This Air Fryer Fried Chicken is golden brown, juicy, and full of flavor, thanks to a simple buttermilk and hot sauce marinade.
You’ll find the full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Be sure to check out the blog post itself for extra tips and tricks!
5 Star Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Linda says, "I’ve made this several times and it always turns out yummy."
Southern fried chicken is a classic comfort food, but for a long time, I wasn’t that excited about it. In fact, the only fried chicken I usually ate was air-fried chicken wings tossed in an Asian-inspired sauce.
That changed when I made fried chicken in my air fryer. Marinating the pieces in buttermilk and hot sauce gave me fried chicken that was beautifully golden on the outside and juicy on the inside, with way more flavor than I expected.
Whether you’re new to frying chicken or just looking for an easier way to make it at home, this air fryer version is a simple, flavorful place to start.
With love, Tanya
AIR FRYER FRIED CHICKEN AT A GLANCE
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Marinade Time: 1–24 hours
- Total Time: 35 minutes (plus marinating)
- Serves: 4 people
- Best For: Comfort food cravings, Sunday dinners, family meals, game day, and when you want classic fried chicken with less oil
A Quick Look at the Ingredients Needed
Ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions are on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Whole chicken cut into separate pieces (breast, thigh, wing, and leg)
- For the Marinade: Hot sauce (I use Texas Pete) and Buttermilk. Choose a mild hot sauce and avoid very spicy ones like sriracha.
- Seasoned flour: All-purpose flour, seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper.
- Canola or vegetable oil: for spraying the chicken.
How to Make Air Fryer Fried Chicken
Step 1: Marinate your chicken. I use a mixture of half buttermilk and half hot sauce. I learned the hot sauce trick from my mother-in-law. The buttermilk helps keep the chicken juicy on the inside, and the hot sauce adds flavor. Don't worry about it being spicy; it won't be if you use a milder hot sauce. You can marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 24 hours.
Step 2: Combine flour, Italian seasoning, seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. I use a whisk to ensure that my flour is fully seasoned.
Step 3: Grab a pair of tongs and remove one piece of chicken from the buttermilk mixture, allowing it to drain off a bit, and place it in the flour mixture. Use the tongs to make sure the chicken pieces are fully coated.
Step 4: Lightly spray your air fryer basket with oil, or add a parchment liner with holes if your basket tends to stick. Place the floured chicken pieces on top, in a single layer, with space between each piece so the air can circulate. If using parchment, be sure the chicken is on the liner before you start the air fryer—loose parchment can fly up into the heating coil and be a fire hazard, and could start a fire if it hits the heating element.
Step 5: Close the air fryer drawer, set the temperature to 390 degrees Fahrenheit, and set the timer to 25 minutes.
Step 6: After about 13 minutes, open the Air Fryer. Your chicken should look like the photo below on the left (still showing some dry flour spots). Grab your Air Fryer oil spray bottle and spray those flour spots. Then grab some tongs and flip your chicken. Spray this side of the chicken as well, covering all flour spots. Close your Air Fryer and let it resume cooking.
Step 7: Once your cooking cycle is done, use a quick-read thermometer to ensure your chicken is fully cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove and enjoy 🙂
There you have it! Delicious Southern Style Buttermilk Soaked Air Fryer Fried Chicken.
Other Chicken Recipes in the Air Fryer You May Enjoy
If you like chicken in the air fryer, try these out:
- Air Fryer Whole Chicken (Peruvian Style) - the marinade for this recipe is simply amazing.
- BBQ Air Fryer Chicken Breast - For that BBQ flavor, but made quickly in the air fryer.
- Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets - Another way to fry chicken in the air fryer, these nuggets are brined in pickle juice, then breaded and air-fried.
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings - My go-to way to make wings these days. I love cooking wings in the air fryer and tossing them in all kinds of sauces.
Make it a Meal
Fried chicken deserves good sides. Here are some of my favorites to make this a full meal.
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges (KFC Copycat) - Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, these KFC-style Air Fryer Potato Wedges are an easy, family-friendly side dish for your Air Fryer Fried Chicken.
- Sweet and Spicy Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts - If you think you don’t like Brussels sprouts, these sweet, slightly spicy, crispy bites might change your mind.
- Kale and Broccoli Salad - I love serving this crunchy kale and broccoli salad on the side for something fresh and green with all that crispy chicken.
- Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens - These collard greens give you that classic Southern flavor without babysitting a pot on the stove all day.
- Old Fashioned Potato Salad - this salad is perfect for fried chicken nights, cookouts, and potlucks.
Tanya's Top Tips
- I do not recommend overlapping the chicken pieces in this recipe. It’s best to have the chicken pieces in a single layer and not touching. That way, the air can circulate around the chicken, crisping it and giving it a nice, golden crust.
- Remember to spray lightly with oil. The purpose of the oil in this recipe is to cover the dried flour spots. Not spraying with oil will have those flour spots tasting like you would imagine they would, dry flour. Use an oil with a high-smoke point for your chicken.
- If using parchment liners, make sure you place the chicken on them before starting the Air Fryer. Not doing so will cause the liners to fly into the fan, get caught, and possibly start a fire.
- Timing will vary depending on the Air Fryer brand. Use a meat thermometer to ensure your chicken has reached at least 165°F. My chicken usually reaches 180 degrees or higher and remains juicy and deliciously crisp.
How to store leftover fried chicken
To refrigerate: Keep any leftover fried chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. To heat up, warm the chicken in a preheated oven at 400F until warmed through.
For freezing: Once cooked and cooled, place any pieces of leftover chicken into an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
FAQs:
You can place your chicken pieces in the fridge for 10-15 minutes after breading, and before air frying. This will help if you have trouble with the breading staying on.
You can, but the results will be a little different. The skin helps the coating stick and get extra crispy, and bone-in pieces stay juicier. If you use boneless, skinless chicken, reduce the cook time and keep a close eye on the internal temperature so it doesn’t dry out.
If you have tried my Air Fryer Fried Chicken or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Air Fryer Fried Chicken Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place chicken pieces in buttermilk and hot sauce. Place in refrigerator and allow to marinate anytime from 1-24 hours.
- Whisk together all-purpose flour, seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
- Place a parchment liner in the Air Fryer basket.
- Remove a piece of chicken from the buttermilk mixture and place in the flour mixture, coating all sides of the chicken and shaking off any excess flour. Place the chicken pieces in the basket in a single layer.
- Close the Air Fryer basket and set temperature to 390 degrees Fahrenheit and timer to 25 minutes. Start the Air Fryer.
- After 13 minutes, open the air fryer and spray any flour spots on the chicken. Flip the chicken and spray the other side with oil, ensuring all the flour spots are covered. Close the Air fryer and cook for 12 more minutes.
- Once the timer is up, open the Air Fryer and check chicken pieces with a quick read thermometer. Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees at the thickest part of the chicken.
Nutrition
Notes
- I do not recommend overlapping the chicken pieces in this recipe. It’s best to have the chicken pieces in a single layer and not touching. That way, the air can circulate around the chicken to crisp it and give it a nice, golden crust.
- Remember to spray lightly with oil. The purpose of the oil in this recipe is to cover the dried flour spots. Not spraying with oil will have those flour spots tasting like you would imagine they would, dry flour.
- Some breading will fall off, whether you use the liners or not. However, much less breading falls off when using the parchment liners.
- If using parchment liners, make sure you place the chicken on them before starting the Air Fryer. Not doing so will cause the liners to fly into the fan, get caught, and possibly start a fire.
- Timing will vary depending on the Air Fryer brand. Use a meat thermometer to ensure your chicken has reached at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. My chicken usually reaches 180 degrees or higher and remains juicy and deliciously crisp.
- Use any part of the chicken you like that has skin on. The breading may not stick to skinless chicken, and it may not be as crispy.
- I use Texas Pete hot sauce in this recipe. If you are sensitive to heat or use a spicier brand, reduce the amount of hot sauce.
- Air Fryer Parchment Liners (They come in different sizes so make sure to select the one that correlates to your size of Air Fryer)
- Oil bottle for spraying
- Tongs for flipping (I like to have a few around)
- Quick Read Thermometer
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!This post was originally published on March 5, 2019. It has been updated with additional helpful tips.
Margret says
This technique is on point! I was highly skeptical of air fried chicken (other than wings), but it turned out delicious. (I did alter the ingredients a bit -- about 3/4 c. buttermilk and 1/4 c hot sauce (Crystal), and then I seasoned the flour with only Tony Cacherie's (which blends cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion).) So juicy. For the parchment paper, I just cut little diamonds by folding it lengthwise multiple times and cutting on the folds. I'm making it again tonight.
Tanya says
Thank you Margret! Great idea on cutting the holes in the parchment paper.
Valerie says
Hi Tanya - this sounds delicious! Can you tell me how big is your air fryer? I'm new to this and want to buy one big enough, but I'm short on counter space and want to get as small as I can with the most bang for my buck.
Tanya says
Hi Valerie, the Air Fryer in this post is about 4qts I believe. The one I use for the majority of my recipes is 5.3 qts and it's not much bigger than this one on the counter, but it has a lot more space inside.
Valerie says
@Tanya, Thanks Tanya! Would it be possible for you to share the brand name of the 5.3 quart fryer?
Tanya says
Absolutley. it's the Bella Pro 5.3qt that's on Amazon.
Valerie says
@Tanya, Thanks! Just bought it and subscribed to your newsletter -- looking forward to all your delicious recipes! This Chicken will be the first!
Jim says
First let me say that overall this is a good recipe that I'll most likely make again with some changes. The first issue I have is with the hot sauce. Soaking the chicken in a 50/50 mix of hot sauce and buttermilk is obviously going to make the chicken very spicy and it did. To the point that you couldn't taste anything else. So please don't tell the readers "Don’t worry about it being spicy, it won’t be." I also think the parchment paper did more harm than good. Unless you poke 100 holes in it your chicken will at some point be sitting in fat. Just spray the air fryer tray before cooking if you're worried about it sticking. Next time I make this the buttermilk will be increased and the hot sauce will be reduced to about a tablespoon, no parchment paper & cut the cayenne in half. I like spicy food but this was too much.
Tanya says
Hi Jim, thanks for the feedback. I used Texas Pete hot sauce as I indicated in my post which isn't spicy. My toddler ate it and enjoyed it. I agree, certain brands of hot sauce are extra spicy so those will need to be reduced.
Nancy Newton says
@Jim, the air fryer parchment paper she talks about DOES have holes in it..no need to poke them..specifically made for airfryers....they really are nice for making clean up easier..
Travis M. says
Used this recipe tonight. Turned out great!
Tanya says
Thanks Travis 🙂
Sherrill says
HI! I cannot eat dairy. What would be a good alternative to the buttermilk?
Tanya says
Hi Sherrill, This vegan buttermilk should work in place. https://lovingitvegan.com/how-to-make-vegan-buttermilk/
Leigh says
While I didn't mind. They hot sauce overwhelms every other flavor.
Florence says
I made this recipe tonight with drumsticks, because they did not have chicken thighs at the store, when I was there. It was delicious! I highly recommend this recipe!
Tanya says
Thanks so much Florence 🙂
Pam says
Tanya, I haven’t fried chicken in a long time because of the mess, but this chicken turned out so perfectly crispy outside and tender and juicy on the inside. I actually panicked when I could not find our Frank’s hot sauce in the refrigerator so I used what I had, the smoked chipotle pepper sauce by Tabasco. It is definitely our new favorite recipe!
Tanya says
Thanks so much Pam! I agree, I'm all for the less mess when it comes to air frying chicken.
Donna says
I am trying this tonight but I am using split boneless chicken breasts. I am guessing the time will be greatly reduced? Do you have any idea how long I should air fry?
Tanya says
The time would be shorter. For boneless chicken, it will depend on how thick they are. I'd start checking at around 15 minutes.
Pegi says
I tried this today. I’m not sure what I did wrong but the coating fell off on one side and the side on the paper stuck so basically had necked chicken. I have a large nuwave fryer and the time and temperature were off. I was busy and should have watched it closer but not sure I’ll try it again.
Tanya says
Hi Pegi, it may be that there was too much buttermilk on the chicken before it was placed in the flour. You could also try and preheat the air fryer as well. That should help with any coating issues. You could also bread first, let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes in the fridge, and then cook.
Marybeth says
Your recipe was one of the first recipes I tried with my air fryer. The chicken was absolutely wonderful. It was so juicy and flavorful. I lived the idea of the 1:1 ratio of bitter milk and hot sauce. I used Franks cayenne pepper sauce. Thank you so much!!
Tanya says
Thank you so much Marybeth 🙂
kschof says
My husband and I loved this recipe! The directions were spot on and the flavor was great. This is a keeper for sure. So glad we tried it, thank you for sharing!
Tanya says
Thank you 🙂
Nay Nay says
Had to really watch chicken. Had a BIG chicken. I added more time. Just followed the recipe. Turned out awesome! I will use your recipe again. Clean up was a breeze!
Tanya says
Thanks Nay Nay! The clean up is one of the reasons why I love making my fried chicken this way 🙂
Maria says
Can you use almond flour instead of all purpose?
Tanya says
I haven't added it but other people have. Almond flour browns much more quickly than all purpose, so you would have to keep an eye on it. Reducing the temperature should help or using smaller pieces and reducing the time by a few minutes.
Eva says
Flavorful, moist and a big hit! We didn’t have buttermilk so used lemon juice with unsweetened almond milk and marinated the chicken a few hours before cooking. We also used tapioca flour to give it an extra crunch. Wow!!! We cannot believe how tasty it turned out with our healthy substitutes. Thanks for the great recipe!
Tanya says
Thanks so much Eva! And thanks for mentioning the subs, super helpful. I'll have to try with tapioca flour soon.