TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2025 19 CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK | THE GLEANER | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2025 Reasons you will love this recipe: NO OIL: The best part of this air fryer chicken is that you don’t have to cook it in oil. It’s healthier AND it tastes even more delicious. The texture is perfection: Even without frying it in oil, the texture is perfectly golden and crunchy on the outside and packed with flavour on the inside. Easy and mess-free: Cooking it in the air fryer means you don’t have to watch it cook in the oil, your stovetop doesn’t get splattered and clean up is a breeze! INGREDIENTS Simple ingredients boast a huge flavour in this air-fried chicken. If you don’t have Cajun seasoning feel free to sub it out for your favourite spices or you can leave it out altogether. If you don’t have buttermilk don’t fret, I have the solution for you, you can make your own. Get the recipe here. Chicken: I always use bone-in chicken thighs and legs for the most flavour. Salt and pepper: Add these to taste. Buttermilk: The buttermilk adds flavour and helps the flour mixture stick to the chicken. Eggs: The eggs help bind the coating together. Flour: Want a crunchy coating? Don’t skip the dredging steps. Cajun seasoning: Full of flavour, it’s perfect for chicken. Garlic powder and onion powder: These add in some extra flavour. Paprika: Provides colour and flavour. Olive oil spray: This will help ‘fry’ any of the leftover outside coating. METHOD This is pretty straightforward. The spray oil is used to help any coating that doesn’t gets ‘fried’, get cooked. Season the chicken: Salt and pepper chicken thighs and legs. Mix: In a medium-sized bowl add the buttermilk and eggs and whisk. Coating: In another medium-sized bowl add the flour, Cajun, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Dredge: Using tongs, dredge the chicken in the flour, then the buttermilk, and last in the flour. Cook: Place in the bottom of the air fryer basket and cook at 360 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Oil if needed: Open the basket and spray any flour with cooking spray. Turn the chicken and cook for another 5-10 minutes until internal temperature registers 165 degrees F and is no longer pink. Tips for the Best Air Fried Chicken Just like any air fryer recipe, there are a few things to keep in mind to make this the most perfect air-fried chicken ever. Overcrowding: Do not over crowd your air fryer. Circulating air is how the air fryer cooks, and if you don’t leave enough space between the food for the air to penetrate, it won’t cook the same. You’ll have undercooked spots in your dish. If you need to cook your chicken in batches to make sure it’s not over crowded. Keep cooked chicken warm in a 200 degree oven while you cook the other batches. Know your air fryer: Not all air fryers are the same, and not all chicken is the same size. The times I used in this chicken recipe is a guideline. Make sure your chicken is cooked through. Insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken and make sure it reads 165 degrees F. Don’t skip the cooking oil spray: This is important in creating that crunchy fried chicken. You’ll want to spray the bits of chicken that are still covered in uncooked coating. You don’t want the chicken to taste like flour instead of amazing. Parchment liners: If you want to eliminate some of the mess from the coating in your air fryer, they now sell air fryer specific parchment liners that have holes in them. therecipecritic.com Crispy Air Fryer Fried Chicken
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