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It echoes around the family gatherings, or at least at every single one of mine. “Did you try it yet?” The “it” might vary—a toaster that cooks pork chops, a fat-draining grill, a panini press, or, if you’re like me, an air fryer. I’d heard the street rave and picked my first one up, smartly threw out the directions, and felt genuine shock when it didn’t deliver crisp, perfect dishes of its own volition. I’d buried my hope and offered the initial fryer to my more-patient neighbors. But then it came in the mail: a photo of a second, unsolicited air fryer. Some well-intentioned relatives had ordered me a new air fryer and had sent me a photo of it as a sneak peek.
Then, last year, I finally tried it. I’d just gotten back from visiting the very same relatives who had sent the photo of the gift with the gift on its heels. They had cooked me chicken wings in their own air fryer, tossed in butter, garlic, and Parmesan, and baked and crisped perfectly. And when I tried my own wings at home, the air fryer delivered the same perfect result—though in my case I went for the classic butter and Frank’s RedHot combo.
Weeks later, with a cadre of dinner guests approaching and an hour to spare, it was time to improvise. I had the gift—a Power XL 5-Quart air fryer. And I had the chicken, a standard whole fryer—about four pounds. With no wings on hand, I had to fry on the fly, keeping the temperature from my chicken wing success, and updating the bird’s cook time, as well as how often it’s turned. Unlike most birds I’d flipped in my life, this one was flipped twice to ensure that all sides were browned and crisp.
I threw on a quick Italian seasoning blend I had in the pantry as a rub. While I generally like to use a blend from a family-favorite shop in Scranton, when I run out my go-to might surprise you: the Good Seasons Zesty Italian salad dressing seasoning mix, which I always keep on hand as my secret weapon when I’m out of the hometown Italian blend. Each packet delivers a balance of salt, sugar, garlic, onion, and just a touch of lift from citric acid—no need to measure or stress.
And then? Go time with no time. Did I remember to preheat the air fryer when I first cooked this for friends? Of course not. But after 25 minutes breast up at 350°, and then 20 minutes breast down at 350°, I hit it with 5 minutes at 400°, and as guests crossed the threshold—a juicy, whole chicken with crackling skin was air-fried and ready. The fattiness of the bird’s intense, crunchy skin was uplifted by the bright salinity and tanginess of the seasoning mix.
That was the hustle version—and it was a knockout. But in the afterglow I realized that in a moment not tinged with a host’s panic, the results could be even better. I’d seen what the air fryer could do with the right time and temperature. It was a reliable ally in the clinch. And out of the clinch, with the smallest bit of forethought, it would turn out to be a true home run.
The best way to air-fry a whole chicken
These days my standard prep is highly adaptable, versatile, and still easy to finish in between work or whatever the day brings. A day before I roast the chicken, I take a few minutes to apply a dry brine—just a couple tablespoons of salt, nothing more, spread directly on the fresh or thawed bird. Until the next day, that’s all. I wait, with the dry brined bird in the refrigerator, uncovered, and let the salt do its work. During a dry brine, liquid is first pulled out of the meat by the salt on its exterior. Then the salt dissolves into the liquid and is reabsorbed back into the bird. This ensures that salt penetrates deeper into the meat, seasoning more completely. Don’t have time for this? That’s fine. Dry-brining is a bonus but by no means a necessity. Salt can easily be added right before the cook along with the rest of your rub. I use coarse salt, but the salt of your choice will be just fine.
Once the day has passed, I pull the bird and preheat the air fryer by running it for 5 to 10 minutes at 350°. While that’s heating I’ll add two or three tablespoons of the seasoning rub of choice to the bird. And that absolutely doesn’t need to be an Italian blend—I’ve done an orange pepper rub, a cilantro lime and garlic rub, and even a mushroom umami rub. A coffee barbecue seasoning combining four teaspoons of your favorite barbecue rub with two teaspoons of instant coffee is also killer. And don’t forget! The classics always work—salt, black pepper, and garlic powder will always deliver a delicious chicken.
Once the air fryer’s preheated, I spray the basket with a neutral oil that has a high smoke point. My favorite is avocado oil, but canola oil will work great too, as will grapeseed oil. Avoid olive oil here—it burns easily, resulting in a smoky kitchen and off flavors in the chicken. Then the bird goes in, just like before. 20 minutes breast up at 350°. Flip to breast down for 20 minutes at 350°, and flip again, breast up, for a final crisp at 400° for 5 to 15 minutes more, until the interior of the thigh (use a thermometer!) hits 165°. That's it. That's the recipe.
While the chicken cooks, this is the time to prep your sides—for me, I will usually pair the chicken with a vegetable of some sort. This could be rubbed kale, a Caprese salad, or a gazpacho in the summer. In the fall it’s all about roasted root vegetables for me: parsnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Once the skin’s looking browned and crisp (it’ll usually make a nice crunch noise when tapped with a knife), I’ll transfer the bird to a cooling rack, let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes while I finish up my sides, and then carve.
Now, after our long standoff on the counter, the air fryer is my kitchen go-to. It’s all about utility and necessity. With my work as a freelance writer, my days tend to keep me in my home office and on calls with publishers or collaborators. So it’s great to have recipes I can set and semi-forget, checking in once in a while in between benchmarks or meetings.
Once you get a feel for your own air fryer, it’s easy to tweak and improvise. Most fryer chickens will fit in a five-quart-size air fryer, but if your bird’s scraping the upper edge of the portal when it goes in, it’s likely too big and might burn a bit on the top, being close to the coils. If you’ve got a machine that’s smaller than five quarts, a classic fryer might not fit, but a Cornish hen certainly would.
As you build your relationship with your own air fryer, you’ll find yourself, like me, limited only by your imagination as far as flavor goes. The air fryer is the last-minute cook’s best friend—the perfect sidekick for anyone looking to wow friends at a party or dinner. It’s the key to your centerpiece dish, one that frees you up to work on your sides (glass of wine optional, of course), or just relax in what could be an otherwise stressful situation. I know when my friends crashed my house, they thought I’d been tending and guiding that chicken to perfection all day, and who was I to argue?
