Air Fryer Fried Chicken (Crispy and Tender!) | Valerie's Kitchen (2024)

This crispy Air Fryer Fried Chicken is made with a tiny fraction of the oil used in traditional methods. It’s perfectly seasoned with incredibly tender and juicy meat!

Serve this delicious chicken with California Coleslaw for lighter but highly satisfying meal.

If I were to tell you that you could create perfectly crispy fried chicken using just a teeny-tiny bit of oil would you believe me?

I’ve long been a fan of oven-frying as a way to reduce the amount of oil needed to create a crispy, satisfying result. I’ve used the method for everything from Crispy Oven Baked Fries, Baked Chicken Taquitos, and one of my most popular recipes of all time, my Baked Eggplant Parmesan.

So, it’s not suprising that I’m in love with my air fryer. It does an exceptional job of quickly cooking fried chicken with crispy skin and tender meat.

My family absolutely loves this chicken. The flavor is spot-on, classic fried chicken. No one would ever guess you didn’t deep fry it.

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken: For the best result I recommend using bone-in chicken pieces like thighs, drumsticks, or and breasts. If you want to reduce the fat content even more, the skin can be removed. The chicken is seasoned with a little salt and pepper before it’s breaded.
• Buttermilk and hot sauce: The chicken is marinated in this mixture to help the breading adhere. The hot sauce doesn’t make it spicy, it just adds a bit of zing.
• Breading: The coating is a simple mixture of all-purpose flour and Old Bay Seasoning. You don’t want to skimp on the Old Bay – the flour should be well-seasoned. Old Bay is a blend of celery salt, red pepper, black pepper, and paprika and perfectly creates that classic fried chicken flavor.

How to Make Air Fryer Fried Chicken

1. Marinate the chicken: Let the chicken marinate in the buttermilk and hot sauce mixture for 5 to 10 minutes or cover and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours, if prepping in advance.
2. Bread the chicken: Combine the flour and Old Bay Seasoning in a large plastic food storage bag and shake it to combine the mixture. Bread each piece of chicken individually, then transfer them to a foil lined baking sheet to rest while you preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees F for 5 minutes.
3. Coat with oil: Mist the bottom of the air fryer basket and both sides of the chicken with oil and transfer them to the preheated air fryer. It’s okay if the chicken is touching but the pieces should not overlap.
4. Cook: Air fry at 390 degrees F for 25 minutes. The internal temperature of the fried chicken should reach at least 165 degrees F when checked with an instant read meat thermometer.

Tips for the Best Air Fryer Fried Chicken

Marinate in advance: The chicken can be breaded and air fried immediately or you can cover and refrigerate it and allow the chicken to marinate in the buttermilk mixture for up to 24 hours. This means you can get this portion of the recipe done in the morning and it will be ready to go when you get home from work.

Mist the chicken with oil: Using an oil mister allows you to precisely control the amount of oil you’re using and makes it really easy to apply oil to items that have been breaded. I also use it to apply a light coat of oil to the air fryer basket to help ensure the items won’t stick during the cooking process.

Check for dry spots: About halfway through the cooking time, open the unit and mist any dry spots with a little more oil. I love that you can open an air fryer to check on the items through the cooking process.

No aerosol nonstick sprays: You don’t want to use an aerosol nonstick cooking spray (like Pam) since many contain additives that will damage the coating of your air fryer basket over time. Instead, use a mister or pasty brush to apply your oil of choice.

Don’t overlap pieces of chicken: Only add as many pieces of chicken to the air fryer as will fit in one layer. Instead, cook it in batches, if needed. It’s fine if the pieces touch, but they shouldn’t overlap to allow for air flow over as much surface area as possible.

Storage and Reheating Tips

• Storing leftovers: Store leftover Air Fryer Fried Chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Reheating: Preserve the crispy goodness of fried chickenby reheating it in an air fryer preheated to 375 degrees F for about 4 to 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Avoid using the microwave for reheating as it has a tendency to make the breading soggy.

Sign up for my freenewsletterfor all the latest recipes and join me onFacebook,InstagramandPinterestfor more cooking inspiration!

This post was originally published on May 28, 2019. It has been updated with new text and images.