Harissa Chicken. Let me show you how easy it is to cook harissa chicken in the air fryer in a similar way to a sheet pan meal or a traybake. Loaded with chicken, baby potatoes, peppers, lemon, and harissa spice, this is one of the easiest ever air fryer dinners.
You will love the simplicity of this air fryer dinner. There are no complicated ingredients, there is only a few ingredients to prep, yet you will love the flavours and the way the ingredients come together.
Harissa Chicken Recipe
Okay I am guilty of pantry hoarding.
You know when you buy things and then forget about them and then they end up sat in the pantry for months and months.
As I write this, we are having a pantry clear out, ahead of moving house and moving countries.
Whilst looking in the pantry for ingredients I can use up and then share with you, I found a jar of harissa chicken dry rub. Full of excitement over my old pantry find, I wanted to show you how to use it in the air fryer.
To make an air fryer version of a harissa chicken traybake, or sheet pan meal as you would call it in the US.
Plus, as well as our free newsletter, we also have a free air fryer mini course. It is ideal for air fryer beginners or those that want to get more confident with their air fryer. The free course runs for 5 days with a new lesson delivered each day to your inbox.
Harissa Chicken Traybake
Beyond Christmas and a large turkey, I don’t use the oven at all and instead I make my traybakes and sheet pan dinners in the air fryer.
The same principle applies.
You can load your traybake ingredients into the air fryer basket and then air fry. It will just be like a traybake but with a better crisp and less oil.
If you want to follow this idea, I recommend you check out how to convert sheet pan meals to the air fryer.
What Is Harissa Chicken
If you are wondering:
- What is harissa chicken?
- Where does harissa chicken come from?
- How spicy is harissa chicken?
- What does harissa chicken taste like?
Then you will not be alone, as its not as widely known compared to some seasonings.
Harissa chicken comes from Morocco and Tunisia in Northern Africa. Some associate it with Tunisia, some with Morocco.
It is mildly spiced and is not over spicy. This makes the harissa dry rub ideal for family dinners because its not too overpowering.
Even my 19 year old son that hates spicy foods, loves harissa chicken breast.
Best of all, harissa is incredibly flavoursome and can be used on its own in family dinners, without needing to add the rest of the spice cupboard.
You can expect to see red peppers, spices, garlic pasta, coriander, cumin, and extra virgin olive oil in harissa. Though the ingredients can vary depending on where you purchased it.
Harissa chicken can be purchased in either a marinade for marinating your chicken breasts, or as a dry rub, which is the type we are using today.
Harissa Chicken Ingredients
Chicken – I am using chicken breast that has been chopped into strips, but you can swap the breast for boneless thighs if you prefer.
Vegetables – In our harissa chicken we are keeping it simple and using mixed peppers. But you can use peppers, zucchini (courgette) or mushrooms.
Potatoes – I also recommend baby potatoes because they don’t need prepping. You can load the potatoes into the bowl with the other ingredients and you are done. Though our air fryer baby potatoes are also delicious on their own!
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – We use a splash of extra virgin olive oil to help make the one pot dinner crispy and also to stop the chicken from drying out. You can also swap this for avocado oil if you prefer.
Harissa – We are also using harissa dry rub that we purchased from the supermarket. You can use this or swap it for a harissa wet paste.
We are also including lemon and extra seasonings too as it really makes this one pot dinner amazing.
Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this air fryer recipe, it has just been our Philips Air Fryer. We have this one and its wonderful for family dinners as well as for smaller batches of food.
How To Make Harissa Chicken?
- Peel and slice. Slice up your peppers and your chicken breast and load into a bowl with everything but the lemon.
- Mix. Don’t be shy. Use your hands to easily mix the ingredients and make sure that the seasonings are evenly coated on the meat, potato, and vegetables.
- Air fry. Load your bowl of ingredients into the air fryer and spread them out so that there is not one big lump of food! Then add slices of lemon over and air fry for 20 minutes at 180c/360f. Stir your air fryer dinner, turn the lemon slices over and cook for a further 5 minutes at 200c/400f.
What To Serve With Harissa Chicken?
Because harissa chicken is very much a Mediterranean Moroccan dish, other sides you associate with Moroccan food goes well with it.
For example, I love to serve my harissa chicken dinner with air fryer chickpeas or a side of couscous.
Or you can add in extra carbs and serve your harissa grilled chicken with instant pot brown rice.
More Delicious Air Fryer Chicken Breast Recipes
- Air Fryer Chicken Teriyaki Bowls
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas
- Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Breast
- Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos
Air Fryer Harissa Chicken
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Harissa Chicken Ingredients:
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- 500 g Baby Potatoes
- 1 Bell Pepper
- 1 Medium Lemon
- 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Harissa Dry Rub
- 2 Tsp Paprika
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Rosemary
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Slice your peppers and your chicken into strips similar to making chicken fajitas and slice your lemon.
- Load everything but the lemon into a mixing bowl and mix well with your hands.
- Place the bowl ingredients into the air fryer basket, making sure everything is spread out. Cover the top of the food with lemon slices.
- Air fry for 20 minutes at 180c/360f, then stir and turn over your lemon slices. Then cook for a further 5 minutes at 200c/400f.
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!
Great recipe thank you for the clear instructions and your timings are perfect.
Love some spice on my chicken, and the whole meal was wonderful and the portion size was great, thank you.
Absolutely delicious, the whole family loved this.