Air fryer roast chicken
By:
Tom Shingler
Head of food, delicious.
- Published: 9 Jan 23
- Updated: 25 Mar 24
Wondering how to roast a chicken in an air fryer? We know it sounds mad, but it’s true – you can air fry an entire chicken! The results are surprisingly good; super-crisp golden skin and, because of the way an air fryer works, the meat underneath remains super juicy. Perfect if you are running low on oven space or worry about dry, overcooked chicken.
New to air frying? Check out our collection of air fryer recipes.
Before you start
Roasting a chicken breast-side down at first helps stop the breasts drying out before the thighs are fully cooked. It’s a neat trick whether you’re airfrying or not.
Make sure every nook and cranny is coated in oil before you cook your chicken – any part of the chicken that isn’t oiled won’t crisp up.
The garlic, thyme and lemon aren’t necessary, but they are classic flavours for roast chicken and the moisture from the lemon will help stop the meat from drying out.
Ingredients
- 1 medium free-range chicken (approx. 1.3kg)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, bashed but with skins left on
- ½ bunch thyme
- 1 lemon
Method
- Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking so it loses its chill slightly. Season liberally with salt and pepper inside and out, then rub the outside of the bird with the oil, ensuring it is completely coated.
- Put the garlic and most of the thyme inside the cavity. Pierce the lemon a few times with a fork, then put this inside the cavity too (if it’s too large to fit, halve it).
- Heat the air fryer to 190°C. Put the chicken breast-side down in the basket (see tips), then cook for 55 minutes, turning it over after 30 minutes. Decorate with the remaining thyme and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
- Recipe from January 2023 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 219kcals
- Fat
- 9.9g (2.3g saturated)
- Protein
- 32.2g
- Carbohydrates
- 0.3g (trace sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.1g
- Salt
- 0.3g
delicious. tips
Make sure your air fryer is large enough to fit your chicken in! We used a 4.2 litre air fryer, which was just big enough to fit a 1.3kg chicken (with a bit of encouragement). If you find your chicken is a bit too big, try cutting off the legs and nestling them alongside the body instead.
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I bought a new air fryer (Instant Pot Vortex Slim reviewed in Delicious!) and cooked a 1.4 kg chicken, the timings were perfect. The meat was so moist and still moist for lunches the next day. I’ll definitely cook a chicken this way again!
This is so great to hear Lynn! We are so pleased you enjoyed the recipe.
I used this recipe yesterday to cook a 1.9kg chicken (Sainsburys large chicken size).
It took 40minutes breast side down and 20 minutes breast side up. The chicken was moist, the skin crispy and the legs had not dried out.
I will definitely cook my chicken like this again
Good to hear you enjoyed your air fryer roast chicken!