How Long To Air Fry Chicken Drumsticks?

Learn how long to air fry chicken drumsticks as part of our air fryer back to basics series.

Let us share with you the ideal air fryer chicken drumsticks cooking time and temperature, as well as a master recipe that you can keep as is or make your own.

Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks

In the Milner house, we have been air frying chicken drumsticks for more than 10 years. In fact, it has been so long, we can’t remember the exact date!

But air fryer chicken drumsticks are like chicken thighs or chicken wings in the air fryer, there are so many different ways to cook them and how easy it is to mix it up with different seasonings and marinades.

You can use a dry rub, cook them from frozen, marinade them and then serve them with a sticky sauce, or even meal prep them and freeze them for later.

Today, we will be running through our top FAQ for chicken drumsticks, how long to air fry chicken drumsticks depending on the type you are doing and so much more. Plus, you have the chance to grab our free air fryer time and temperature printable which features plenty of chicken ideas!

The Complete Air Fryer Cooking Guide

The Complete Air Fryer Cooking Guide is new for 2024, following on from our first air fryer cookbook. Our first cookbook sold over 160,000 copies worldwide is still selling well and has changed the way people use the air fryer.

In this newer mini book, we provide you with the air fryer cooking times and temperatures for more than 275 everyday air fryer foods. It also highlights with symbols when to flip, shake and spray your air fryer food.

Read more about The Complete Air Fryer Cooking Guide here.

Free Air Fryer Time & Temperature Printable

During the pre-order promotion of our first air fryer cookbook “The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook”. We gave away a free time and temperature air fryer chart of a lot of the single item foods that were featured in the cookbook.

It was a HUGE success and you asked for, so here I am with more for you. A FREE air fryer time and temperature chart that features the top 30 most cooked air fryer food including these yummy air fryer frozen egg rolls. You will no longer have to scroll whilst cooking dinner, because you can print it out and save it for later!

Can You Air Fry Chicken Drumsticks?

Yes, you can air fry chicken drumsticks and there are a few different ways you can do it. For example, we love just chicken drumsticks with some salt and pepper and some extra virgin olive oil. Its like delicious chicken drumsticks without the batter.

Can You Air Fry Frozen Chicken Drumsticks?

Yes, you can also air fry frozen chicken drumsticks as they don’t have to be thawed first.

You have a few options when it comes to air fryer frozen drumsticks. You can freeze your leftover KFC takeaway and reheat your cooked drumsticks. Or you can buy a bag of chicken drumsticks and freeze them for another day or buy frozen already prepared chicken drumsticks such as some barbecue flavoured ones.

Can You Air Fry Raw Chicken Drumsticks?

Yes, you can air fry raw chicken drumsticks and our favourites are the ones from M&S. But no matter where you live in the world, any thawed chicken cooks well in the air fryer.

Though to save on clean up you may prefer to use a silicone container (like these ones) or paper liners (like these). Though check out our air fryer accessories page for some more ideas.

Do You Have To Flip Drumsticks In An Air Fryer?

You can flip drumsticks in an air fryer, but its not essential with every type of chicken drumsticks. For example, if I am cooking my air fryer KFC style fried chicken (also updated in our first air fryer cookbook) I will flip for an even cook on each side.

But if I am just cooking some chicken drumsticks with a basic seasoning, then it never feels as important.

What Is The Best Way To Cook Drumsticks In An Air Fryer?

I find that the best way to cook chicken drumsticks is spread out in the air fryer either in a marinade or with some salt, pepper, and olive oil. When you are doing sticky chicken drummers such as with some barbecue sauce or teriyaki, you should cook them on a paper liner so that you don’t mess up your air fryer.

How Do You Cook Drumsticks In A Ninja Dual Air Fryer?

When you cook chicken drumsticks in a Ninja Dual air fryer, you can cook them for the same time and temperature as an air fryer basket, but we recommend placing them sideways and you can usually fit at least 5 in each drawer.

Then you can double up and do a second batch in the second drawer, or use the second drawer for some yummy air fryer chips and do chicken and chips.

Air Fryer Easy Everyday + Meal Prep

In our first air fryer cookbook, The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook (get it here) we taught you how to cook chicken drumsticks with our delicious fried chicken recipe.

But in our 2^nd air fryer cookbook Air Fryer Easy Everyday (get it here) we were asked to show you how to flavour your chicken and we did just that in our meal prep section.

So, if you want to give your chicken drumsticks the wow factor, we recommend that you plan an hour, maybe once a month, where you marinate the chicken for the freezer. Then you will have plenty of ways to enjoy your air fryer chicken without feeling like mealtimes are getting boring.

Can You Recommend An Air Fryer?

I often get asked which air fryers I recommend and which one I use. In 95% of our air fryer recipes, we use either the Philips Air Fryer XL or the Cosori XL because they are the best ones, we have found out of many air fryers we have tried over the years. You can click on the links above and read up on them. But if you would rather have a dual air fryer we recommend this Ninja Dual (make sure you order the right one as not all are good) or the Philips Dual.

How To Cook Chicken Drumsticks In Air Fryer?

• Season. Give the chicken drumsticks a good seasoning of salt and pepper.
• Mix. Place the chicken drumsticks into a bowl with your dried seasoning and olive oil and mix well with your hands.
• Cook. Place the chicken drumsticks into the air fryer basket, spreading them out and they are now ready to air fry.

That is how simple it is to cook air fried chicken drumsticks but now let’s talk all about how long to air fry a chicken drumstick.

How Long Do You Air Fry Chicken Drumsticks?

The air fryer chicken drumsticks standard time is 17 minutes at 180c/360f. This is for medium chicken drumsticks that you have bought from the grocery store and are not over big, or over small.

How long to air fry big chicken drumsticks? If you are air frying over large chicken drumsticks I would recommend instead adding another 20 percent to the cooking time, taking it from 17 minutes to 20 minutes.

How long to air fry chicken drumsticks in Ninja Foodi? The Ninja Foodi has a very similar cooking time as a basket or a drawer air fryer, therefore it remains at 17 minutes.

How long to air fry frozen chicken drumsticks? For frozen chicken drumsticks we would recommend 15 minutes at 180c/360f because they are usually already partly cooked if not fully cooked.

How long to cook fried chicken drumsticks in air fryer? For fried chicken in the air fryer, they have a big coating on them, plus you want the breading to be nice and crispy. Therefore, we recommend increasing to 26 minutes at 180c/360f.

How long to air fry chicken drumsticks at 400? We don’t recommend cooking chicken drumsticks at 400f instead, reduce the temperature down to 360f (180c) and cook for 17 minutes.

Plus, don’t forget more chicken you can cook in the air fryer. Our favourites include air fryer chicken breast, air fryer frozen chicken breast, air fryer whole chicken, ninja foodi whole chicken, and air fryer frozen chicken wings.

Learn all about air fryer chicken drumstick cooking times below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

Though before you do, don’t forget to subscribe, and grab your FREE VIP Pass to Recipe This. You will get access to our latest recipes first, you will be able to request recipes, you will have access to free mini courses, free ebooks and useful cooking time charts and so much more.

Can’t make it now? Then save it for later!