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Air Fryer Chicken Breasts

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By Pillsbury Kitchens
Updated Oct 21, 2024
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Boneless, skinless chicken breasts can be tricky to cook as they often turn out dry and tough, but with this air fryer chicken breast recipe, you can have tender, juicy, flavorful chicken breasts ready to serve for dinner or have on hand as meal prep in a matter of minutes.

We love cooking with our air fryer for so many reasons. It comes up to temperature more quickly than a standard oven and doesn’t heat up your kitchen, making it the perfect solution for cooking on a hot day. Here’s how it works. The air fryer acts like a mini convection oven, swirling hot air around the food, which helps things cook more quickly and evenly than they would in your oven.

Our air fryer chicken breast is seasoned to perfection with a handful of spices like paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder, which you’re likely to already have in your pantry. When you cook the seasoned chicken in the air fryer, the edges get extra brown and crispy, while the inside remains moist and delicious. 

How To Make Air Fryer Chicken Breast

If you’ve been searching for a way to cook juicy, tender chicken breasts, this air fryer chicken breast recipe is the answer. Here’s how.

Mix the Spices

Combine the spices in a small bowl. This makes it easier to evenly sprinkle them onto the chicken.

Pound the Chicken

Pound the chicken breasts with a meat mallet or a rolling pin, so they have a uniform thickness and cook evenly in the air fryer. If using a meat mallot, use the flat side to pound the chicken. The textured side is for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat.

Season the Chicken

Rub the oil on the chicken, and generously sprinkle the spice mixture on all sides.

Air Fry the Chicken

Place the chicken in the air fryer basket (no need to spray or oil the basket). Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.

Using the Air Fryer Chicken

Cooking chicken breast in the air fryer means you can have perfectly cooked chicken on hand to use in all kinds of delicious ways.

Of course, air fryer chicken breast can be served as is, with a side of yummy veggies. Or, you can use it to top your favorite green salad like this strawberry chicken spinach salad.

You can also cut the air fryer chicken up and tuck some inside a corn tortilla with your favorite salsa, for a quick and easy Taco Tuesday. Or use it as the base for creamy white chicken chili.

One of our favorite ways to use air fryer chicken breast is in chicken salad. Because everyone loves bacon and ranch, we suggest you try chicken bacon ranch potato salad for a fun twist on a classic.

Finally, for a sure-fire family favorite, you can always turn to this one pan Tuscan chicken pasta bake.

Seasoning Ideas

The sky is the limit when it comes to seasoning your air fryer chicken breasts. In our air fryer chicken breast recipe, we use a basic seasoning blend of paprika, onion, and garlic powder, but there are loads of other options.

Depending on how you’re going to use the chicken, you might want to coat in taco seasoning or add chili powder to the mix. Lemon pepper or Montreal seasoning could also be good choices.

There are so many options for BBQ dry rubs available on the grocery store shelves, and any of them could work well on your air fryer chicken breast. Just make sure they aren’t high in sugar, as that might burn in the cooking process.

Once your juicy air fryer chicken breast has been cooked, you can slather on a yummy sauce. Your favorite barbecue sauce or salsa would be a great place to start. Or you can always serve another sauce on the side for dipping, like a BBQ sauce or a creamy ranch or Caesar dressing.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Cooked air fryer chicken breasts should be cooled completely and kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

There are several ways to reheat the chicken after it’s been chilled. You could use the air fryer, a microwave, or stovetop. What’s important to remember, though, is that you need to bring your chicken back to 165°F internally.

The easiest way to reheat is to use your air fryer at 300°F for 3 to 5 minutes, but you could also pop it into your microwave for 30-second increments, until it’s hot.

On the stovetop, place the chicken in a skillet with a little broth or water and cook, covered, on low for 10 to 15 minutes. 

More Air Fryer Recipes

Now that you’ve mastered our air fryer chicken breast recipe, you’ll want to start exploring all the other ways you can use your air fryer.

Rosemary Potatoes are one of our favorites, and it’s a perfect simple side to pair with chicken, fish, or beef entrees.

Cheddar Ranch Chicken Tenders are great for a meal or snack. Cheddar and ranch, yes please!

Italian Pork Chops for tender, flavor-filled chops, perfect for a dinner for two.

Cinnamon Roll Bites for breakfast, or even dessert; we love these sweet treats.

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Keep the Chicken from Drying Out?

Juicy air fryer chicken breasts are easy to make, but there are a couple of things that you can do to make sure they are as moist as possible.

First, check the internal temperature of the chicken a few minutes early, so you can remove it just as soon as it reaches 165°F. Also, make sure to remove them from the air fryer as soon as they are fully cooked. Your air fryer will retain heat after you’ve turned it off and if the chicken sits in it, it will continue to cook. Always let the chicken rest for 5 or 10 minutes before you cut into it. This will help keep the juices on the inside of the chicken breast and not on your cutting board. 

Can I Use Frozen Chicken Breasts?

Yes, you can definitely use frozen chicken breasts, but you will need to thaw the chicken breasts completely before using it in our air fryer chicken recipe.

What Temperature Should I Set the Air Fryer To?

For our air fryer chicken recipe, we set our air fryer to 400°F. We found this temperature was just right when it came to getting the outside browned without burning any of the spices in our seasoning mix, while making sure the inside was thoroughly cooked and remained juicy when we cut into it.

Air Fryer Chicken Breasts

  • Prep Time 10 min
  • Total 30 min
  • Ingredients 7
  • Servings 2
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Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 8 oz)

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    In small bowl, mix paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper.
  • Step 
    2
    Between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, place each chicken breast; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin to uniform thickness.
  • Step 
    3
    Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels, rub with oil, and sprinkle evenly with spice mixture.
  • Step 
    4
    Arrange breasts in air fryer basket, spaced evenly apart. Place basket in air fryer, and set temperature to 400°F. Cook 6 minutes. Turn breasts over, and continue cooking 6 to 8 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (at least 165°F).
  • Step 
    5
    Transfer chicken to serving platter, and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

250 Calories
9g Total Fat
42g Protein
2g Total Carbohydrate
0g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
250
Calories from Fat
80
Total Fat
9g
13%
Saturated Fat
2g
10%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
115mg
38%
Sodium
700mg
29%
Potassium
380mg
11%
Total Carbohydrate
2g
1%
Dietary Fiber
0g
0%
Sugars
0g
Protein
42g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
10%
10%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
2%
2%
Iron
10%
10%
Exchanges:
0 Starch; 0 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 6 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
0
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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