How To Cook Breaded Chicken In An Air Fryer

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Air Fryer Breaded Chicken. Your ultimate guide to everything air fryer breaded chicken. From what breading to use, to what recipes to follow to essential tips to cook the best air fryer breaded chicken you have ever tried.

This air fryer breaded chicken guide is a long time coming. I have been planning on putting together an essential guide for all my air fryer readers for a long time.

One that will cover your breaded chicken questions as well as provide you with recipes and resources. But here it is, so grab a cup of coffee and get ready for the wonderful cooking experience of breaded chicken in an air fryer.

Air Fryer Breaded Chicken

This air fryer breaded chicken brings together several of our breaded chicken air fryer resources into one big post. We hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to cook more breaded chicken in your air fryer.

If you land on any air fryer blog, the chances are they will tell you about the first thing that they cooked in the air fryer and how awesome it was.

Or how it inspired them to cook more and more delicious crispy food in the air fryer. Normally it will be air fryer frozen French fries.

Well this is my turn and I will try not to over do it too much and try to make out that the air fryer is the best thing since the invention of electricity!

My first and most memorable first experience with the air fryer was in fact air fryer frozen chicken strips. We had bought them from our local frozen food supermarket as something quick and easy to experiment with.

We served them to ourselves and my parents who were visiting and we were amazed by how good they tasted.

That was us hooked and I must admit even now the best tasting food in the air fryer, is breaded chicken.

The chicken is crispy but without the calories of deep-fried chicken and it is so easy to do and prepare.

Fast forward almost 8 years and that air fryer chicken, alongside air fryer potatoes is our most go to air fryer recipe type.

Can You Air Fry Breaded Chicken?

Absolutely! Air fryer breaded chicken is delicious and so easy to prep and cook in an air fryer or an air fryer oven. The breaded chicken is wonderfully crispy, and the taste and texture are always spot on.

You can cook frozen breaded chicken in an air fryer, or make your own using fresh ingredients, depending on how you like your chicken.

You can also cook many of your favourite breaded chicken staples in the air fryer. Just imagine using the air fryer for chicken breast, chicken tenders, chicken fingers, chicken parmesan and so many other classics.

Air Fryer Frozen Breaded Chicken Vs Homemade Breaded Chicken

Depending on personal preferences you can choose between air fryer frozen breaded chicken or homemade breaded chicken.

Both works exceptionally well in the air fryer. All you need to consider is what chicken you plan to make.

The main difference with frozen is that the work is done for you. You get to skip the prepping process and go straight in with adding your breaded chicken to the air fryer ready for cooking.

We have cooked many versions of both frozen breaded chicken in the air fryer and fresh and prefer homemade, but it comes to personal choice.

What Ingredients & Gadgets Go Into Air Fryer Breaded Chicken?

There are 4 main ingredients that go into air fryer breaded chicken:

• Oat Flour
• Beaten Eggs
• Thawed Chicken
• Flavoured Breadcrumbs

What air fryer we use in our air fryer breaded chicken comes down to how much chicken that we are cooking. If doing bigger quantities, then I recommend the air fryer oven which is what we used in the recipe we have featured today.

Or for smaller batches an air fryer such as the Philips Air Fryer XL that we have also work very well.

Go with your favourite chicken. We all have different types of chicken that we prefer breaded so go with your favourite.

You might want to try our air fryer chicken parmesan or our air fryer frozen chicken bites, whatever your favourite start from there.

Add your favourite seasonings. There is nothing worse than plain and boring breadcrumbs on your breaded chicken.

Make it interesting by adding what type of seasoning you like the most. If struggling for ideas do check out our KFC chicken spice blend.

Get suitable air fryer accessories. The accessories can make a big deal to your air fryer chicken experience as it can mean the difference between a super messy air fryer or a relatively easy to clean air fryer.

I recommend an air fryer baking silicone mat as it can collect the dirt and stop your breaded chicken batter from sticking to the air fryer basket.

Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Tips:

• 3 Bowl System – I follow a 3 bowl system where I have the beaten eggs in one, breadcrumbs in another and the flour in a third. It makes it very quick for breading your chicken and any leftover can be used for your next batch of air fryer breaded chicken.

• Thawed chicken works best – Unless you are using already breaded chicken, then I recommend that your chicken is well thawed prior to breading it.

• Don’t overfill the air fryer – It is very important that you don’t do this, otherwise your breaded chicken will stick to each other and the breading will come off and it will look awful and won’t be as good. Instead do it in batches if needed.

• Golden breaded chicken – If you want that wonderful golden looking breaded chicken like you see in magazines then it is simple to achieve. Use an olive oil spray and spray the prepped chicken in the air fryer before you set the time. It will come out with an amazing glow.

Pair our air fryer breaded chicken with air fryer fries, air fryer onion rings, air fryer frozen mozzarella sticks or air fryer frozen breaded mushrooms for the ultimate breaded chicken dinner feast.

How Long To Air Fry Breaded Chicken?

The cooking time for air fryer breaded chicken comes down to how much breaded chicken you are cooking in your air fryer at once.

Smaller breaded chicken will not take as long, compared to huge chicken breasts.

For example, we cooked air fryer breaded chicken wings and they were very big wings. They took 40 minutes.

However, some frozen small chicken fingers often take just 12 minutes to cook.

Healthy Breaded Chicken In The Air Fryer

If you want healthy breaded chicken in the air fryer it is easy to achieve. Simply replace the breading with a healthier alternative.

If you follow Keto swap the breadcrumbs for our air fryer pork rinds or if you follow Paleo swap the breadcrumbs for some similar gluten free and paleo friendly bread.

Reheat Breaded Chicken In The Air Fryer

Yes you can! In fact, we have 2 recipes on Recipe This for reheated breaded chicken in the air fryer.

One is our air fryer frozen hot wings and the other is our air fryer frozen chicken pieces.

Both are based around placing your KFC leftovers in the freezer and then reheating it from frozen when you next want some KFC chicken.

You could do the same with your own homemade breaded chicken leftovers too.

Can You Use Breading In An Air Fryer?

Yes you can. But you also need to think about the logistics of it before you cook breaded food in the air fryer.

For example, before your breading is cooked in the air fryer it may be sticky and you don’t want it to stick to your air fryer basket and come off your food.

That is why I recommend cooking your breaded chicken using the air fryer oven shelves or a baking mat in a regular air fryer.

How To Air Fry Breaded Chicken?

Cooking breaded chicken in the air fryer is so simple:

• Load the bowls – Create an egg bowl, a breadcrumbs bowl and a flour bowl. Then any excess leftovers can be used in other breaded air fryer chicken recipes. Or the leftover breadcrumbs can be frozen for another time.
• Smoother the chicken – add the chicken to the oat flour, then to the egg and then into the breadcrumbs and make sure it gets a good layer of each. Otherwise your finished breaded chicken will not be as good.
• Brush of the excess – Finish off by brushing off any excess breadcrumbs before transferring your chicken to your air fryer ready to cook.
• Make your sides – While your breaded chicken is cooking in the air fryer, prep and cook your sides too. That way everything can be ready together.

The Best Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Recipes

Here at Recipe This we love breaded chicken in the air fryer. Below you will find some of our personal favourites for you to try next.

We have plenty more over at Recipe This but these are some of our true favourites and go to recipes if you want to eat delicious breaded chicken in an air fryer.

• Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Breast – Breaded chicken breast in the air fryer is so delicious and there is so many different ways that you can make it. My biggest recommendation is my air fryer chicken schnitzel but I also love air fryer chicken cordon bleu.
• Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Nuggets – These air fryer chicken nuggets were one of the first recipes we ever published on Recipe This. We also have our flourless chicken nuggets in the air fryer for a healthier alternative.
• Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Parmesan – Cooking your favourite air fryer breaded chicken parmesan is so easy. You can follow our traditional recipe with spaghetti and tomato sauce or try out our chicken parmesan and fries version.
• Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks – My air fryer chicken drumsticks are one of my all time favourites, but sadly I forget about it and never cook it enough! Though Dominic is always dropping hints about it!
• Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Sandwich – How about making your favourite McDonalds McChicken Sandwich in the air fryer? It is the BEST and a great way to have a chicken burger in the air fryer. Or for a spicier plan B try out a KFC Chicken Zinger Burger.
• Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Wings – We love showing our readers how to make air fryer breaded chicken wings. Originally made in our air fryer oven they are so addictive I want to eat them all day long!
• Air Fryer KFC Chicken – If you love KFC chicken or just have a southern fried chicken addiction, then let me tell you, they are made for the air fryer. Start off with our air fryer KFC popcorn chicken and then move along to our air fryer KFC chicken pieces.
• Air Fryer Frozen Breaded Chicken – My favourite is air fryer frozen chicken wings, followed by air fryer frozen chicken nuggets, but air fryer frozen chicken bites are just as good and addictive. Or how about reheating your favourite KFC hot wings in the air fryer?

We also have a lot more air fryer recipes for you to check out and find some new ideas for planning your meals.

As well as this we have our air fryer archives, which is full to bursting with all our air fryer recipes in one big PDF ebook. You can order it on this link or click on the banner below.

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

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