The Crispiest Air Fryer Chicken Legs

Fried chicken is one of the best fried foods of all time! I said it! You can fight me if you want to! However, that is my opinion. I’m not into fried Oreos, cheesecake, fried sausages, and those novelty foods you’d see at the Texas State Fair. Instead I like the classics! Mozzarella sticks, fries, and of course fried chicken are all some of my favorites.

Eating fried foods all the time isn’t healthy, so I choose to use my air fryer when I can. I have the Nuwave Brio 10 qt, and love it. While its big enough to fry a whole rotisserie chicken I haven’t done that often. I have made these amazing Jalapeno Popper Egg Rolls, fries, chicken wings, and a whole mess of other things. Most of them turn out great! However, I struggled with making a crispy fried chicken leg. In fact, I almost sold my air fryer because I couldn’t find a good fried chicken leg recipe. I just wasn’t trying hard enough. I had to learn to adjust to an air fryer.

Batter type foods don’t typically do well in the air fryer, as your not dropping the food in hot oil. Instead air mimics submerging the food in oil by circulating at high speeds creating a crisping effect. For the longest time I was sad that I couldn’t have cripy fried chicken in the air fryer. However, after a lot of trial and error. I have found the perfect recipe for crispy chicken legs. This recipe creates the crispiest air fryer chicken legs, and its simple to.

The secret is baking powder. Now I know what your thinking, that’s pretty crazy. There is no way baking powder creates crispy chicken legs. Trust me it does! This recipe requires no flour, or eggs for a batter. Yet, its still some of the most delicious and crispy fried chicken you will ever try. Don’t believe me, that’s fine. However, you will be missing out on a healthier alternative to fried chicken. Here’s how to make the crispiest air fryer chicken legs.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• 6-8 chicken drumsticks
• 1 Tbs of oil
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 4 tsp of Slap Ya Mama Seasoning (Or any season all blend you prefer)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat air fryer to 400 °F. 
2.  Wash and drain chicken. Then dry thoroughly with a paper towel.(Make sure the chicken is as dry as possible) 
3. Mix Slap Ya Mama and baking powder together in a small bowl.
4.  In a large bowl add oil to chicken and toss to coat each leg. 
5. Add the Slap Ya Mama and baking powder mix to the oil coated chicken. 
6. Massage the spice and baking powder blend into the chicken until all drumsticks are well coated. 
7. Let it marinade for about 10 mins. 
8. Arrange chicken legs in your air fryer, and cook for 25-30 mins or until internal temperature reads 165°F / 74°C. Remember to flip chicken legs half way through cooking time.
9. Serve. 

NOTES:

You can use any spice blend, and this chicken will turn out amazing. I prefer Slap Ya Mama, as it has a cajun flavor with just a bit of spice.  This recipe is easily doubled, just make more than one batch.

HEALTHY TIPS:

While this recipe is relatively low carb you can make it healthier by choosing avocado oil, or an oil of your choice. I choose olive oil , as its a personal favorite.

The Crispiest Air Fryer Chicken Legs

This recipe is the crispiest air fryer chicken legs you will ever try! In this recipe we use baking powder to crisp the legs just like when we do air fryer chicken wings.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 6-8 chicken drumsticks
• 1 Tbs of oil
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 4 tsp of Slap Ya Mama Seasoning Or any season all blend you prefer

Instructions

 

• Preheat air fryer to 400 °F.
• Wash and drain chicken. Then dry thoroughly with a paper towel.(Make sure the chicken is as dry as possible)
• Mix Slap Ya Mama and baking powder together in a small bowl.
• In a large bowl add oil to chicken and toss to coat each leg.
• Add the Slap Ya Mama and baking powder mix to the oil coated chicken.
• Massage the spice and baking powder blend into the chicken until all drumsticks are well coated.
• Let it marinade for about 10 mins.
• Arrange chicken legs in your air fryer, and cook for 25-30 mins or until internal temperature reads 165°F / 74°C. Remember to flip chicken legs half way through cooking time.
• Serve.

Notes

You can use any spice blend, and this chicken will turn out amazing. I prefer Slap Ya Mama, as it has a cajun flavor with just a bit of spice. 

Keyword air fryer, chicken legs, healthy