Making fried chicken in an air fryer is a revelation. You can achieve a crispy crust and juicy interior without all the steps of deep-frying. A soak in seasoned buttermilk adds extra flavor—as little as 1 hour will make a difference, but overnight is even better. Because of the capacity of a standard air fryer, we cook the chicken in batches. You can rewarm the first batch in a 250-degree oven for 10 minutes if you’d like to serve it all hot at once.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
- 6 chicken drumsticks (about 2 pounds)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Olive oil cooking spray, for the chicken
Instructions
- Combine the buttermilk, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper in a large resealable plastic bag or container. Add the chicken pieces, seal and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight, turning the bag once or twice.
- When you are ready to cook the chicken, combine the flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a shallow bowl or dish. Stir well with a fork to combine. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the buttermilk mixture from the bag over the flour and toss well to create small lumps throughout.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade. Preheat a 3.5-quart air fryer to 360 degrees F.
- Dredge 3 thighs and 3 drumsticks in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess. Place the pieces in the preheated air-fryer basket, skin-side up without touching. Spray the chicken generously with olive oil cooking spray and air fry until the chicken is cooked through and the crust is crisp and deep golden, about 27 minutes. Check on the chicken halfway through to spray any spots that still look floury with more cooking spray and flip the drumsticks only.
- When the chicken is done, remove it from the air fryer and season lightly with salt. Repeat the dredging and air-frying process with the remaining chicken. if you like, rewarm the first batch in an oven at 250 degrees F for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 531 |
| Total Fat | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 41 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 6 g |
| Protein | 36 g |
| Cholesterol | 156 mg |
| Sodium | 1099 mg |
Reviews
The breading was more bready than it was crunchy and that was disappointing considering the flavor was decent
I really wanted this to work. I had the time, so I tested both the recipe and my air fryer. I had enough chicken to use this recipe and the air fryer instructions. Bottom line, with a little experienced home cook help, it was all fine. But it wasn’t “fried chicken “. Not what that promises. It was tasty crusty chicken. No one was mad at it. But it took a whole lot of time and I hope I find better chicken recipes for my air fryer
The cook on the chicken and the skin was perfect. All this needs is the addition of some flavour. Maybe some cajun seasoning
Nope. No flavor at all. May as well as licked some flour followed with a chicken chaser.
Chose this recipe for my first attempt at cooking air fryer chicken and was pleased I did. The husband, who has been eating my cooking for the last 54 years, was happy to eat a second helping and would have gone for a third piece but I made him save it for lunch the next day.
I seasoned the buttermilk with garlic powder, rosemary and creole seasoning. Dredged in flour with more of the same seasonings. Turned out great!!!
I’m impressed.
This was the first recipe I made in my new air fryer. Despite all the videos I didn’t really think it would work, but it did and this is the juiciest and crispiest chicken I’ve had in years.
A total revelation. LOL
This was the first recipe I made in my new air fryer. Despite all the videos I didn’t really think it would work, but it did and this is the juiciest and crispiest chicken I’ve had in years.
A total revelation. LOL
5 stars for the recipe, however it needed about 2x the flour. No big deal though.
I also marinated the chicken (without the flour) overnight and it worked out really well. Just added the flour right before baking/frying it up. Perfect!
Turned out very good. Chicken was very tender and skin crisp. I only had chicken legs and I ended up air frying in my oven longer than specified in recipe, and turned legs over more than twice to brown up really nicely.
I’m still learning to use my Ninja Foodi. This was so easy and delicious. I followed the directions made no changes, just flipped half way through. Family really enjoyed this, will be making it again
I marinated for 2 days and used an olive oil spray (a must). I have a high-end Philips fryer an so only cooked for 16 minutes and it finished perfectly. I think if your chicken is coming out raw and burnt, the problem is with your fryer, no the recipe.