Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
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Who knew boneless, skinless chicken could be so crispy?! Air Fryer Chicken Thighs are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and ready in under 25 minutes!
If you haven’t made chicken in the air fryer yet, what are you waiting for?! I realized the other day that I don’t have a ton of chicken recipes on my site. There’s my sun-dried tomato chicken skillet and my whole30 chicken salad, but I definitely have way more tofu/salmon/beef recipes, and I felt like that needed to change.
Making air fryer chicken thighs is incredibly simple, and it’s an easy way to get chicken to crisp up nicely on the outside, while still being juice on the inside.
Recipe features
- Crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside
- Super flavorful, and ready in under 30 minutes
- Can easily use your own favorite spice blend, if you prefer
Ingredient notes:
Chicken thighs – Boneless, skinless. I tested the recipe both ways though, so if you want to use bone-in chicken thighs, see the “notes” section in the recipe card.
Spices – Garlic powder, smoked paprika and oregano.
Nonstick spray – This is a *key* ingredient if you want the chicken to be crispy on the outside. You can use typical nonstick spray, though I tend to prefer either olive oil spray or avocado oil spray.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Dry the chicken. Place chicken onto a plate, then use a paper towel to pat it dry before transferring the chicken to a large bowl.
Step 2: Add the spices. Combine the garlic, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper, then pour the spices over the chicken and use your hands to coat the chicken.
Step 3. Air fry the chicken. Make sure you preheat your air fryer, then add the chicken, spray them with nonstick spray and fry them for 12 minutes on the first side, then 8-10 minutes on the second side.
Expert tips and FAQs
- Use kitchen tongs to easily flip the chicken
- Feel free to cook the chicken for 2 additional minutes if you really want it to be crispy, but be careful not to over-cook it; otherwise, the chicken might be too dry
- If you don’t have nonstick/olive oil/avocado oil spray, you can brush the chicken with a little bit of olive oil instead
What should I serve this with?
This air fryer chicken pairs perfectly with my Instant Pot Spanish rice, easy fried brussels sprouts, feta harissa roasted carrots, and/or my skillet roasted potatoes.
Can I use bone-in chicken thighs with skin instead?
Yep! I tested this recipe both ways, so if you’re going to use bone-in chicken, I’d air fry the chicken on the first side for 15 minutes, and on the second side for 12. Again, it depends on the size of your chicken thighs, too, but generally bone-in chicken takes a little longer to cook than boneless chicken.
More easy dinner recipes
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
Video
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 5-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, patted dry; see notes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Pat chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then transfer to a bowl.
- Combine all the seasonings together in a bowl, then pour them into the bowl with the chicken and use your hands to coat the chicken with the spices.
- Preheat your air fryer to 380° (mine took 3 minutes to preheat). Then, place chicken smooth side down into the air fryer, spray with nonstick spray/olive oil spray, and cook at 380° for 12 minutes. NOTE: every air fryer is different, so cook times may vary.
- Once the air fryer beeps, use kitchen tongs to flip the chicken over, and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes on the second side, or until chicken is cooked through.
Notes
Nutrition
I followed the directions but the thighs didn’t crisp up. They were delicious but more like roasted. Any suggestions. I did spray the bottom of the pan with Pam first so maybe I used too much spray???
Hi! Make sure you spray the chicken with nonstick spray before air frying — if you definitely did that, then next time I’d recommend doubling the amount of spices you use and that should help.
This recipe was amazingly delicious! I’ve been dieting and decided to give myself a not-so-bad fried treat and I enjoyed it thoroughly! Looking forward to making my next batch!
Thanks Bev — I’m glad you liked the chicken!
This turned out really good, I used Pam spray on both sides of thighs air fried for 12 min then flipped for 6 more min. and they were done! Will make again. Served with seasoned rice and asparagus.
Hi there!! Awesome recipe I have a specific q though
How do you clean your air fryer afterwards? I’ve googled it an a whole bunch of answers hard to navigate. Thanks.
Great question! Different people may have different answers for this, but I typically just use dish soap and a dish brush (one with soft bristles) to gently scrub anything off of my air fryer. The dish brush works better than a rag/sponge while still being soft enough that it doesn’t scratch off the nonstick coating. Hope this helps!
Hi! Do you spray the chicken again after you flip it over?
Thanks!
Jessica
You can but you don’t have to! They’ll turn out great either way.
Tonight, I’m making this for the second time in 2 weeks. My husband loves them! So quick & easy- thank you! ❤️
I’m glad you guys love the recipe! It’s one of our favorite ways to cook chicken, too 🙂
Just made this for the fam…… they loved it! I did add a little cayenne because they like spicy food. It turned out better than I thought possible! Thanks for creating this, it’s going to be one of my regulars 💗
Thanks for the comment — I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it!
Excellent. Crispy and deep flavor profile. Thanks for a great, easy and fast recipe.
My husband is very picky, he LOVED this. I made a Chicken, Ham and Havarti Sandwich. He is the one that said I needed to rate this:) (which we have never done). The flavor popped-wow!! Thank you for sharing.
Tell your husband thank you — I really appreciate the 5-star rating 🙂 And that sandwich sounds delicious. I’m so glad you guys liked the recipe!
Delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I am already planning to make the thighs for guests. I some steamed cauliflower that I didn’t cook completely. So I added it to the thighs in the air fryer for the last three or four minutes. The cauliflower picked up the flavor, yum. My new favorite. The cooking spray is a great tip. AMD I only had coconut cooking spray at home which turned out great. Thanks again.
I love that you added cauliflower in as well! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂