Why You Should Be Putting Leftover Chick-Fil-A Nuggets In An Air Fryer

There are few things in this world better than hot, fresh nuggets from Chick-fil-A, especially when they're dunked in your favorite sauce. Those little bite-sized pieces of golden-brown goodness are hand-breaded using special seasoning, fried to perfection in 100 percent peanut oil, and are just downright delicious. There's a reason Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets are one of the most popular items on the menu, and you can now get up to 30 pieces in a single order. At less than 50 cents a nugget, you're doing it wrong if you don't stock up and bring extra nuggets home. After all, how else will you get your Chick-fil-A fix on a Sunday?!

However, there's nothing worse than trying to enjoy those leftover Chick-fil-A nuggets, only to have them turn soggy and greasy in the microwave, or become dried out and chewy in the oven. But now, thanks to an ingenious hack from a Chick-fil-a lover on Reddit, you can have leftover chicken nuggets that taste like you just picked them up in the drive-thru, within a matter of minutes. The secret? An air fryer. Turns out that using an air fryer to reheat your leftover Chick-fil-A nuggets is the best way to keep their flavor and texture as fresh as possible, and make sure they "taste like the minute you got them."

Air fryers are designed to make food hot and crispy, super-fast, and they are a dream come true for your leftovers. Despite their name, air fryers don't actually cook food by frying. The gadgets work by circulating hot air in a small chamber to brown and cook food. An air fryer is not all that different from your basic convection oven, except that the compact size allows the hot air to move around faster, drastically reducing the cooking time. Air fryers do require just a small amount of oil, which helps achieve the golden color and crispy texture we all want from fried food, without the risk of creating a soggy mess that's going straight to the arteries. 

Since leftover Chick-fil-A nuggets have been previously fried, they've already got a little bit of oil on them, making them a perfect item to reheat in the air fryer. According to food blogs like The Kitchen Chair, all you need to do is lay the nuggets in a single layer in the air fryer chamber and cook for a few minutes at around 360 degrees. Everyday Family Cooking says you can apply this same method to all kinds of leftovers, from tater tots to pizza, french fries, and vegetables. So we say go ahead and throw your leftover Chick-fil-A waffle fries in the air fryer as well.