Lipsmacking and super flavorful, this lemon pepper chicken is super easy to make in the air fryer and is the perfect main for your meal. Keto friendly recipe with no breading or flour.
Chicken breasts make for the perfect healthy sides to any meals. This lemon pepper chicken is quick and easy to make and is delightfully tasty.
I like to marinate it for about an hour for the flavors to soak in. The chicken turns out moist and succulent.
You can use boneless breasts, tenders, cubes or even boneless thighs for this recipe.
You may also like Air fryer Teriyaki Chicken, frozen chicken patties in air fryer, Air fryer tandoori chicken and fried chicken drumsticks in air fryer.
FAQs
This generally happens when you overcook the chicken so that it gets tough and stringy. Always check the chicken for doneness. It should be moist inside and perfectly cooked.
You can flip the pieces for even cooking and browning during air frying.
Yes it is. This is because the usage of oil while air frying is quite low. Excess fat from the chicken drips down during the cooking hence leaving you with a leaner, crisper chicken.
Stepwise Pictures
Marinate chicken breast cubes in 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tsp pepper powder, 1 tsp. minced garlic, salt and 2 tbsp. olive oil for at least an hour.
This helps in the chicken absorbing the flavours well and also getting moist.
Preheat air fryer at 360 F or 180 C for 3 minutes.
Lay the marinated chicken pieces in the air fryer basket after shaking off excess marinade.
Air fry for 10-12 minutes till the chicken is well cooked, the juices run clear and the internal temperature of the thickest part is 165 F.
Take it out immediately after cooking so that the chicken does not keep cooking and turn dry.
Serve hot with pasta, rice or any side of your choice.
Here's the recipe card:
Air fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breast boneless cut into cubes or about 500 gm.
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. pepper powder
- 1 tsp. garlic minced
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Marinate chicken cubes in lemon juice, pepper powder, garlic and salt and mix well. Add 2 tbsp. olive oil to it too.
- You can do the marination in a ziplock bag as well.
- Let it marinate for an hour so that the flavors are soaked in. You can leave it overnight as well.
- Preheat air fryer at 360 F or 180 C for 3 minutes.
- Arrange the marinated chicken pieces on the air fryer basket after brushing or spraying lightly with oil.
- Make sure the pieces are not dripping wet when you put them for air frying. Lightly shake them to remove excess moisture.
- Air fry for about 10-12 minutes at 360 F or 180 C till the chicken is well cooked and the juices run clear.
- The time will be more if you are using whole breasts or thicken thigs or legs.
- You can use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of the thickest piece to be 165 F for it to be cooked.
- Don’t overcook the chicken. You will find the chicken becomes nice and crispy outside and is moist and succulent inside.
- Serve it hot with rice, pasta or a side of smashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables.
Notes
2. This recipe is nice and peppery. You can reduce the quantity of pepper used as per your taste.
3. Adding garlic to this chicken really elevates its punchy taste. But you can skip garlic if you wish to.
4. Some fat and juices will run down into the basket below. You could use these for a sauce or to spoon over the cooked chicken.
5. This is a keto friendly recipe. You can easily pair it with carbs like pasta or rice for a satisfying meal.
6. You can use whole chicken breasts boneless, chicken thighs, tenders for this recipe.
7. Take the chicken out immediately after air frying so that it does overcook and become dry.
8. You may flip the chicken pieces midway during air frying.
Nutrition
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