How to Reheat Fried Chicken in the Air Fryer

How to reheat fried chicken in the air fryer?

What is it that you’re reheating? Nuggets? Drumsticks? Wings? Was it kept in the fridge or freezer? Was it wrapped in plastic wrap or put in an air-tight container?

The answers to these questions matter—not only in choosing the right reheating method but also in how you should expect your chicken to turn out.

Fried Chicken Should Be Dryer When Reheated

When just cooked, fried chicken loses some moisture but is still pretty juicy on the inside. When kept for a few days in the fridge, the coating should absorb most of the remaining moisture and leave the interior dry.

We're not saying the crust is to blame—the moisture evaporates more easily without the crust to trap it in. However, you can rehydrate baked or grilled chicken by air-frying it with some water, but you can’t really do that to fried chicken without making the crust soggy, can you? Fried chicken, hence, will always be dryer when reheated.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t get any drier. It can, and it will, if it sits in the frying chamber for too long.

That’s why the questions matter—the size, the cut, and the chicken’s temperature decides what temperature to use and, hence, determines how long to reheat, and whether or not foil is necessary.

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In the next how-to section, we’re sharing different methods to reheat nuggets, wings, drumsticks, and many more in the air fryer. You'll only need some cooking oil and possibly some foil.

How to Reheat Fried Chicken in the Air Fryer

Chicken Nuggets

Coming in small pieces and without bones, chicken nuggets are the quickest to reheat and heat up the most evenly throughout. Nuggets are typically made from skinless boneless chicken breasts, so they should cook quickly.

If they’re frozen, add them to the frying basket, spray or drizzle them with olive oil, and air-fry for 15 minutes at 350°F. If they’re refrigerated, only 10 minutes .

Chicken Wings

The wings (often cut into wingettes and drumettes) have bones but they are not thick, hence are also easy to reheat.

Now if they’re the typical ones (coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried), treat them like chicken nuggets. If the coating is pretty thin, or if there’s no coating at all,, spray them with oil, and cook for 10 minutes if frozen, 5 minutes if refrigerated.

Bone-in Thighs, Drumsticks, and Breasts

Thick and with bones, these cuts can’t be cooked as quickly as the other two. Hence, they should be wrapped in foil and cooked on high heat for a long time just so the inside is heated (1st stage), then cooked briefly without the foil on high heat (2nd stage).

The temperature we suggest is 350°F. Here are the times for each stages:

• Frozen bone-in thighs: 30 minutes with foil, then 10 minutes without.
• Frozen bone-in drumsticks: 35 minutes with foil, then 10 minutes without.
• Frozen bone-in leg quarters or breasts: 40 minutes with foil, then 10 minutes without.
• Refrigerated bone-in thighs: 20 minutes with foil, then 5 minutes without.
• Refrigerated bone-in drumsticks: 22 minutes with foil, then 5 minutes without.
• Refrigerated bone-in leg quarters or breasts: 25 minutes with foil, then 5 minutes without.

Of course, higher temperatures work best. We experimented with 350°F as it’s the most common highest temperature in most air fryers.

Boneless Thighs, Drumsticks, and Breasts

We’re dividing the cuts not by type, but by thickness: 1/2” pieces (usually whole breasts) or 1/4” pieces.

At 350°F:

• Frozen 1/2” pieces: 30 minutes with foil, then 5 minutes without. 
• Frozen 1/4” pieces: 15 minutes without foil.
• Refrigerated 1/2” pieces: 15 minutes without foil.
• Refrigerated 1/4” pieces: 10 minutes without foil.

This table puts everything neatly (the temperature is 350°F):

Refrigerated

Frozen

Fried Chicken Coated in Sauce

As you might have guessed, fried chicken coated in a sauce has no chance of being crispy again. Putting it straight into the air fryer makes the coating stiff, and possibly burnt, before the inside gets reheated.

The coating, however, can be chewy, which is better than stiff and burnt.

Line the frying basket with foil and add in the wings along with some water. We’re thinking 1-2 tbsp depending on how much you’re reheating. Air-fry as we have instructed above, and you’ll get a completely different dish that tastes just as nice.