Marinated Chicken In Air Fryer

Let’s cook marinated chicken in air fryer. We have put together 7 different, yet all delicious marinades for the air fryer that are perfect for any protein (not just chicken).

You can start with air fryer marinated chicken breast and then expand to salmon, other types of chicken, or even try it with vegetables or tofu. Just use these marinades as your starting point. 

Air Fry Marinated Chicken

My love for marinated chicken using the air fryer started many, many years ago. I had originally prepped some chicken for the slow cooker, had some spare and cooked it in the air fryer and it was delicious.

Back then though you didn’t have as much of a choice for what would fit in the air fryer, and it would result in you scrubbing and soaking a cake tin.

Now though, we have it made for air fryer cooking.

We have paper liners, foil trays/pans and a massive choice of silicone containers.

Today, I want to show you first of all the options you have for storing and cooking your air fryer food in a marinade, then run through the 7 marinades and also share with you some useful time and temps.

Can I Put Raw Chicken In The Air Fryer?

Yes, you sure can put raw chicken in the air fryer. Fun fact for you – the most popular air fryer recipe searched in Google worldwide is air fryer chicken breast. You can also put other types of raw chicken in the air fryer too such as chicken wings, chicken legs, chicken drumsticks and even diced chicken.

Should I Coat Chicken In Oil Before Air Frying?

You can add a little oil to chicken before cooking it, as this will stop it drying out. But not if you are using a chicken marinade, because these already include the moisture and some oil to make the chicken delicious.

Should I Put Foil In My Air Fryer For Chicken?

Yes, you can put foil in the air fryer for your chicken. But I don’t always recommend it. Only if you are cooking chicken in a marinade or a sauce, is the foil required.

If for example you are cooking a chicken breast with just salt and pepper and olive oil, or a whole chicken, the results are much better foil free.

Can You Air Fry Marinated Chicken?

Yes, you air fry marinated chicken and it is so good, you will want air fried marinated chicken several times a week. Plus mealtimes wont get boring because you will have many different marinades to go at and can mix and match with the ones you like the most.

Air Fryer Easy Everyday + Meal Prep 101

In our first air fryer cookbook, The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook (get it here) we taught you how to cook chicken breasts in the air fryer.  

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 breast. So we delivered with these 7 amazing marinades and several ideas throughout the cookbook and how to use them.

So, if you want to give your chicken in an air fryer the wow factor, we recommend that you check out our cookbooks. 

7 Chicken Marinades

When we made our 7 chicken marinades we started out with a pile of ingredients on our worktop like this:

Next, they were made up and entered the bowl phase. With each marinade having its own bowl. Then we could use the marinade however we wanted. For example, some could be brushed over food for dinner, others could be poured into meal prep containers and some could just be stored in the fridge for later.

Then we also made a batch of each of the 7 marinades into separate freezer bags with chicken breasts. They are then ready for the freezer, and you have just done a great round of meal prep.

You could then have chicken breasts in the air fryer, in the marinade, from frozen or defrosted, over the next few weeks. Top it up as you wish and meal prep just got easier.

And of course, if you have not yet done so, do check out our air fryer frozen chicken breast, based on two of these marinades above.

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.

7 Best Chicken Marinades For Air Fryer

So, lets jump into these chicken marinades. You might read through them and think I just want to make number 2, or 5 out of the 7 are your thing, and that is fine. You can also double, triple or even quadruple the ones you like.

In the Milner house our all-time favourite are the coriander lime (cilantro lime if in the US) and the honey and garlic and the Greek version which is similar to what we use to make air fryer gyros is also spectacular. I also love Indian food, so the curry yoghurt is also a firm favourite of mine.

#1 – Coriander/Cilantro Lime

Add to a bowl 2 tbsp lime juice, 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp clear honey, 1 tsp garlic purée, 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander/cilantro, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

#2 – Curry Yoghurt

Add to a bowl 1 tsp garlic purée, 1 tsp ginger purée, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt, 2 tsp mild curry powder, 1 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried coriander/cilantro leaf, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

#3 – Greek Kebabs

Add to a bowl 2 tsp garlic purée, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt, 2 tsp dried oregano, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

#4 – Hawaiian Summer

Add to a bowl 2 tbsp pineapple juice, 2 tbsp barbecue sauce, 1 tbsp tomato ketchup,  Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lime, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp garlic purée, 1 tsp ginger purée, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

 #5 – Honey & Garlic

Add to a bowl 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp garlic purée, 100g/3½oz/⅓ cup clear honey, ¼ tsp dried parsley, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

 #6 – Moroccan Spice

Add to a bowl 1 tsp garlic purée, 1 tsp ginger purée, 2 tsp tomato purée/paste, 1 tsp harissa paste, 4 tbsp passata, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp dried coriander/cilantro leaf, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

#7 – Sweet Chilli

Add to a bowl 240g/8½oz/¾ cup sweet chilli sauce, 1 tsp garlic purée, 1 tsp ginger purée, 2 tsp soy sauce, ¼ red (bell) pepper/capsicum, finely chopped ½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder, and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.  Stir well with a spoon and put the bowl to one side.

How Do You Marinate Chicken Before Cooking?

For marinating your chicken for the air fryer its super-easy. You can either place the chicken in a bag and then place the bag in the fridge or freezer. Shake it all about and then you can let it stay in the fridge for a couple of hours, or why not marinate your chicken in the morning and then cook it in the evening?

Alternatively, you can load the marinade and chicken into a foil tray/pan and then cook it directly in the foil.

Or like we often do; we prep in a bowl and then pour into a paper liner as it saves on the mess.

How To Cook Marinated Chicken In Air Fryer?

You now have your air fryer marinated chicken all prepped and its ready for the air fryer.

Simply place it into your air fryer either in a foil tray or on a paper liner. This will stop the mess. I find it easier if using the paper liner to add the paper liner first, then add the chicken on top. Pour over any leftover marinade to make the chicken nice and juicy and flavoursome. 

And then air fry marinated chicken breast for between 15-25 minutes at 180c/360f depending on the size of your chicken.

Allow it to rest, slice and serve.

How Long To Cook Marinated Chicken In Air Fryer?

The cooking time for air fried marinated chicken, depends on the size of your chicken and if you are cooked thawed or frozen.

A smaller chicken breast will take 15 minutes, 20 minutes for medium and then 25 minutes for large. Whilst frozen marinated chicken in air fryer takes 38 minutes.

How to air fry marinated chicken thighs? You can use the same marinades for chicken thighs as we do for chicken breasts. These marinades are brilliant everyday marinades for so many different types of foods. For example, we even mix and match with salmon fillets or veggies work well too.

What about air fryer chicken legs marinade? Absolutely! You can use this for chicken legs. Because they’re bigger than chicken breasts, I would recommend two chicken legs for each portion of the marinade.

Is air fryer chicken wings marinade good? Each of these marinades are delicious on chicken wings. You can use a pack of wings to make it.

Or why not try air fryer whole chicken marinade? For whole chicken you can smother it along the skin, but remember to follow our air fryer whole chicken recipe. You can halve the recipe so that you can do the bottom first. When air frying whole chicken, you always start with the breast side down and then flip and air fry the other side.

Listen To Marinated Chicken in The Air Fryer

Every week this year on the Magic With Gadgets Podcast we are creating a podcast each week to accompany the recipe. You can listen to this week’s below, and then follow along with me at home as you make it.

Want to learn more about our Podcast? Then click here and you can browse through past episodes and subscribe to the Magic With Gadgets Podcast.

Sam & Doms Top Tips For Success

Always use a liner – This chicken marinade for air fryer can be sticky and you don’t want to clean the air fryer after making this. Instead opt for either a paper liner, silicone container or prep and cook in a foil container.

Mix and match your proteins – You can use chicken of any type, salmon, pork chops, your Sunday roasting joint or even some veggies, tofu, or halloumi.

Careful with contamination – You don’t want to be reserving your marinade for your cooked chicken and using the same spoon as you used for your raw chicken. Pour chicken directly in, unless you plan to use it all. Or put some of the marinade to one side, before you get out your chicken.

Air Fryer Chicken Recipes

Plus, don’t forget your chicken sides. Our favourite in the air fryer include: air fryer asparagus, air fryer frozen onion rings, air fryer tomatoes, air fryer frozen green beans, peppercorn sauce without cream, soup maker cheese sauce, microwave zucchini, or air fryer garlic mushrooms.

Chicken made with these marinades would also be delicious served with one of our favourite potato recipes. Some of our favourites include: air fryer breakfast potatoes, air fryer jacket potatoes, and air fryer homemade chips.

This is an updated post. We were originally shared how to cook marinated chicken in air fryer back in 2020.

Learn all about air fryer chicken marinade 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.

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