Crispy Air-Fried Chicken with Sriracha-Honey Drizzle

Recipe by Coco Morante from The Ultimate Air Fryer Oven Cookbook

Air-fried chicken tastes just as good as deep-fried chicken, with so much less oil. It’s one of my favorite things to make in the air fryer because the payoff is so great. You get crispy pieces of chicken that are delicious straight out of the oven and even better when they’re drizzled with sweet and spicy sriracha. Serve with coleslaw or broccoli salad.

Cuisine

American

Course

Appetizer

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

more than 2 hours

Cooking Technique

Air Fry

Keywords

air fry, all-purpose flour, american, and/or breasts cut in half crosswise), appetizer, buttermilk, cayenne pepper, clover or wildflower honey, cook 30 min, easy, for spraying, frank’s redhot sauce, fried chicken, garlic powder, more than 2 hours, neutral-flavored oil, omni plus, omni plus recipes, poultry seasoning, prep 15 min, seasoned salt, sriracha sauce, thighs, wings

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

2 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken drumsticks, thighs, wings, and/or breasts cut in half crosswise
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
1/4 cup Sriracha sauce
1/4 cup clover or wildflower honey
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
avocado oil or other neutral-flavored oil, for spraying

Instructions

Marinate the chicken: In a large shallow dish or 1-gallon ziplock bag, combine the buttermilk and hot sauce. Add the chicken, flipping it to coat completely. Cover the dish or close the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Line a baking sheet or large dish with parchment paper. (This is where you’ll place the breaded pieces of chicken before air frying—if they sit too long in the air frying basket before cooking, the breading will stick to the metal.)
Create a breading station with two shallow bowls: In the first bowl, stir together the flour, garlic powder, seasoned salt, poultry seasoning, and cayenne until evenly mixed. Drain the buttermilk marinade from the chicken into the second bowl.
Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. One at a time, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, then the buttermilk marinade, then back in the flour for a second time. Place the coated pieces skin side up on the lined baking sheet.
Place the black enamel cooking pan in the bottom oven rack position to catch any drips. Place the wire metal oven rack in the second highest position.
Preheat the oven on Air Fry at 350°F / 175°C and set the cooking time for 30 minutes.
Spray the tops of the chicken pieces lightly with avocado oil, taking care to moisten the entire surface so it is no longer dry and floury. Right when the oven has preheated, transfer the breaded chicken to the air frying basket.
Air fry the chicken in the preheated oven. When the Turn Food message comes on, use tongs to flip the pieces of chicken. If there are any dry, floury spots on their second side, spray them lightly with oil, then return the basket to the oven.
While the chicken is cooking, make the drizzle: In a small bowl, stir together the honey and sriracha.
When the cooking program ends, use an instant-read thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through: 185°F / 85°C in the center for thighs and drumsticks, 165°F / 75°C for breasts.
Using tongs, transfer the chicken to serving plates. Drizzle the chicken with the sriracha honey or serve it on the side for dipping. Serve right away.

Notes

Nutrition Information: Per serving: 314 calories, 14 grams fat, 11 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams fiber, 32 grams protein
VARIATION You can substitute 1 pound boneless thighs or breast tenders for the bone-in chicken. Air fry the breaded pieces at 400°F for 15 minutes. Pair boneless fried chicken with Classic Coleslaw to make sandwiches on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.
NOTE You need to work quickly while making this recipe—if the pieces of breaded chicken are left to sit in the air frying basket for too long, they will be more likely to stick to it. For a completely foolproof, nonstick solution, you can line the air frying basket with parchment paper. This may result in some slightly soggy spots on the chicken, however. To help with this issue, you can line the basket with parchment, then use a bamboo skewer to poke lots of holes in the parchment in order to allow some airflow.

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