This air fryer grilled chicken recipe demands just 15 minutes of prep work and 20 minutes of hands-off cook time. The result is 4 jumbo, juicy skin-on chicken breasts, all seasoned and grilled to perfection, along with heaps of buttery potato wedges as a built-in side.
Can I Use an Air Fryer to Grill?
Although the machine is called a ‘fryer,’ it cooks food by blasting hot air onto the food, similar to how an oven works. Hence, you can grill, bake, and roast meat with it just like you can with an oven, but much more quickly.
How Many Calories Are in Grilled Chicken?
According to the USDA’s food database, a piece of boneless chicken breast loses 47 grams of mass and 56 calories when cooked. This is due to the loss of moisture and fat during the cooking process, leaving you a leaner piece of meat.
Although this means a reduction in saturated fat and calorie levels – things that a healthy diet regulates – it is still quite insignificant. By itself it does not make grilled chicken healthier than other meat choices. Plenty of other factors contribute to the nutrition profile.
Is Air Fryer Grilled Chicken Healthy?
Yes, it is.
As with cooked meat in general, grilled chicken provides us with plenty of protein. Since a healthy diet must draw from all food groups, a meal of grilled chicken will be healthier if served with some cooked vegetables.
For this recipe we chose potatoes. Besides complex carbohydrates, potatoes also contain several micronutrients necessary for body growth.
Maintaining a healthy diet also means regulating calories, sodium, and saturated fat. Taking this into account, we carefully adjusted the amount of relevant ingredients, such as salt and the chicken itself, to stay within bounds.
As a result, each portion of our recipe now contains 483 calories, 7.5 g saturated fat, and 525.8 mg sodium. These are good amounts that will keep you on track to meet the recommended nutrition goals.
Ingredients for Air Fryer Grilled Chicken
1. Chicken
We’re grilling, so any cut of chicken works fine – even the breast – as long as you keep the skin on. It gives your meat a chewier texture and extra layers of flavor.
If you’re not in the mood for chicken breasts, we suggest chicken thighs since you can get them boneless as well.
2. Seasonings
Our marinade mix has salt, pepper, mustard, lemon juice, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and red powders like Cajun and paprika for a kick. We also added some oregano — it’s already in the Italian seasoning mix, but we wanted its aroma to be stronger.
3. Potato
This air fryer grilled chicken recipe welcomes all types of potato. We used russets, but we encourage you to use your favorite.
Since we want to make things as simple as possible, we sped up the process with the microwave. It’s an easy method applicable for many root vegetables that are thick and take a long time to cook.
All you need to do is place the veg chunks into a bowl, cover it with microwave-safe plastic wrap, then nuke on medium for 5 minutes. This applies for our potatoes only — different vegetables of different sizes cook at their own pace.
How to Make Grilled Chicken in an Air Fryer
Once the potatoes are taken care of, you just need to season the chicken and air-fry it along with the potatoes. Simple, right?
To make the meat more flavorful, we created a pocket by slicing the thighs open lengthwise, but not cutting all the way through. They’re then seasoned on both the outside and inside.
Here’s a summary:
Microwave the potatoes.
Slice the chicken open.
Season the chicken.
Toss the microwaved potatoes with butter and oil.
Air-fry the chicken along with potatoes.
Garnish and enjoy.
Tips to Cooking Juicy Chicken in an Air Fryer
The best way to keep chicken juicy is to avoid overcooking the meat. You can either follow recipes or learn more about cooking all cuts of chicken in this article.
You can also introduce more liquid to the meat by marinating it for about 15 minutes in a simple salt brine before seasoning. A solution of 2 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt is our favorite go-to.
What to Make With Grilled Chicken
Leftover grilled chicken can be very useful: it makes a delicious taco filling, a protein for salad, or a great flavor boost to accompany your sandwich. Our air fryer grilled chicken recipe uses simple seasonings, so the chicken can be tailored to suit different dishes.
How Long Does Grilled Chicken Last in the Fridge
To preserve the leftovers, place each portion in a separate airtight container or Ziploc bag and refrigerate for up to 5 days. The chicken can also be frozen for 3 months and reheated anytime, but the potatoes should only get refrigerated.
How to Reheat Grilled Chicken
To reheat, air-fry the meat at 350°F for 4 minutes if refrigerated or 15 minutes if frozen.
Or you can microwave meat on medium for 2 minutes if refrigerated, 5 minutes if frozen. Make sure you place the meat into a bowl and cover it with microwave-safe plastic wrap before reheating.
For more delicious air fryer recipes, this best air fryer dinner roundup have a bunch of ideas.
What to Serve With Air Fryer Grilled Chicken
Our suggestions for sides are our favorite sweet, fresh kale salad and iced lemonade. They bring the meal to a healthy 750 calorie yield overall:
| Recipes | Course | Calories | Saturated fat | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Fryer Grilled Chicken | Main Dish | 483 | 7.5 g | 526 mg |
| Kale Salad | Side Dish | 207 | 1.8 g | 248 mg |
| Lemonade | Beverage | 55 | 0.0 g | 9 mg |
| Total | 745 | 9.3 g | 783 mg | |
More Air Fryer Chicken Breast Recipes to Try
- Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Marinated Chicken Recipe
- Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas Recipe
Air Fryer Grilled Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 18 oz potatoes peeled and cut into wedges
- 26 oz boneless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp traditional Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter about 0.5 oz
- 2 tbsp parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Place 18 oz potato wedges into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on medium for 7 minutes.
- Cut a slit in each of the breasts (26 oz in total) to make small pockets.
- Season the breasts, inside and outside with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
- When the potatoes are done, carefully remove the plastic wrap and toss them with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter.
- Place the potatoes into the air fryer and the chicken on top. Cook everything at 400°F for 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle 2 tbsp parsley on top and serve.
Nutrition
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