Air Fryer Chicken Breast Recipe

With this air fryer chicken breast recipe, you can now make a healthy, delicious, homemade dinner in only 25 minutes.

You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make a wholesome chicken meal with a side of salad. Before we start shopping for the ingredients, let’s learn a few things about today’s dish.

Is Air Fryer Chicken Breast Healthy?

Yes, today’s air fryer chicken breast recipe is healthy. Here’s why:

We’re using boneless, skinless chicken breasts as the main source of protein for today’s recipe.

We love using this particular piece of chicken in our recipes because it’s low in fat and calories. A piece of 4-oz raw chicken breast is also packed with 25 grams of protein.

One serving of our air-fried chicken breast and salad contains 461 calories and 5.5 grams of fiber.

We also adjust the amount of saturated fat and sodium so that the numbers follow our healthy eating guidelines.

If you love similar healthy chicken recipes, check out our baked chicken breast recipe. It’s just as simple, easy to make, and delicious.

Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Breast

As mentioned, the main source of protein for today’s recipe is boneless, skinless chicken breast. Besides the chicken, you will need a few more ingredients to make its complementary salad:

• Cucumber: You can use any variety of cucumber you want. 
• Red onion: This particular type of onion is sweeter and less pungent than regular white onion, perfect for a salad.
• Corn: We used frozen, but you can use canned if you want.
• Legumes: We used canned chickpeas and red kidney beans for today’s recipe.

For the salad dressing, you’ll need:

• Mayonnaise: We used Japanese mayo as it’s slightly sweet and tangy, perfect to pair with cucumber and red onions.
• Greek yogurt: This balances the rich mayo.
• Fresh parsley: You can also substitute for fresh dill if parsley is not available.
• Freshly squeezed lime juice: If you have any fresh lemons, feel free to use lemon juice instead.

You don’t need salt to season the dressing as the mayo is already salty.

Seasoning for the Chicken

Here are the herbs and spices we’re using in today’s recipe:

• Italian seasoning: This herbal blend often consists of dried rosemary, oregano, marjoram, basil, and thyme. You can use a store-bought blend or make your own.
• Garlic: Some may think that garlic is pungent, but you can avoid that by mincing it. It will be perfectly cooked and give your chicken a whole new dimension of flavor.
• Dried spices: We used garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, and paprika. You can also add cayenne pepper if you want to give your chicken a bit more heat.
• Olive oil: Marinating the chicken in oil will help retain moisture inside the chicken and prevent it from drying.
• Salt and black pepper: To add flavor.

How to Cook Chicken Breasts in an Air Fryer

Here is a brief description of our air fryer chicken breast recipe:

Step 1: Marinate the chicken.

Step 2: Cook the chicken.

Step 3: Make the salad dressing.

Step 4: Mix the salad.

Step 5: Serve.

How to Cook Frozen Chicken Breasts in an Air Fryer

After marinating the chicken, you can put it into Ziplock bags and store it in the freezer. The chicken can last up to 1 month.

When you want to eat it, take a piece of chicken breast out and let it thaw to room temperature. After that, cook it in the air fryer for 15 minutes at 375°F.

Can You Cook Frozen Chicken Breast Without Defrosting It First?

Technically, you can, but you shouldn’t.

Cooking frozen chicken breast directly in an air fryer will cook the outside faster while the inside is still cold. Your chicken may have an uncooked interior with a tough, dry surface.

That being said, you can slowly thaw the chicken in the air fryer before cooking. We’ll show you how in the next section.

How Long to Cook Chicken Breast in an Air Fryer

Cooking time may vary depending on the size of your chicken breast and cooking temperature. For today’s recipe, we’re using 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each weighing about 6.5 oz.

Here is how long it took us to cook them:

1. Fresh Chicken Breast

Our fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts took 15 minutes to cook at 375°F.

Keep in mind that the chicken should be at room temperature before cooking. This will ensure that the inside and outside of the chicken cook at the same rate.

2. Frozen Chicken Breast

Put the chicken into the basket of the air fryer. Turn the setting to defrost and set the timer for 5 minutes.

After that, cook the thawed chicken at the same time and temperature as fresh chicken.

Tips for Making the Perfect Air Fryer Chicken Breasts

We all love a piece of tender, juicy chicken breast, but it can be tricky to make.

As mentioned, this particular cut of chicken is so lean and low in fat, it tends to become dry easily. Here are a few tips to keep your chicken breast moist:

• Pay attention to the cooking time and temperature: Avoid cooking too long or at too high a temperature.
• Check internal temperature: Use a probe thermometer to see if your chicken has reached 165°F. If it has, remove the chicken from the air fryer to stop cooking and prevent it from getting overcooked and dry.
• Marinate the chicken in oil: Not only will the oil add more flavor, it will also help moisten the chicken.
• Wrap the chicken in aluminum foil: This can help keep the chicken from drying out as the foil traps all the natural juices inside.

Should You Preheat an Air Fryer Before Cooking?

Although you don’t need to preheat an air fryer before using it, you should. Preheating it for about 5 minutes will help it come to the right temperature and cook your chicken more evenly.

If you skip this step, you will need to cook your chicken a bit longer.

This means the surface of the chicken will be exposed to the high heat for longer. By the time the inside is cooked, the surface may become dry.

How to Store Air Fryer Chicken Breasts

You can wrap the whole plate of chicken and salad in cling film and put it into the fridge. Or keep it in an airtight container.

Both the chicken and salad can last up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Can You Reheat Chicken in an Air Fryer?

Yes, you can. It takes 5 minutes to reheat the cooked chicken in the air fryer.

We recommend wrapping the chicken breast in aluminum foil before putting it into the air fryer. This will keep the chicken moist and juicy for you to enjoy later.

What to Serve With Air Fryer Chicken Breasts

As mentioned, our air fryer chicken breasts come with a small side of salad. It may be nutritious but it probably won’t be enough to make you full.

Luckily, there’s still room for more. We recommend serving the chicken with our air fryer potato wedge and a glass of lemon watermelon juice.

The crispy potatoes will keep you full for longer. And the refreshing, sweet, and sour drink will help cleanse your palate after a hearty, savory meal.

Here are the combined nutrition facts of the meal: