Air Fryer Herbed Chicken Recipe

Another blink of the eye and somehow, we are in fall, the leaves have changed colors and the air is crisper. As with all years, I’m not ready, but one thing that gets me through the transition of summer to winter has always been the delicious flavours of fall. There is something special about baked apples and spice in the air that makes me want to get cozy and turn on the fireplace.

With the fall season, there is always talks of Thanksgiving dinner on the horizon, especially here in Canada where we celebrate Thanksgiving in October (opposed to November in the USA). I have always been extremely curious about using an air fryer to cook the chicken, this would provide a different texture to the oven cooked turkey and a great addition to any meal.

I have always wanted to try an air fryer. Ever since we added the instant pot to our line up, I felt the air fryer would be another great addition. I was lucky enough to be able to try out the Ultima Cosa Presto Luxe Grande 8L (8QT) Air Fryer. I love how big it is because as a family of four, it allows me to cook much more at once opposed to small batches. It is also big enough to air fry a whole chicken, that sold it!

As you can guess, one of the first things I cooked in the air fryer was chicken. Everything from chicken thighs, wings to the whole bird! The recipe is simple and transferrable to any of those cuts above. It is also a perfect addition to making a turkey for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s my recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as me and my family does!

Air Fryer Herbed Chicken

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken or 5 Chicken Thighs
Salt as needed
1 tbsp dried Parsley
1 tbsp dried Oregano
1 tbsp dried Basil
1 tbsp dried Rosemary
1 tbsp Paprika
2 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Pepper
3 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Butter
Olive Oil as needed

Preparation:

Rub salt all over the chicken and place in the fridge overnight to marinate, if not enough time, marinate for at least 2 hours.

In a small bowl, combine spices (parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, paprika, garlic powder and pepper) to create the seasoning mix.

Mince the garlic and mix it thoroughly into butter.

Remove chicken from the fridge and rub the butter mixture in between the skin and the meat of the chicken.

Cover the outer layer of the chicken with olive oil and pat on the spice mix. Leftover spice mix can be stored for future use.

Set air fryer to 370F.

For a Whole Chicken - Place breast side down for 25 mins, then flip the chicken and put it back in for another 25 mins.

For Chicken Thighs - Place skin side down for 15 mins, then flip the chicken and put it back in for another 15 mins.

Check with the temperature gage until thigh reaches 165F.

If the chicken has not reached temperature place it back in the air fryer and keep checking until it reaches 165F. The cooking time may vary slightly depending on the type of air fryer used.

Remove chicken from air fryer, allow the chicken to cool down for 10 mins and rest before serving.

Some things I loved about the air fryer include:

1. How easy it was to use, no set up required.
2. Little clean up, only the main basin needed to be drained of oil and washed.
3. How little smell it produced opposed to traditional stove top frying where it caused the whole house to smell.
4. How little to no oil is needed to achieve this level of crispiness!

I can definitely see myself using the air fryer more and more, keep an eye out for more recipes to come!