Weeknight dinners just got a whole lot easier with this Air Fryer Chicken Legs recipe! Ready in just over 30 minutes, cooking chicken legs in an air fryer guarantees crispy skin and juicy, tender meat every time. This easy chicken recipe is my favorite way to cook a quick meal.
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Easy dinner recipe: All you have to do is mix the raw chicken legs with spices and air fryer them, flipping them halfway through. Perfect for busy weeknights, this easy recipe couldn’t be easier!
- Quick: You only need 5 minutes of prep time and cooking is 30. It’s much quicker than the oven!
- Healthy recipe: There is no extra fat, white or brown sugar, or strange ingredients. Just simple ingredients: chicken and seasoning.
- Delicious flavor: If you’re a fan of juicy, crispy chicken legs, you will love this recipe. The chicken skin becomes extra crispy skin with an incredible spicy flavor!
- Great for meal prep: The best part for me is that I can make several servings of this easy chicken recipe and reheat them in the air fryer for an easy lunch or quick dinner.
🗝️ Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken: You’ll need bone-in skin-on chicken legs. Note: Chicken legs and chicken drumsticks are two different things. Chicken legs include both the drumstick and the chicken thigh, a chicken drumstick is just a chicken drumstick. If you’re looking to air fry chicken drumsticks, try this recipe!
- Spices: I created a delicious blend of spices for these juicy chicken drumsticks. I included ground black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and salt. It is hands down the best chicken recipe! Feel free to switch the chili powder to cayenne pepper if needed.
🥣 How to go about cooking chicken legs in an air fryer
1. Preheat: Begin by preheating the air fryer to 200 degrees C/ 390 degrees F. This allows the hot air to begin circulating in the air fryer.
2. Pat the chicken: Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and place it into a large bowl. Patting it dry helps the seasoning stick to the chicken.
3. Mix everything together: Add all the spices to a small bowl and mix them together. Sprinkles the spices over the raw chicken and mix it well with a wooden spoon.
4. Air fry: Place the chicken legs into the air fryer basket in a single layer and air fry for 15 minutes.
5. Flip: After 15 minutes, flip the chicken over with a pair of tongs and continue to air fry for 15 more minutes.
6. Check: Check the air-fried chicken is cooked all the way through by inserting an analog or digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the dark meat. When the thermometer reads 165°F it is ready and safe to eat.
7. Rest: Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving to lock in the moisture.
🫙 Storage Instructions
- Store: Allow the chicken to cool to room temperature and then any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat them in the air fryer or oven for 10-15 minutes until thoroughly heated. The internal temperature of the chicken leg should reach 165°F
- Freeze the juicy chicken legs for up to 3 months in an airtight container or freezer ziplock bag. Thaw completely before reheating in the air fryer or oven.
🪄 Recipe Notes & Tips
- Change the seasoning: There are so many different seasoning combinations to try with chicken legs! Cajun seasoning is quick and easy if you don’t have all of the other ingredients, and a simple lemon pepper seasoning is great for the whole family.
- Check the temperature:
- Don’t overlap the chicken: Pro tip: Overlapping the chicken will prevent it from getting that delicious crispy skin. It’s best to keep the chicken in a single layer instead. You may need to do a couple of batches to get through all of the chicken.
- Different air fryers: Cooking time with vary between the air fryer brands. I used a Tower air fryer which is 4.3 liters. Larger air fryers will also be able to fit more chicken in at once.
🤔 Can I reheat chicken legs in an air fryer?
Yes, in fact, reheating these chicken leg leftovers in an air fryer is the BEST way to reheat them in my opinion! Check out this post on How to Reheat Chicken Legs in an Air Fryer for step-by-step instructions.
🍽️ What Can I Serve With Air Fryer Chicken Legs?
Here are some of my favorite sides and sauces to serve with air fryer chicken legs:
Dipping sauce:
- BBQ sauce
- Buffalo sauce
- Ranch
- Spicy ketchup
- Garlic mayonnaise
- Spicy Mayo
Sides:
- Potato salad
- Coleslaw
- Pickled beet salad
- French fries
- Sweet potato fries
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
A great thing about this recipe is that you can absolutely put raw chicken in an air fryer. You can even put frozen raw chicken in an air fryer if you forgot to thaw it. It takes longer to cook but still turns out great with crispy skin and juicy meat.
Sometimes you do need to put oil on chicken to cook it in the air fryer. You don’t need to add oil if you’re cooking the chicken with the skin on as it releases oil as it’s cooked. However, if you’re cooking boneless skinless chicken breasts, you will need to add a little oil to keep it from sticking to the air fryer basket. Healthy oils that I like to spray into my air fryer basket are olive oil and avocado oil.
Yes. Although the hot air is circulating throughout the air fryer, it’s best to flip the chicken legs over halfway through to guarantee even cooking.
🍗 Are you looking for an air fryer chicken drumsticks recipe?
I’ve got you! Check out my Air Fryer Drumsticks recipe right here. It’s just as easy and a little quicker than this air fryer chicken legs recipe.
😋 More air fryer recipes you will love
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (No Breading)
- Crispy Rice Paper Dumplings in the air fryer
- Air Fryer Steak Bites
- Air Fryer Honey Butter Carrots
- Air Fryer Turkey Bacon
- Air Fryer Roasted Walnuts
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📖 Recipe
How to Cook Chicken Legs in an Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 6 chicken legs bone-in, skin-on (see note 1 for drumsticks)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 tespoon garlic powder
- 3/4 tespoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon chili powder more or less to taste
Instructions
- Begin by preheating the air fryer to 200 degrees C/ 390 degrees F.
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and place it into a large bowl.
- Add all the spices to a small bowl and mix them together. Sprinkles the spices over the raw chicken and mix it well with a wooden spoon.
- Place the chicken legs into the preheated air fryer basket in a single layer and air fry for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, flip the chicken over with a pair of tongs and continue to air fry for 15 more minutes.
- Check the air-fried chicken is cooked all the way through by inserting an analog or digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the dark meat. When the thermometer reads 73°C/165°F it is ready and safe to eat.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving to lock in the moisture.
Notes
- Chicken Drumsticks: If you're looking to make chicken drumsticks instead of chicken legs (drumstick attached to thigh), try this Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks recipe.
- Change the seasoning: There are so many different seasoning combinations to try with chicken legs! Cajun seasoning is quick and easy if you don't have all of the other ingredients, and a simple lemon pepper seasoning is great for the whole family.
- Check the temperature: Using a meat thermometer is the perfect way to check if the chicken is cooked all the way through. The easiest way to do that is by using an instant read thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer, slice the chicken open at the thickest part and make sure it is no longer pink. The juices must run clear as well.
- Don't overlap the chicken: Pro tip: Overlapping the chicken will prevent it from getting that delicious crispy skin. It's best to keep the chicken in a single layer instead. You may need to do a couple of batches to get through all of the chicken.
- Different air fryers: Cooking time with vary between the air fryer brands. I used a Tower air fryer which is 4.3 liters. Larger air fryers will also be able to fit more chicken in at once.