Air Fryer Chicken Breast
Let’s face it. Air fryers have only been on the market for a few years so they are relatively new to all of us. As a result, we sometimes need a little guidance on how to cook the simplest things – like a plain ol’ chicken breast. The recipe below takes the plain air-fried chicken breast one step further in the taste department by marinating it first before air-frying. The marinade, however, is completely optional, although it does add a lot of flavor and a nice brown color. If you just want to know how to air-fry a plain chicken breast, whether that be for dinner or because another recipe calls for cooked chicken as an ingredient, simply follow the cooking instructions and skip the marinating part.
Marinade for Chicken
If you’re game for marinating the chicken, this marinade couldn’t be much simpler. It combines an acid (lemon juice) with something sweet (honey), something salty (Worcestershire sauce), some dried herbs (oregano and thyme) and some olive oil. The instructions tell you to marinate the chicken for 4 hours (or even overnight), but if you don’t have that time on your hands, even half an hour of marinating time is better than nothing (unless, of course, you’re going for that plain salt and pepper cooked chicken breast, in which case ignore me!).
Air Fryer Time for Chicken Breast
One of the great advantages of air-frying chicken is that it produces a super moist chicken breast. The air fryer cooks so quickly and as a result, there’s not a lot of time for the chicken breast to get dried out. Once you’ve pre-heated the air fryer to 380ºF, your average chicken breast should only take 10 to 12 minutes to cook all the way through. Having said that, of course the cooking time does depend on the size of the chicken breasts. These days, chicken breasts vary in size from very small to quite large. Ten minutes of cooking time is a good starting point for your average size, but if your chicken breasts are very large, be prepared to add a minute or two to the cooking time (or decrease by a minute or so if the chicken breasts are very small). Also, if you don’t like to pre-heat your air fryer before adding the food (not obligatory), you will probably want to add a couple of minutes to the cooking time to compensate.
Paleo Friendly and Gluten Free Chicken Breasts
These air-fried marinated chicken breasts are plain and simple, but delicious enough to stand on their own on your dinner plate next to some vegetables. They are gluten free and paleo friendly because they have no breading on the outside. Sometimes, that’s just what you’re looking for. If you prefer a breaded chicken breast, check out this delicious recipe for a chicken paillard with burrata and cherry tomatoes or my gluten free breaded chicken breast here. Either of those air fryer recipes will give you a crunchy exterior on the chicken.
Cooked Chicken as an Ingredient
Once you’ve air-fried the chicken, it is important to let the chicken rest for a few minutes. It’s so juicy inside when you cook it this way, that if you cut into it too soon, you’ll lose a lot of that moisture on your cutting board. Letting the chicken rest allows the cells to relax and they won’t force out so much of their juices when you cut into the meat. Moist, juicy chicken is a great ingredient for so many other recipes and I truly believe that popping the chicken into the air fryer is the easiest and fastest way to cook it. You might want to use shredded cooked chicken on nachos, or on a tostada, or in a stuffed tortilla, or even just for a chicken salad.
Can you Air Fry Frozen Chicken Breasts
There’s a fine line between “can” and “should” sometimes, and this is one of those times! Can you air-fry a frozen chicken breast? Yes. My rule of thumb when cooking frozen foods is 1-inch. If the food is 1-inch thick or less, you can pop it into the air fryer and cook it, adding time to account for the fact that the food is frozen. Should you air-fry a frozen chicken breast? In my opinion, No. The trouble with cooking any frozen food is that it cooks unevenly. The outside defrosts and cooks before the inside is properly defrosted and is therefore over-cooked by the time the inside is cooked through. You won’t get beautiful, moist results from this recipe if you start with frozen chicken breasts, but… if you’re in a pinch, I will look the other way and forgive you. 😉We are, after all, trying to keep things simple.
I love this recipe. I recently purchased the Ninja Foodie and am trying to learn how and what to air fry or sear, or cook. Thanks for a delicious recipe. So easy to follow…you are very talented at teaching. Your recipes are always easy to follow and understand. This was a hit with the family! My rating is 5 stars; the website would not let me click to rate. Thank you again.
Could you modify this and make Cordon Blu?
Will you please email me. Thank you
Hi Larry. You’ll find my air fryer chicken cordon bleu recipe here: https://bluejeanchef.com/recipes/chicken-cordon-bleu/
ML
I have lemon juice but not an actual lemon. Can you give me an idea how much to use?
Hi Nanci. About 2 tablespoons.
I made this fabulous recipe a couple weeks ago. Both me and my 5 y/o Shih Tzu absolutely loved this chicken. I’m making it again today! Thank you so much for this wonderful, moist, delicious chicken!
Looks so yummy! Meredith – I have an aversion to fish & wanted to know what sort of things could be used in lieu of Worcestershire sauce. I know there’s nothing like it. (I really do). I wonder if I could make a concoction of soy sauce, steak sauce, liquid smoke….Heck! I’m out of luck aren’t I?
Hi Lynne. Here’s a great article on substitutions for Worcestershire sauce. https://food52.com/blog/24403-best-worcestershire-sauce-substitutes I would use the soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar and hot sauce suggestion for the chicken, but there are lots of other possibilities.
What can I use in place of the Worchestershire sauce in the Air Fried Marinated chicken recipe?
Hi Don. Here’s a great article on substitutions for Worcestershire sauce. https://food52.com/blog/24403-best-worcestershire-sauce-substitutes I would use the soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar and hot sauce suggestion.
Easy and tasty chicken dinner! I only had one hour to allow chicken to marinate, and yet It tasted exquisite! I served with steamed asparagus. Thank you for the recipe!
I made the Air Fryer Marinated Chicken Breast tonight. It was juicy and tender and delicious. Only change I made was adding one tbsp. of soy sauce and just two tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce. Oh, and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Thank you for the tasty recipe.
D
Thank you for this recipe! During the quarantine sometimes we could only get chicken thighs and this recipe helped a lot! I use my Pampered Chef Air Fryer, I prefer the trays.
Cooking time fir chicken legs instead of breast? Or would you recommend another air fryer recipe? Thanks
Hi Nancy. It really depends on whether you’re using bone-in or boneless chicken and how big the pieces are. If you’re using bone-in chicken legs, I would increase the cooking time to about 20 to 30 minutes. If you’re using boneless thighs, try 18 – 20 minutes. You’ll find a handy time chart here that could help: https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/air-fryer-cooking-charts/
Do we just take chicken put of marinate and go straight in air fryer basket??
Yes, that’s exactly what you do. 😊
I think I bought chicken cutlets instead of breasts. Reduce the air frying time by a minute or two as they are so much thinner?
Yes – that’s the right idea, Brian. Chicken breasts vary in size so much these days anyway that adjusting the time to suit the size of the piece of chicken is key.
Can you freeze it. If you can do you put in freezer bag. Marinate the chicken then put Marinatate chicken bag in freezer then thaw it out then put in air fryer oven
You can place the marinade and the chicken in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let the chicken defrost before air frying. You can pour some of the marinade over the chicken then air fry it and yes, discard the rest of the marinade that is left in the bag. You can make this recipe in an air fryer oven or basket type air fryer at the same temperature.
All your recipes are great. I am an elderly lady alone and these are great for me.
This recipe is amazing! My kids who are very picky eaters ask for this chicken frequently! I did find I had to reduce the temp to 360 on my air fryer to prevent excess charring…probably due to honey! But this is our go to chicken breast recipe! Thank you Meredith!
I made the marinated air fryer chicken breasts and they turned out perfect! I tried to post a pic but perhaps not permitted? Thanks so much for a super easy QUICK delicious recipe!
You can post your recipe pics on the Blue Jean Chef Facebook page under visitor posts or on Instagram and tag @bluejeanchef. Thanks so much!!
Absolutely OUTSTANDING!!! Just made today this will be my new go to! Delicious, juicy and my dogs give 2 paws up!
Absolutely the best!!!! So moist, tender and delicious!!! I have been sharing this with everyone! My dogs saw 2 PAWS UP!!!!
Marinating right now! Doing it over night. Can’t wait to try it tomorrow!