Air Fryer Bone-In Chicken Breasts are savory and insanely juicy with an outside crust that is delightfully crispy.
Cooking chicken breast on the bone lends incredible flavor to the chicken while not overcooking or drying it out. Oh, and it’s all done from the kitchen to the table in about 30 minutes.
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This air fryer chicken recipe makes a quick and scrumptious dinner!
Why I love this Air Fryer Bone-In Chicken Breast Recipe
I love juicy and flavorful chicken breasts, don’t you? This air fryer chicken breast is one of my favorite ways to cook weeknight dinners (my Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs being another favorite way) because they are easy to make and always come out perfectly in around thirty minutes.
Cooking chicken breasts in the air fryer is an easy roasting option that can give you a juicy chicken breast with crispy skin and deep-fried flavor without the extra calories, making it a healthy way to enjoy your favorite comfort foods.
Ingredients Needed To Make This Chicken Recipe Delectable
- Bone-in Chicken Breasts – Split chicken breast that is still on the bone is going to insure you have flavorful chicken dinners. Be sure to purchase chicken breasts with the skin on because air frying makes it insanely crispy!
- Montreal Chicken Seasoning – I consider this your one-stop shop for a chicken seasoning blend. Check below in the question section for other seasoning alternatives.
- Cornstarch – this helps make the chicken super duper crispy!
- Smoked Paprika – Smoked paprika is not spicy and it helps achieve that grilled flavor without using the grill.
Why Should You Buy Chicken On The Bones?
Chicken breast with bones also gives you far and away more flavor because the bones help retain that savory ‘built-in broth’ per se, which helps leave your chicken juicy and flavorful plus the skin is usually left on, keeping in those juices, and adding superior flavor to the meat rather than cooking it without.
An added bonus is that bone-in chicken breast is typically cheaper than boneless and skinless chicken breast at the grocery store.
Rest assured, cooking these chicken breasts in the air fryer will lend you that perfect crispy skin that is oh… so satisfying.
How To Make Juicy Air Fryer Chicken Breast
STEP ONE: Start by preparing your air fryer. You should always preheat your air fryer for the perfect crispy skin, plus it helps with overall even cooking.
To help make clean-up easy, I use these parchment paper liners for the bottom of the air fryer basket when I’m air frying recipes in my Ninja Foodi. (They also work perfectly in my Cosori Air Fryer).
This is one of the best tips for helping to make your life easier when you use your air fryer for things that are likely to leave a mess inside.
SALTYPOT TIP: Do NOT preheat your air fryer with the liner in the basket. The fan will blow the liner around and could touch the heating elements, causing it to burn, smoke or even catch fire. Preheat the fryer first, then place the liner in the basket when you’re ready to air fry.
STEP TWO: Combine the spices and the cornstarch together then coat the chicken pieces in the spices. You can do this easily by placing all the spices in a plastic sandwich bag or lidded container, then place the chicken, one piece at a time, into the spice mixture and shake it around for even coverage.
STEP THREE: Add the chicken to the air fryer basket, skin side down, and cook for 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes is up, flip the chicken breasts skin side up, and continue to cook.
Total air fry time should be about 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the chicken (and not touching the bone) reads 165F. Remember to let the chicken rest before serving.
SaltyPot Tip: It helps to pat dry the chicken pieces with some paper towel. This helps get the skin super crispy by removing a lot of the moisture on top of the chicken. Then continue on with your seasoning step.
Handy Tips and Hints For Making This Chicken Perfect
- When seasoning the chicken breast for your air fryer, you can use any of your favorite seasonings you usually like to cook chicken. I love the Montreal Chicken Seasoning, but you can easily whip up your own homemade chicken seasoning blend.
- You can also choose to spray the chicken very lightly with some olive oil or avocado oil to help the seasonings stick if you need to.
- I added regular paprika and then just a pinch of smoked paprika that gives a strong smoked flavor. It really helps mimic that grilled flavor, but remember that a little goes a long way. If you have never tried smoked paprika is a good spice you should keep on hand to intensify the flavor of your favorite foods from stew to macaroni and cheese.
- For best results, air fry chicken breast in a single layer until a safe temperature is reached. You can use a digital meat thermometer to ensure that your chicken is fully cooked.
- This is important because the size of your chicken breasts will affect the cooking time. To be sure that your chicken breast is done the internal temperature should be 165 degrees F.
- Remember to let the chicken breast rest before digging in!
- Want to add EVEN MORE juiciness? Try brining the chicken breast for a few hours before you begin the recipe. You could do a salt brine or even a pickle brine (does NOT give it a pickle flavor, just all juiciness!)
The complete printable recipe with added notes is listed below.
Storing Leftovers
If there are leftovers, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. You could freeze them for up to 3 months and the flavor would be intact, but the crispiness of the skin would no longer be there.
Thaw overnight in the fridge or for a few minutes in the microwave, and then I’d remove the skin and serve after thoroughly heating through.
Serving Ideas and Variations
Serve these chicken breasts with any side that’s ready to go in about 15 – 20 minutes. You could try sides like this Carrot Salad with Sweet Orange Dressing for a bit of freshness to the meal. If you want to cook the sides in your air fryer, try these Air Fryer Acorn Squash that are simply divine! For a more decadent and fun side dish, try this Baked Zesty Cheese Doritos Mac and Cheese – YUM!
Questions You Might Have About This Recipe
Yes, you can bread rather than just season your air fryer chicken breast but this will increase the calories and the cooking time. I would also spray the breasts with olive or avocado oil after breading and cook at a lower temp for a longer period of time so the batter doesn’t burn before the chicken is cooked.
As always when using the air fryer for breaded recipes use a 2-step dry breading rather than a wet batter. This will allow you to get a crispy result without having the breading misshape and even come off as the hot air circulates.
Yes, you can, but you should know that while you regain a bit of that crispiness on the outside, the inside may be a bit dryer than it originally was when you air-fried it initially because of the extra heat added to already-cooked chicken breast.
Absolutely! Season as instructed in the recipe card below, but air fry it for about 15 minutes. Remember to always use a thermometer and remove the breasts when you reach 162 degrees F. Then let them rest, covered with foil, for five to ten minutes to finish cooking.
Did you make this Air Fryer Chicken Breasts Recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below or shoot me an email at Joanne@thesaltypot.com. Thank you for stopping by today!
Air Fryer Bone in Chicken Breast
Crispy and delicious, these juicy air fryer bone-in chicken breasts are simple to make and air fry. The seasonings make them so delicious, and the air frying method leaves them super juicy with a crispy coating, every single time.
Ingredients
- 3-4 chicken breasts, bone in, skin still attached
- 1 tablespoon Montreal Chicken Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 for 5 minutes.
- Pat dry the chicken breasts with kitchen towel.
- Combine the spices and the cornstarch together and place them into a plastic sandwich bag or a Tupperware container with a lid.
- Place the chicken breasts into the bag, one by one, and shake them to distribute the cornstarch and seasonings all over the chicken breasts.
- Add the chicken breasts to the air fryer basket, skin side down, reduce the heat to 370 and cook for 20 minutes.
- After the 20 minutes is up, open the air fryer basket and carefully flip the chicken breasts, skin side up, and continue to cook another 10 minutes for further crisping.
- Total air fry time should be about 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165F. **see notes
- Let the chicken rest before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can also choose to spray the chicken very lightly with some olive oil or avocado oil to help the seasonings stick if you need to.
- For best results, air fry chicken breast in a single layer until a safe temperature is reached. You can use a digital meat thermometer to ensure that your chicken is fully cooked.
- This is important because the size of your chicken breasts will affect the cooking time. To be sure that your chicken breast is done the internal temperature should be 165 degrees F.
- Remember to let the chicken breast rest before digging in!
- Patting the chicken dry with a paper towel helps the seasonings stick to the chicken. You can use a spritz of oil if you prefer, but I find the chicken skin adds enough fat to make it crispy and the seasonings stick quite well without it.
- You might want to start checking the temperature of the chicken at the 20-minute mark. You can turn the air fryer off when the internal temperature reaches 160F and let the chicken rest inside the basket for 10 minutes. It will continue to cook from the residual heat to reach 165. Some people prefer to cook the chicken right to the proper temperature, and then let it rest, (still cook), and that's totally fine.
- The true cooking time will depend on the size of your air fryer, as well as the sizes of the chicken breasts. I could only fit 3 breasts into the basket, and I cooked the last one while we ate dinner.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 chicken breastAmount Per Serving: Calories: 218Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 37g
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
I have made this recipe twice now and both times turned out perfect! My chicken breasts were large and I cooked two of them for 20 minutes skin side down and then turned down the heat to 370 turned the breasts over….Delicious and juicy.
I just made these. I cooked them for 20 mins, the thermometer showed about 150 degrees, so I put them in for another 5 mins but that overcooked them. I always struggle with getting it just right, however the fam did like them. So I would do this again.
I’m sorry you had a little bit of trouble with the recipe. Maybe it was the size of the breasts that you started with? It’s nice to hear that you’ll try it again though! Thank you for commenting Leslie!