Air Fryer Chicken Breast – Juicy, flavourful chicken breasts lightly coated in a simple seasoning mix. An easy method to ensure they’re cooked evenly, and they’re perfectly juicy and tender.
Having a quick and delicious recipe for chicken up your sleeve is super important, especially on those busy days.
It’s great as a meal-prep staple, so you can have a tasty source of protein in the fridge whenever you need it.
Add it to soups, sandwiches, salads, and pasta dishes for some added meaty goodness.
One thing that really surprised me when I started using an air fryer was how well it cooks chicken. It’s always left me with the juiciest, golden chicken that absorbs flavour like a sponge.
This recipe takes only 16 minutes and the result is perfectly seasoned, tender chicken breasts!
📋 Ingredients
Chicken Breasts – you want them to be around 180g (6.3 oz) each. If you use larger chicken breasts, you’ll need to increase the cooking time (see notes in the recipe card for more info).
Garlic Powder – You can substitute this for the same amount of garlic salt, just omit the regular salt.
Light Brown Sugar – This is optional but I find it adds a hint of caramelization that creates that much more flavour.
📺 Watch how to make it
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
- This recipe takes a small amount of prep, then the air fryer does the rest of the work. Start off by putting the chicken in a plastic sandwich bag and bashing the thickest part of the chicken with a rolling pin until the thickness has evened out.
- Now, mix together the seasoning in the bowl and add the chicken, pressing the seasoning to the chicken to coat it.
- Then drizzle over the oil and toss once again to fully coat.
- Then, pop in the air fryer for 11-12 minutes, turning halfway through until the chicken is golden on the outside and no longer pink in the middle.
Pro Tip
You can customise the seasonings you coat the chicken with to your taste. Add chilli flakes or powder for heat. Add more herbs (basil, thyme and dill are great options). You can even use a ready-mix seasoning – such as fajita or Cajun seasoning.
This chicken is the perfect way to make tasty, juicy chicken in extra-quick time.
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🍽️ What to serve it with
So juicy and flavourful, this is my go-to recipe to get chicken breast perfect, every single time.
🍲 More fantastic air-fryer recipes
Yes! I love to make a few quick batches of chicken to keep in the fridge for the kid’s lunches. Cook them, then quickly cook and store in an air-tight container in the fridge, it should keep for 3 – 4 days.
You can also freeze them once cooked but I find it can be a little dry once you reheat them, to help with this, and for quicker reheating, you can slice up the chicken into chunks before storing in an air-tight container in the freezer.
If you find your chicken is a little bit dry, add a small splash of water alongside it when reheating. Make sure the chicken is piping hot throughout before serving.
If cooking more than 2 chicken breasts, you may need to work in batches. We need to be able to layer the chicken in a single layer, with a little bit of space around each piece for good airflow.
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Place the chicken breasts in a plastic sandwich bag or between a large folded piece of baking parchment.
2 chicken breasts
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Bash the thickest part of the chicken breast few times with a rolling pin. We don’t want to flatten the chicken a lot – we just want to even out the thickness.
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It should still look like a chicken breast after a few light bashes (we don’t want it to thin like a chicken steak).
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Mix together the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and sugar in a small bowl.
¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp light brown sugar
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Sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the two chicken breasts and press the mixture in with your hands, so they’re thoroughly coated and so the mixture sticks to the chicken.
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Drizzle over the oil and toss to fully coat.
1 tbsp neutral oil
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Place in the air fryer basket (no liner, we want it straight on the tray), in a single layer, with a bit of space in between the chicken breasts for good airflow. Air fry for 11-12 minutes (no need to pre-heat) at 200C/400F, turning once, halfway through cooking. Once cooked, the chicken should no longer be pink in the middle (internal temp should be 75C/167F).
Cooking more than two?
If cooking more than 2 chicken breasts, you may need to work in batches. We need to be able to layer the chicken in a single layer, with a little bit of space around each piece for good airflow.
Size of chicken breast
Don’t use chicken breasts that are too big, as they’ll take longer to cook, and they will be dry on the outside. Try to stick between 180g/6.3oz and 227g/8oz per chicken breast.
If your chicken breasts are larger than the 180g/6.3oz that I use, you’ll need to cook for as little longer.
- 198g/7oz each – cook the two breasts for 12-13 minutes
- 227g/8oz- cook the two breasts for 13-14 minutes
The chicken should be piping hot throughout and sign of no pink in the thickest part of the chicken. If you have a meat probe, the internal temperature should read 75C/167F.
Can I use frozen chicken breasts?
You’ll get the best and juiciest result using fresh chicken breasts. So you’ll need to defrost frozen chicken breasts before using. I defrost them overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutritional information is approximate, per chicken breast.
Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 501mg | Potassium: 710mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 556IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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