Fried Chicken Drumsticks in Air fryer

Name: Crispy Chicken Drumsticks in Air fryer
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 166 min
Ingredients: 1 lb. chicken drumsticks without skin (or 500 gm.); 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste (or minced ginger and garlic); 2 tbsp. Greek yogurt; salt to taste; 1 tsp. cayenne (or tabasco sauce as per the heat you like); ½ cup wholewheat flour (with salt and 1 tsp. pepper ); 2 eggs beaten; ½ cup cornflakes; ¾ cup breadcrumbs (or powdered oats for gluten free); 1 tsp. mixed herbs (dried oregano and basil); 1 tsp. cayenne (as per taste); salt

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I love these air fried chicken drumsticks. They are crispy outside and so very moist inside.

A great KFC copycat recipe where no oil is used in the recipe, a perfect appetizer. The use of yogurt or buttermilk in the marinade makes the chicken very tender.

Air fryer fried chicken is a revelation to make at home -- unbelievably juicy and crunchy. You would not be able to tell that it is not deep fried.

And now I make this regularly at home. If you are a fan of fried chicken then you have to try this recipe.

Here is the simple recipe:

Do follow my tips and instructions to the T for the perfect crunch.

Stepwise Pictures

Mix all marinade ingredients and marinate chicken drumsticks for 2-4 hours.

Assemble 3 shallow bowls -- ½ cup powdered cornflakes, ¾ cup breadcrumbs, mixed herbs, cayenne and salt in one bowl.

2 beaten eggs in second bowl and ½ cup wholewheat flour with salt and pepper in 3rd bowl.

For Air Frying

Preheat Air fryer at 160 C or 320 F for 6 minutes. Dunk marinated chicken drumsticks first in flour mix.

Dust off excess flour. Then dip in egg and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Repeat for all and keep aside.

Chicken drumsticks prepared and ready to go into Airfryer. Brush air fryer basket with oil.

Arrange the drumsticks and air fry at 160 C or 320 F for 15 minutes minutes. Turn them midway through the cook.

Now increase the temperature to 200 C or 390 F and cook further for 6 minutes for a golden crunch.

Take out and serve hot with dip or chutney.

If you liked this recipe, I request you to give a star * rating either on the recipe card or in the comments.

Do try this recipe and share with me if you make it.

FAQs

1. How to cook chicken in air fryer?

I regularly cook chicken in the air fryer. A combination of cooking at low heat and then cooking at high heat at the end yields excellent results. The chicken gets well cooked, stays moist inside and crisps up nicely outside. You really get wonderful fried results without actual frying.

2. Is air fried chicken healthier?

Air frying chicken helps in crisping up the chicken with a significant reduction in calories from oil. It is also healthier as it has none of the other adverse effects of deep frying.

3. Can you air fry chicken without oil?

Yes absolutely. You can try out my chicken tikka or tandoori chicken recipes where I have just used a yogurt marinade. It crisps up nicely even when air fried naked.

Here is the recipe card:

Crispy Chicken Drumsticks in Air fryer

Rachna Parmar

This is a truly delicious KFC copycat Air fryer fried chicken drumsticks recipe that is perfectly juicy and tasty. Perfect indulgent snack.

4.85 from 20 votes

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 16 mins

Marination time 2 hrs

Total Time 2 hrs 46 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Servings

Calories 376 kcal

Equipment

Philips Air fryer

Ingredients

1 lb. chicken drumsticks without skin or 500 gm.

For chicken marination

1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste or minced ginger and garlic
2 tbsp. Greek yogurt
salt to taste
1 tsp. cayenne or tabasco sauce as per the heat you like

For flour mixture

½ cup wholewheat flour with salt and 1 tsp. pepper
2 eggs beaten

For outer coating

½ cup cornflakes
¾ cup breadcrumbs or powdered oats for gluten free
1 tsp. mixed herbs dried oregano and basil
1 tsp. cayenne as per taste
salt

Instructions

To make the marinade, mix all the ingredients mentioned well. The marinade must be quite thick. Taste it to check for balance.
Make some gashes in the deep parts of the drumsticks and massage them well all over with the marinade.
Marinate them for 2-4 hours.
Now take 3 shallow plates. Take seasoned flour in one shallow plate, beaten eggs in second plate.
Take cornflakes in a ziplock bag and lightly crush with a rolling pin. I used Kellogg's plain cornflakes. Mix this with breadcrumbs. I make my own breadcrumbs by toasting 2 whole wheat bread slices and then making crumbs in a blender. Mix these two with mixed herbs (dried oregano and basil), cayenne and salt in third bowl
Keep these ready.

For Air frying

Preheat your Airfryer at 320 F or 160 C for 5 minutes. Brush the sides of the basket with oil.
To coat drumsticks -- Use one hand as it tends to get dirty when dipping the chicken. Take the marinated chicken drumsticks and dunk them well in seasoned flour so that they are coated well. Now dust them lightly to remove excess flour.
Next dip them in beaten egg mix. Your hands will get sticky now.
Take them and rub them in cornflakes and breadcrumbs mix to get a nice thick coating. Keep them aside.
Repeat this method till all drumsticks are ready coated.
Put them in your airfryer basket and put it in the airfryer. My entire batch fitted at one go. Otherwise you can airfry in two batches.
Airfry at 320 F or 160 C for 15 minutes. Open Airfryer half way at 8 minutes and turn the drumsticks once. Be careful while turning so as to not break the coating.
After 15 minutes increase the temperature to 390 F or 200 C and airfry for 6 minutes more to get a nice golden brown colour.
Your crispy Air fryer fried chicken drumsticks are ready to serve. Serve with onion rings, mint chutney, dip or good old ketchup. Enjoy it hot.

Notes

Serve hot with dip, ketchup or chutney.

This is a recipe I have perfected by multiple trial and errors so use it as it is. You can change the herbs/seasonings as per your taste.

If you don't have an airfryer, you could bake them in a conventional oven too.

The lower termperature - higher temperature combination while cooking helps in cooking the chicken perfectly keeping it moist inside and crunchy outside.

You could use only breadcrumbs too but using cornflakes makes it crunchier.

You can replicate the same recipe for chicken wings or chicken strips. Just modify the cooking time to adjust the kind of meat you are cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 376kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 29gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 187mgSodium: 329mgPotassium: 448mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1259IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 4mg

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Comments

Mayuri Nidigallu says

April 30, 2018 at 11:44 am

This made me salivate, Racha! I bet it tastes delicious too! Also using the airfryer means you’ve minus-ed a lot of calories! A winner of a recipe!

- Rachna says
  
  May 01, 2018 at 3:35 pm
  
  Thanks Mayuri. Yes, using the Airfryer is a godsend. Hope you try the recipe.
  
Claudia Lamascolo says

January 17, 2021 at 11:50 pm

Your photos were very helpful thank you for this step by step totally makes its so much easier!

- Rachna says
  
  January 18, 2021 at 12:01 pm
  
  Thanks Claudia. Glad you liked the stepwise instructions.
  
Alina says

January 18, 2021 at 12:37 am

Looks so crunchy and tasty! No need to go to fast food restaurant, if you have air fryer. I wonder what is the sauce that you served with drumsticks?

- Rachna says
  
  January 18, 2021 at 12:01 pm
  
  Thanks Alina. I really do make these very often at home. I served them with spicy mayo.
  
Deanne says

January 18, 2021 at 1:24 am

This looks super delicious!!

- Rachna says
  
  January 18, 2021 at 12:00 pm
  
  Thanks Deanne
  
Jere Cassidy says

January 18, 2021 at 2:02 am

This chicken looks so delicious. I have to get an air-fryer, I am pretty sure I am missing out on some good food

- Rachna says
  
  January 18, 2021 at 12:00 pm
  
  Thanks Jere. It really is so good in Air fryer and minus all those calories.
  
Kara says

January 18, 2021 at 2:09 am

Fried chicken is my weakness and now that I've read this, I'm going to be thinking about it all day! This looks amazing but I don't have an Air Fryer!! Can I follow the recipe and then just deep fry?

- Rachna says
  
  January 18, 2021 at 12:00 pm
  
  Sure Kara. It is the same recipe for air frying. You can bake in an oven as well if you have one.
  
Elizabeth says

June 07, 2021 at 5:57 am

Just made this tonight after finding the recipe 3 weeks ago! Best fried chicken I've ever cooked! So glad I found this recipe

- Rachna says
  
  June 07, 2021 at 11:50 am
  
  Thanks Elizabeth for your kind words. So glad that you liked it.