Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Breast
The crispy crust of the Air fryer chicken breast has juicy and delicious chicken underneath. Breadcrumb crust is perfectly seasoned and made with kitchen staples. Make this crusty side dish to go with any meal.
Want to have a nice crispy chicken breast with a golden crust on the outside and juicy chicken inside? Want to have it healthy and fast and fuss-free too? Just frying chicken breast in the air fryer helps you get all that.
We have got some great Air fryer recipes combining deliciousness and convenience – Air Fryer Chicken Wings (3 Ways), Airfryer Roasted Broccoli and Dry Rubbed Air Fryer Chicken.
I am a fan of Air fryers. I love the convenience,, and to add to that; you can whip out healthy versions of most recipes in the air fryer. Air fryers are way better than deep fryers or deep frying in the skillet at home.
Frying chicken breast in an air fryer gives you crispy, juicy, and tasty chicken. Most recipes done in an air fryer require less oil than you would need in a pan. What about the oven? Chicken breast in the air fryer is much quicker.
For me, health and convenience win. If you can get more or less the same result in much less time and would not need as much oil, it’s hardly a choice. The effort in making this recipe goes into breading the chicken properly. Once you have a tray of breaded chicken breast ready, it does take a dozen minutes.
Crispy Crust on Chicken Breast
Do you get the same level of crispiness in an air fryer? Yes, you can get almost the same. The difference is negligible and worth all the less effort.
How does the air fryer stake against the oven for chicken? First, no pre-heating is required in the air fryer, unlike in an oven. Frying in the air fryer takes much less time, about 12 minutes which is almost half of the time in the oven. So you see it is becoming a choice among busy moms for home dinners.
We have got some super tasty recipes with chicken breasts. For delicious chicken stir fry, check out the Thai Cashew Chicken Stir Fry. Make exciting stuffed dishes like Fajita Stuffed Chicken Breast, and Mushroom Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast. Enjoy the soft and juiciness of chicken breasts in this Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders.
Ingredients
This recipe has two parts to prepare. One is prepping the bread coating, and other is rubbing the chicken breast.
- Chicken breast – If the breasts are too thick, cut it laterally in the middle for thin slices, which cook faster and taste better. You will need to rub the breast slices with oil, salt, and pepper.
- Oil – Any neutral oil like vegetable oil.
- Salt & pepper
Bread Coating
- Bread Crumb – Use fine bread crumbs and not Panko bread crumbs.
- All-purpose Flour
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Dried thyme and dried basil
- Chili powder or Paprika
- Salt to taste
How to make
- Chicken breast – Make a horizontal cut to slice it thinner for thick slices. If you find a piece with uneven thickness, pound the wide portion to make it even.
- Mix oil, salt, and pepper, and rub the chicken breast until it coats well.
- Bread the chicken – Mix all the ingredients for the breading in a bowl. Place the chicken slice on the mixture on one side. Press it to make sure the coat sticks evenly on the side. Flip and repeat it until the breading mixture sticks well and evenly.
- Air fryer – Place the breaded chicken slices in the air fryer spaced an inch apart. Cook the chicken breast in the air fryer at 200 °C / 392°F for 8 minutes, flip and cook for another 4 minutes.
- Slice fried chicken – Take it out and slice them into nugget size.
Important Tips
- Use regular fine breadcrumbs, as they stick better compared to panko breadcrumbs. Run panko breadcrumbs in a food processor for finer crumbs.
- Do not use panko breadcrumbs for this recipe. Panko breadcrumbs are great for other breading techniques with egg batter that helps bind the crumbs to the chicken.
- We do not use eggs in this recipe to keep it light. Oil is used instead. Panko breadcrumbs will not stick well with oil; therefore, use regular breadcrumbs.
- You can brine the chicken breast to make it juicier. It also helps bring the entire breast piece to room/warm temperature. It makes for more consistent cooking throughout the slice.
- Do not place the breaded chicken breasts too close. This may prevent the sides from being placed too close to cook correctly and stick.
- After taking out the air-fried chicken, allow it to rest and cook for 5 minutes before you want to slice them.
- Do not start cooking frozen chicken breast in the air fryer. It will not cook evenly, and the middle will end up raw. Let frozen chicken thaw, and if possible, brine the chicken.
Serve With
Serve it as a protein option for your meals. You may also have it with salads or other greens. You may also serve it with Veg pasta or other veg dishes.
Other chicken breast recipes
Crispy Chicken Breast in Air fryer
Ingredients
- 2 large Chicken Breast
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
For bread coating
- ½ cup Fine Breadcrumb
- 1 tablespoon Flour
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Chili powder or paprika
Instructions
- Cut chicken breast into cutlets or fillets. Using a meat mallet or a rolling pin pound any thick part of the fillets to get even thickness.
- Mix oil, salt, pepper. Coat chicken well with the mixture.
- In another mixing bowl add breadcrumb, flour, and the rest of the spices.
- Place one chicken cutlet on the breadcrumb mixture one at a time. Press gently so that the mixture sticks to the chicken. Flip and repeat the same.
- Place coated chicken breast in the Airfryer inner tray, spaced a little apart.
- Set temperature @ 200 °C / 390 °F. Cook for 8-9 minutes. Flip and cook for another 4 minutes.
- Let it rest for 5 minutes, before slicing it.
This looks amazing. Can I use this chicken to make chicken Parmesan? Does it pair well with a red sauce?
I think it will go well with the red sauce too. Let me know how did it turn out?
Do you think I could use almond flour instead of whole flour?
Yes, but make sure its super fine for it to stick better.
Had to use egg white as the base and threw in a little Parmesan to the breadcrumbs . Was the perfect addition to our salad !
Always looking for easy air fryer recipes. This one is definitely a keeper.! Chicken was tender and moist. Even my picky husband loved it!
Super quick and easy, great with curry mayo!
Good recipe, but the temp was WAY TOO LOW. My chicken was only about 3/4 of the way done when I cut into it. I ended up putting it back in, but at 300 and for another 7 minutes flipping about halfway through. I thought 200 was a low temp, but I trusted the process.
Hi Mars, The recipe mentions 200 °C / 390 °F. I think you have set it at 200 °F which is too low.
That was 200 Celsius. The temp is 390 Fahrenheit.