It does not take long before that smell starts to fill the kitchen.
If the weather is just right and the windows are open, anyone in the vicinity is starting to catch a whiff of what's cooking on your stove. And it is making them hungry. It's making them want to rush home and do the same thing – fry up some chicken for dinner.
Warm and crispy, tender and juicy fried chicken!
Almost everybody loves fried chicken and has their favorite style. My mother didn't fry chicken nearly often enough to suit me. I loved it when I got to shake the chicken in the paper bag, otherwise known as dredging. That was lots of fun! When I was older, I would help to make the mandatory mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and salads that accompanied the main dish.
For me, this meal was all about the taste. It never occurred to me that, while it looked so simple to my young eyes, you could say that frying chicken takes a lot of effort. The cook has to continually return to the stove, check the chicken and turn the chicken, all the while dodging that hot oil that might pop up and burn them. They have to somehow know when the chicken is done.
Even in our family of four, my mother had to cook in batches. That meant she had to do a lot of standing and waiting, watching and turning those chicken pieces before we could finally sit down to eat.
Under-cooked chicken is a very bad thing to eat. Over-cooked chicken can be hard on your emotional state. (It just makes you really sad because the texture and flavor don't match up with that gorgeous smell that was making the whole household drool with anticipation.)
What if you had a way to make fried chicken at home but did not have to worry about dodging oil splatter?
What if there was no longer a need to stand over a hot frying pan, trying to guess if the chicken was almost done, completely done, or whoops!a little too close to being burned?
Wouldn't that make your weekly fried chicken night a lot more fun and relaxing for the chef?
Thankfully, there are now several brands that have recently come out with a frying machine called an air fryer. An air fryer is like a smaller version of a convection oven. It will cook your food at a very high temperature using dry, hot air that circulates around the food by using a fan that's built into the fryer.
You can easily set an air fryer on top of your kitchen counter while you're letting it cook for you. One benefit of an air fryer is that you will not be using a large amount of oil that stove-top fried chicken uses. That will save you money but more importantly, you will not be putting all that grease into your body.
If you ever 'fry' your chicken in the oven, you know just how hot that oven will leave your kitchen. Gone are the days of an overly hot oven and house when you fry your chicken in an air fryer.
An air fryer will let your chicken turn out crispy on the outside but still tender and juicy on the inside.
PRO TIP:
Air fryers use a lot less oil that any deep fryer. Anything you fry with hot air will have a much lower fat content. That will reduce the amount of fat and calories your body is taking in and can even help with weight loss.
You preheat your air fryer, just like an oven. Unlike a traditional oven, though, the timer on the air fryer will turn off the machine, causing the hot air to stop circulating as soon as the cooking process is finished. This keeps the chicken from becoming dry or burning if you don't turn it off immediately.
Air frying your chicken is really going to make a big change in your outlook on frying chicken. After you prepare the pieces of chicken and place them in the basket, you can get on with making the rest of your meal, or maybe you can put your feet up and chill out for half an hour before dinner. Wouldn't that be a nice change?
OTHER RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE
Crispy Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 pieces Chicken Legs/Drumsticks, Breast, Thighs, Wings, or Leg Quarters
- 1 cup Potato Starch (You can substitue it with cornstarch)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ tablespoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Chili Powder
- ¼ cup Hot Sauce (I used Red Hot)
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- Peanut Oil (In a mister or spray bottle)
Instructions
- Prepare the marinate by combining hot sauce and buttermilk in a bowl big enough to fill with chicken. Add the chicken pieces and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours to overnight.
- Combine potato starch, salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and paprika in a bowl. One piece at a time, add the marinated chicken pieces into the flour mixture. Chicken should be covered completely but not too thick.
- Using a spray bottle, spray each chicken pieces with peanut oil. Be sure that each piece gets sprayed completely. (You can use store bought cooking spray)
- Place chicken pieces in the air fryer basket. I am using the Power Air Fryer Oven Elite which is a bigger air fryer with different levels you can insert the tray. I inserted the tray at the bottom to prevent from burning the coating quickly. For regular small air fryers, just place the chicken at the bottom of the compartment.
- Set the air fryer to cook at 370F for a total time of 30 minutes. Flip chicken pieces when time hits 15 minutes. Take your cooking spray and spray additional oil.
- Serve hot!
Notes
Bonus Air Fryer Recipe!
While I was looking around at different recipes to try with my air fryer, I was actually stunned when I saw a recipe for making a whole chicken in one of these! The first thing you have to do is check the capacity of your air fryer. I'm sure you'll probably need to purchase a smaller bird. Anyway, this certainly shows the versatility of these machines. You may want to give this one a try after you've made the fried chicken two or three times.
Air Fryer Rotisserie Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or your choice of oil
- 2 tablespoon Italian seasonings
- 1 tablespoon Himalayan pink salt
Directions
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees.
- Pat the chicken dry and then drizzle with avocado oil. Season with half the seasonings.
- Place the whole chicken in the air fryer basket, shut the lid and set the timing to cook for 30 minutes.
- Open the air fryer, flip the chicken and add the remaining seasoning.
- Cook the chicken for an additional 30 minutes.
- Once the chicken has finished cooking, open up the air fryer and remove the chicken from the basket.
- Allow it to sit for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Amy Idowu says
I loved the fried chicken recipe in the air fryer.It was so good and not greasy at all.
john houseman says
thanks new to hot air fryer way of cooking that was the best yet
Gladys says
Recipe was great, my granddaughter and her friend really liked your fried chicken recipe. Now will use this recipe on my other grandchildren.
Lori Bulmer says
does the whole chicken brown up nicely? When I cook one in the slow cooker it does not
Charles Willard says
Yes it will come out brown.
Eunice Manzon says
I Loved it!!! I made Crispy air fry Thighs, in the Oster countertop air fry.....was the first time, I couldn’t believe how delicious, crispy and golden. Cooked deplly, in the time the recipe described. I am very thankful for that recipe!!!
Patty says
Do you have to flip the pieces at all during cooking time?
Charles Willard says
Yes you can flip at halfway cook time.
Laura says
Hi. Completely new to air frying. My son bought me the Ninja 4-qt capacity air fryer that air frys, roasts, reheats and, dehydrates. My question is this: The recipe above for the whole chicken, the way it is worded I take it as total cook time is 1 hour. Is this correct? (States set timer for 30 mins. Flip the chicken and cook for an "additional" 30 mins).
Thank you for your time.and recipes.
Charles Willard says
Yes 1 hour total cook time.
Danny Watkins says
Just tried this recipe. It is FANTASTIC! I added some hot sauce to the egg just for a little extra kick. Can't wait to try a whole chicken on the rotisserie.
Tammy says
Delicious and crispy! I added ground red pepper to the flour mix and hot sauce to the egg. I live the crunchy coating and moist chicken.
David says
can i use canola can spray instead of putting oil in a sprayer on the chicken
Thanks
Charles Willard says
Yes canola or olive can spray is fine.
Tim R says
Made this for the first time the air fired chicken with from ticks and thighs
The chicken skin was crispy and the meat moist. My wife wont each drumsticks except she wanted more! Thanks great suggestions above on how to add spice to the recipe
Theresa Jung says
This is the best recipe for fried chicken in the air fryer!!!! Will use again!!!
Loved it!!!
Rory B says
Made the chicken exactly as stated except I used canned butter flavored spray instead of oil in a spray bottle. The skin was crunchy and the chicken was soooooo moist. Some of the best I ever had. Best to flip the chicken half way thru cooking time.
Elizabeth says
Oh my thank you for having me click on your sight instead of the others! I love love love my AirFryer , new to it for my high weight and other things. Made the chicken for husband tonight so simple but he is on second plate very tender came out better than my oil filled fried chicken would love more recipes from you and if your asking I think a man cooks better anyway 🙂
Sheryl says
This is the first time I have used my air fryer for chicken. I was very impressed how good it came out! Crunchy and juicy inside. I'm mad at myself for waiting so long to try chicken. I've done vegs, fish, and French fries. All were delicious.
Rich says
Really delicious! Tastes like fried chicken with a kick of cajun spice! Best thing is you don't feel bloated afterwards like you would if you had eaten deep fried chicken. Really easy to make!
Kathryn says
Amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
I did drumsticks and 30 min was enough for cooking time.
David Pruiksma says
Love this!!! Perfect. I swapped out half the flour for protein powder, added chipotle tabasco in the egg wash and added a bit more spice (pepper and salt) and it came out perfectly.