10 Air Fryer Chicken Recipes You'll Want Over And Over Again

The air fryer, despite its name, doesn't mimic deep frying but is instead a miniature convection oven that can bake food somewhat more quickly (and use less energy) than a full-sized one. As all manner of chicken dishes can be prepared in an oven, so, too, can they be cooked in this convenient countertop appliance.

Conversely, you can also cook any or all of these recipes in an oven if you don't have sufficient counter space in your kitchen to house an air fryer. If your oven is a standard, non-convection one, though, you may need to bump the heat up 25 degrees Fahrenheit and tack on an additional 20% to the cooking time. The chicken skin may also be a tad less crispy, because the high-speed fan of an air fryer really helps dry food out, making for a crunchier exterior.

Our air fryer chicken recipes include appetizers like nuggets, chicken fries, popcorn chicken, and taquitos. There are also full-blown entrees such as barbecue-sauced and bone-in chicken plus spicy chicken legs. Drumsticks aren't the only chicken part represented, because we also have recipes for wings, breasts, and tenders. There's even a mix-and-match recipe (the aforementioned bone-in one), which can be made with thighs, breasts, wings, legs, or any combination you choose.

Whether you plan on making a pot pie or simply need a convenient main dish to go with a side salad or baked potato, this quick and easy way to cook chicken may be just what you're looking for. All you need to do is rub a few boneless, skinless breasts with seasoned oil and heat them in the air fryer. You'll be good to go in about 20 minutes.

Recipe: Air Fryer Chicken Breasts

While it may seem as though the natural environment of chicken nuggets is the concession stand or frozen food aisle, they require very little effort to make them from scratch. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks (thighs will work, too), and then coat them in seasoned flour and breadcrumbs. Bake them until they're crispy — about 10 minutes per batch — and use this time wisely to stir up a flavorful dipping sauce.

Recipe: Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets

Taquitos are another food where we may be more familiar with the frozen variety, but it's really rather fun to make them from scratch. You'll need pre-cooked chicken, for starters, which you can easily make with the first recipe on this list (ensuring the air fryer is already preheated). Once the chicken is cooked, shred it and roll it up inside of corn tortillas with your choice of fillings such as shredded cheese, beans, and salsa. Heat the taquitos in the air fryer until they turn as brown as a Southwestern desert, then dunk them in queso, guacamole, or pico de gallo.

Recipe: 15-Minute Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos

If you've got (chicken) legs, then you know how to use them ... as your dinner, with a salad or side of fries. A question remains, though: How should you cook them? If you want a low-mess, low-fuss method, the air fryer works just as well for cooking bone-in legs as it does for boneless breasts. Here, we're seasoning them with a zesty blend of chili powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, and brown sugar, with a pinch of baking soda to help the skin get dry and crispy.

Recipe: Southwest-Spiced Air Fryer Chicken Legs

While the original hot wings may have been deep-fried, many people now opt for baking them as a healthier (and less messy) alternative, and the air fryer is perfect for making a smaller batch. Even though these honey-habanero glazed wings are on the spicy side, the sweetness of the honey goes a long way toward tempering the habanero heat. If you want even hotter wings, you can always use more peppers or add some habanero hot sauce. If you're not a real pepper person, you can make them milder by using just a single pepper. 

Recipe: Sweet Habanero Air Fryer Chicken Wings

The seasoning blend used to coat these tenders is another sweet and spicy mix, this one consisting of brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, cayenne, and garlic. Once again, baking powder makes a guest appearance in the role of Secret Ingredient No. 1, since it can help chicken get crispy even when it's skinless. If you want more barbecue flavor, you can dunk these tenders in barbecue sauce, but honey mustard, ranch, or blue cheese would also work for dipping purposes.

Recipe: Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Tenders

This chicken recipe is one you can make with any chicken body part you please — okay, maybe not livers, but if it's bone-in and skin-on, it'll work whether light meat or dark. Rub the chicken with seasoned oil, bake it in the air fryer, then give it a final coating of barbecue sauce to finish it off. If you're using mixed chicken parts, be aware that they may not all be done simultaneously, so use a thermometer to check and see that each one reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit inside before you take it out of the air fryer.

Recipe: Easy Air Fryer BBQ Chicken

Chicken fries have been around since 2005, ever since Burger King decided they'd be a thing, but they've yet to catch on to the extent that other restaurants are jumping all over the trend. That's too bad, since chicken fries are one of the best things on the B.K. menu. You know what's even better, though? Chicken fries with a pretzel crust, especially these homemade, air-fried ones, because they're not only healthier than the fast food version but cheaper, as well.

Recipe: Crispy Air Fryer Pretzel Chicken Fries

While our pretzel chicken fries are made with actual pretzels (and chicken), there's no popcorn in this popcorn chicken. Not that anyone should expect it, since "popcorn chicken" refers to the fact that the chicken is cut into small chunks that can theoretically be eaten like popcorn. Instead, the substance providing the crispy coating for these chicken chunks is more crushed pretzels, so we could actually call this dish "honey mustard air fryer pretzel popcorn chicken." That's too much of a mouthful, though, so we'll stick with a more bite-sized moniker.

Recipe: Honey Mustard Air Fryer Popcorn Chicken

The wings in this recipe are far more sweet than spicy, since Thai sweet chilli sauce tends to lean more toward the sugary side of its identity. If you'd like your wings to have a bit more zing, though, you can mix in some crushed red pepper, cayenne powder, or a more incendiary hot sauce. If not, that's okay, too, since these candy-sweet wings are so tasty, they don't need a dip.

Recipe: Easy Air Fryer Sticky Wings