Air-Fryer Rooster Thighs Recipe

A crispy-skinned rooster thigh paired with a couple of sides—like a cucumber and tomato salad, steamed or air-fried broccoli, or mashed potatoes—is one in every of my favourite straightforward dinners. It’s easy and dependable, and one thing I can do with out a lot effort. There’s a purpose why many dwelling cooks, together with myself, flip to rooster thighs after they’re in the hunt for a zero-fuss meal: They’re juicy, flavorful, and inexpensive, to not point out extremely versatile. Win, win, win, win. I usually bake thighs, however now I’ve a good sooner, extra environment friendly strategy to prepare dinner them: the air fryer. As we have famous earlier than, the equipment is mainly a mini convection oven that circulates sizzling air to prepare dinner meals shortly and evenly.

As we identified in our recipe for primary air-fryer rooster breasts, the air-fryer is an undeniably fast and simple strategy to make rooster, however it’s not a on condition that that rooster will likely be juicy and flavorful. So we requested our take a look at kitchen colleague and veteran recipe developer Julia Levy to provide you with what we described as a primary methodology for air-fryer rooster thighs which can be ultra-tender and flavorful with splendidly crispy pores and skin. Via quite a few exams and tweaks, Levy did simply that. Learn on for the fundamental recipe, together with ideas for getting the moistest, most appetizing rooster within the air fryer. You’ll additionally discover  5 variations on the fundamental recipe, together with lemon-pepper, za’atar mint, chipotle-lime, and miso-ginger, which one in every of our testers described as having a “pretty caramelized crust that was simply on the sting of being burnt,” including, “It tasted like they simply got here off the grill, which is a taste that’s onerous to duplicate in an air fryer.”

3 Easy Ideas for the Greatest Air-Fryer Rooster Thighs

1. Select bone-in, skin-on thighs. Whereas boneless, skinless thighs do not dry out as simply as boneless, skinless breasts, we nonetheless suppose it is price choosing bone-in, skin-on right here for essentially the most succulent outcomes. Not solely will you get optimum juiciness, however you will additionally get superbly browned pores and skin that one in every of our recipe testers described as “past crispy.”
2. Dry-brine the thighs for juicier, extra flavorful meat. We’re longtime advocates for dry brining—this straightforward course of makes for a lot juicier, extra flavorful meat, and, in contrast to moist brining, you need not fuss with a container of liquid taking over house in your fridge. On this recipe, we name for merely rubbing the meat with a mix of kosher salt, pepper, and baking powder, then letting it sit for at least an hour (and as much as 24 hours) within the fridge.
3. Add some baking powder to the dry brine for crispy pores and skin. As we’ve famous earlier than (see Niki Achitoff-Grey’s article about crispy rooster and turkey pores and skin), baking powder is barely alkaline and raises the pH degree within the rooster pores and skin. This enables proteins to interrupt down extra effectively, resulting in crispier, evenly browned pores and skin. Achitoff-Grey notes that because the baking powder comes along with the chook’s pure juices, carbon dioxide gasses kind, producing “a layer of tiny bubbles” that “improve the pores and skin’s floor space, permitting it to develop a crunchy texture as soon as cooked.”