest, I had some reservations about using Old Bay and the entire process, but this was by far the best and simplest air-fried chicken I have ever prepared.
I prepared both bone-in and boneless thighs using your recipe because I couldn’t decide which I preferred. When the boneless thigh reached the desired temperature, I simply pulled it. They were both excellent, and I will definitely make this dish again and again.
Marybeth Binkley says
Perfect Fried Chicken. Satisfied my craving. Very moist!
smitty says
hi there , what can u sub the old bay for, any insight . thanks
Lori says
This was gross!! I followed the recipe, sprayed the basket and chicken and omg… Not sure what other people are eating that this rated 5 stars but as far as we go, no stars. It wasn’t the Old Bay. I put that on just about everything including my bloody Mary’s.
Sue Switenki says
I made this recipe last night for dinner and my husband said it was the best fried chicken he ever had!! He asked me not to try any other recipe. I followed exactly as written. The smell while frying made our mouths water. 😅. As a side note, had a bit leftover and was excellent cold too!!! THANK YOU! This will be a regular in our house
Kelela says
This was soo good!
Jane D. says
I was fine with the coating. Used thighs and left them in a little longer to make sure all was crispy. The issue is, to me anyway, Od Bay is a seafood seasoning The whole time I was eating the chicken I was wanting peel n’ eat shrimp!
Jess says
A little salty, not exactly crispy but not floury like some said. My kids enjoyed it but it wasn’t for me…I think I just prefer old bay on my seafood. Thanks!
JulieAnna says
Did NOT work. The breading was mushy inside and it was visually still floury. Followed directions to the exact.
Tim says
Loved the recipe. Easy and delicious. I was feeding my sourdough starter that morning, I didn’t want to throw out the portion so the starter I removed from my jar, I used in the place of the egg. I threw in a little bit of flour and water into the removed portion of starter, put it in the oven under the oven light to activate it for a couple hours, then thinned it down to a cream consistency. Came out nice, crusty and bubbly. I’ll be doing this again. Thanks Karlynn. Keep up the good work.
Donna Gant says
This is the very first thing I made in my Air Fryer. This is also the ONLY recipe I will use. The chicken skin is crispy and the meat is moist and tender. My husband LOVES this!
Karlynn Johnston says
Hi Donna, I am so glad that you love this chicken!
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Me too!
Tammi Grubb says
Hello! I just made this and it tasted fantastic but my air fryer didn’t cook all flour so it was pretty dusty even after shaking off all the extra flour. It’s probably used error 😂 but does anyone have tips on how to get all the flour to crisp up?
MamaB says
Did you spray the chicken thighs with anything? We did a few sprays of olive oil on each and it crisped perfectly! You may also have too much flour so try to shake off any excess before cooking.
John Gomes says
It’s a good idea to let the chicken sit for about 15 to 20 minutes after you coat it before frying.
lol no says
Recipe should really emphasize that it’s necessary to spray the frying basket. So much of the coating got stuck. And the 25 minute cook time is laughably low. My chicken was still running red. 40 at LEAST.
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Most air fryer baskets are non-stick, as is ours, so no, spraying the frying basket isn’t necessary in most cases. If your chicken was running red, you are using a pretty bad air fryer as we’ve made this numerous times (as have others) with no issues.
Andrea says
Omg! I had some reservations reading the reviews but WOW this was just delish – we have a small air fryer so I only added 3 pieces and upped the temp to 400. So delish and crispy – thank you for posting!
Karlynn Johnston says
Glad you liked it! Yes, you need a WORKING air fryer ( there are bad quality ones for sure!) and follow the recipe and tips, and it turns out great!
Mia Pia says
I had this same issue and blew off this recipe and many others until I stayed at an Airbnb with a new air fryer. I bought a new one after using that one and it 100 percent was the problem to why a lot of 5 star recipes weren’t working like they were for others.
Jessica says
Have you tried this with chicken breasts? If so, are there any adjustments?
Tony Harvey says
Dear Karlynn, I’ve been getting to grips with my ‘Gourmia’ air fryer and tried this chicken recipe, which was a real success… many thanks. Might I just add the usual plea that US recipe sites not quote only in American units? A massive 96% of potential worldwide web users (like me in the UK) live outside the USA and don’t use them, but we all share this internet. Imagine how many millions would benefit if those sites could just add gram and litre/liter equivalents alongside US lbs/oz/pints, and quote temperatures in both °C and °F.
Lois Demers says
We did 2 chicken breasts, each cut in half, with this recipe. Our air fryer was a 1-2 person (which really means 1) and so there were spots where the chicken pieces were touching that didn’t get as crispy. Not the recipe’s fault, the crispy parts were so good we went out and bought a bigger air fryer! Who knew Old Bay was for anything other than seafood! Having it with thighs tonight!
Clara says
My husband craved fried chicken but it was too caloric until we got an air fryer. This is the best recipe yet! Crispy, well seasoned, and yet still juicy. It was so good I’m making it again tonight. I dredged the thighs in the flour mixture both under and over the skin for extra flavor. I didn’t have Old Bay spice so I made my own; it worked well. This morning I bought Old Bay to see if it makes a difference.
This recipe is not only a keeper, it’s one to share.
Steve says
The recipe looks good from what I can tell but there are so many pop ups I went to the next page. Very annoying.
Lois Demers says
Just click on the ‘jump to recipe’ button.
Rjones says
A pop up ad won’t even let me finish looking without submitting my email. No thank you. Who has time for that?
Roland Fernandez says
Depending on he age of your air fryer, the non-stick coating may be getting a littler tired. It always helps to spray the basket and chicken with some PAM.
I supplemented the Old Bay and Lawrys with a little garlic power, onion power and smoked paprika. Trust me, with all the flour you will need some additional flavor.
This is a go-to recipe now and the thighs are crispy, juciy and full of flavor!
Carol says
I’ve made this recipe a few times now using thighs and it’s in my lineup of quick and easy dinners that my family eats up. If I wanted to make it with drumsticks, would I keep the temperature and just change the time it takes to cook?
Linda Van Dyken says
I have tried this recipe 2x – first I cooked as instructed and chicken was burnt and dried out. The second time I reduced heat to 360 degrees and cooked for 20 min. Much better. Chicken is fully cooked at 165 internal temp. Not sure why you suggested180 degrees. Seasoning is great. Five stars at lower temp and time.
Frank says
Did this your way and it was excellent. I’m finished looking for other ways to do it will definitely try your fish recipe.
Karlynn, very cool name. And I had so much fun reading your description. There is absolutely no way I would have said you were Canadian. Lol I was thinking more North Carolina or Tennessee. I’m from Ohio.
Anyway, excellent recipe!
Becca Sadler says
I have to say that this is quite good. I do highly recommend spritzing the fryer and the chicken with some oil. It helps it from sticking to the pan as well as the chicken being too floury. Very tender and moist.
Jessica says
This was so easy and delicious! I am not much of a cook, but you wouldn’t know from this dish! I made it with bone-in, skin on chicken thighs and prepared it just as stated in the recipe. This will definitely be a regular around here. I bought some Old Bay seasoning just for this recipe, and it gives a nice heat, but not too much for this girl who can’t handle spicy food. Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Carol Armstrong says
I can’t believe how easy and delicious this chicken was. Making it again tonight. Thank you for the recipe.
Remy'sMom says
All the breading ended up stuck to the bottom of the air fryer basket (I sprayed the chicken and the basket first) and the chicken was pretty dry and stringy. 🙁
Natalie says
My chicken thighs were skinless. They came out pretty flour-y on the outside and a little dry actually. Cooked for 25 min. Next time I’ll sorry with oil and reduce cook time.
Maria T Helberg says
First time doing fried chicken in my air fryer it was delicious 😋
Thanks for the recipe loved it. I did use some Cajun spice in the flour mixture and old bay.
Mary G says
This can be gluten free if you use cassava flour. I found that spraying olive oil is required for a crispier crust while using a smaller air fryer.