Pull those bone in, skin on chicken thighs out of the refrigerator and make these air fryer crispy chicken thighs tonight! In under 30 minutes you will have a delicious family friendly dinner.
Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
This is the perfect way to cook juicy chicken thighs for that extra crispy skin and no need to heat up the oven.
- Just 5 ingredients - chicken thighs, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and onions powder (plus salt and pepper but those don't count!)
- Cooks quickly thanks to the air fryer - These take about 25 minutes in the air fryer...which is great!
- No splatter on the stove top!
Personally, I think the air fryer is the best invention besides a home coffee maker. I use mine just about everyday!
I love to make burgers, pork tenderloin, crispy pork chops, and even crispy Brussels sprouts.
My method for crispy chicken thigh skin
I start by pre-heating the air fryer before I spray with avocado oil cooking spray. I do this only when I want my food to be really crispy.
I make sure the chicken thighs are patted dry with a paper towel and any excess skin is cut away.
Then I mix the chicken thighs with all of the seasonings.
Now we can place the chicken thighs in the preheated air fryer basket in a single layer skin side down.
I do this so the skin can start to render the fat without browning the skin too much. It gives the best results!
I also do this with my Air fryer whole chicken recipe.
My Air fryer has a 6 quart basket so 4 bone-in chicken thighs fit perfectly.
If your air fryer is smaller you would need to cook these in batches.
After the bone-in thighs cook skin side down, we can flip them over and continue to cook them until the skin is nice and crispy and the internal temperature is 165F using an instant read thermometer.
The result is the juiciest chicken with the crispiest skin.
Making this a complete meal
I like to serve these air fryer chicken thighs with cauliflower Mac and cheese, keto green beans with bacon, or a broccoli salad.
Air Fryer Chicken Thighs - Super Crispy!
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Ingredients
- 4 Bone in, skin on chicken thighs,, trimed of excess fat and skin
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 380F for 5 minutes. After pre-heating, spray with cooking spray, if desired.
- Add the chicken thighs to a large zip-top bag or a bowl with a lid. Top with the kosher salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano and onion powder. Shake to coat.
- Remove from the bag and place the chicken thighs in the air fryer, skin side down, for 12 minutes.
- Turn your chicken thighs skin side up and cook for 10-15 minutes more. If you would like your chicken thighs super crispy. Cook for 4 minutes increments to get your desired crispness.
- The crispy air fryer chicken thighs are done when an internal meat thermometer reads 165F inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken thighs and the wattage of your air fryer. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy only. Please re-calculate on your own with the ingredients and amounts you used for the most accurate data.
Suz says
Super easy, REALLY crispy (succulent meat), and very tasty. I make enough for 2 people for 2 nights. I change up din din by having various veggies or salads with it. Why didn’t I think this up?? I’m very grateful for this recipe!! Tonight will be our third time!! Once it’s second nature then I’ll start changing some spices around.
Ronda Lee says
Cooked tonight the thighs in your recipe using the seasoning in the recipe. I just bought a new range with air fry. It was really good. I will cook these instead of fried chicken.
JB says
So much flavor, super easy and crispy!
Jenny says
Really tasty. I added more of the seasonings and used sweet paprika. The skin was in indeed crispy but the meat stayed tender.
Kate says
These thighs were delicious. Even my husband, who typically doesn’t like chicken thighs, really enjoyed them.
Floyd Warmsley III says
It amazes me how easy it is to cook with the air fryer. Thank you for the recipe. I really enjoyed the chicken thighs.
Melissa says
Made this tonight for supper and ohhh man so delicious and crispy. This will be my go to recipe now. Thank you.
Bill Almstead says
Great recipe! Awesome flavor! I simply added a half teaspoon of black pepper to this recipe to give it a little more kick. 🍗😋
C.Samp says
GREAT recipe! Simple and tasty. I have never liked thighs much, but grocery prices now have lead me to the thigh value packs! Key for me in this recipe is trimming the intramuscular fat and extra skin super well so that I can just eat the thigh straight up without running into big globs of fat/gristle. And the skin really does render well so it's crisp and I can take a bite or two of it. Seasonings are nice and basic. I also love subbing them with Old Bay - quick, easy and so tasty! Thanks much for this recipe!
MELISSA says
It's not her recipe. The recipe was stolen from http://www.skinnytaste.com!
Jennifer Banz says
Um no, I posted my recipe over 2 years before her. https://web.archive.org/web/20200812100048/https://jenniferbanz.com/air-fryer-chicken-thighs
Ryan says
Awesome seasoning, yummy 😋
Pat G says
Best ever, moist, crispy, perfect seasoning.
Patricia Williams says
No leftovers...compliments from my 17-year-old son!
Elizabeth Guill says
Chicken was delicious. But the smoke alarm went off!!! House smells bad
Shane says
If you had to make more than 4 at a time you have to change out the oil each time or it will start smoking.
I myself will add a little more oil each time while cooking batches of something to save time.
It's not recommended to do this but it doesn't smoke.
Eileen Ross says
Try putting some water under basket. It will eliminate a lot of smoke. I do this with steaks.
Lynn says
This was my first air fryer success! I had a "picnic pack" of chicken - 4 legs and 4 thighs or so, so I made 2 batches of mixed sizes. We ate one while the other cooked. . . I substituted the regular paprika for the smoked (can't stand smoked paprika). . . I also gave it a few more minutes to make sure it was done. So good! And, much to my surprise, the fryer wasn't too hard to clean (at least the part you can see). . . I used Melaleuka Tough and Tender and a scratchy pad. . . no problem.
Mavis says
Great Recipe! I usually don't leave comments, but I thought that I should for this recipe. I had 4 chicken thighs and followed your recipe in the air fryer. Thanks for a delicious and easy recipe.
Virgi says
I will be trying this recipe. I’m new to air frying.