Perfect Gluten-Free Fried Chicken Made in the Air Fryer! (2024)

FAQs

Why isn t my chicken getting crispy in the air fryer? ›

Dry the outside of the food properly before you add oil. Do not use too much oil, as this will make the food less crispy and more fattening. Meat or poultry can be lightly brushed with oil or marinated to get the crispiest results.

Air fryers work by circulating hot air around the food being “fried.” The fan motion that circulates air could blow particles of previously cooked, gluten-containing food onto gluten-free food being cooked. Don't use the same air fryer for gluten-free and gluten-containing cooking.

I use my air fryer every day and have done so many things. Some of the best things it does is cook anything that is breaded. I love chicken (any cut) and pork chops done that way.

It should work. The one exception might be if you like a very thick breading on your fried chicken. If you double dip your chicken in flour for the coating, it's going to be hard to hydrate all that flour in an air fryer, and you'll almost certainly end up with floury spots that haven't really cooked.

While the need for oil in air frying is not as great as when using an oven or frying something on a pan, a small amount of oil can go a long way in keeping your food moist and providing that golden brown color.

If You're Given the Green Light to Cook

When you're eating gluten-free, you must avoid the grains wheat, barley, rye, and most oats. This is tricky because these grains and ingredients made from them are included in many packaged products.

While simply touching gluten will not harm an individual with celiac disease, there can be a risk of ingesting airborne gluten, which is usually caused by flour.

Avoid placing wet batter in the air fryer. It'll create a mess, and wet batter won't set the way it does when it's submerged in oil, meaning the food won't have that crunchy shell. If you'd like to add a little crispiness and get your food perfectly golden every time, coat it in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs.

What kind of batter can you use in an air fryer? ›

To pull this off without a vat of boiling-hot oil, I decided to try a blend of flour, cornstarch, oil, and water to mimic the shell that forms when you batter and deep-fry vegetables. An equal amount of all-purpose flour and cornstarch provides both structure and crunch to the batter.

(The reason you allow it to sit, is because Flour is very dry. Dry ingredients do not brown in the air fryer, so without some sort of moisture, the Flour will not brown and you will get powdered Chicken.) If there are any dry patches of Flour, use the Olive Oil Sprayer or Olive Oil Pam, and lightly spray the Flour.

Use a Small Amount of Oil

One thing you should do both for crispy texture and to prevent sticking is use a small amount of oil. Cooking without any oil whatsoever may sound appealing, but fat promotes browning and can help food crisp up.

Mixing corn starch into your seasoning is the key, because corn starch coats the wings easily and absorbs any excess moisture– making the crispiest chicken wings you've ever had. Then the air fryer does the rest of the work!

Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and let the fried chicken come to room temperature. Next, arrange the fried chicken in a single layer and cook it for about four minutes, flipping it once to ensure even cooking. Resist the urge to pile up fried chicken in the basket.

The #1 tip for the best chicken breasts in an air fryer is: Don't overcook them! Chicken breasts should be cooked to 160°F, but if you cook them all the way to that temperature in the air fryer, carryover cooking will take them beyond that temp and cause them to dry out.

Chicken skin needs to be dry in order for it to crisp when cooked. Whether or not you rinse the chicken before prepping, you need to make sure the skin is as dry as possible. After removing the chicken from the package (and washing it, if that is your preferred method) pat each piece dry with paper towels.