These are the best air fryer chicken legs around. If you want a crispy skin with juicy chicken, this will be your new go-to recipe with my secret trick!
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Air Fryer Chicken Legs Recipe
Here’s a huge tip on getting crispy skin on air fryer chicken legs, and it’s really easy. Just preheat your air fryer! Preheating will give your chicken a longer cooking time in high heat to achieve a crispy skin while still keeping the meat nice and juicy.
If you forget to preheat, the chicken legs will be done cooking before the skin can get crispy, resulting in a non-crispy skin or overcooked chicken.
It’s such a simple step, but makes a huge difference!
Plus, I have 3 more simple tips to make the juiciest and crispiest chicken legs you’ve ever had, and it only takes 15 minutes!
What You Need to Know When Making Air Fried Chicken Legs
- The ingredients you’ll need to make chicken legs at home.
- What temperature to cook the chicken at and what their internal temp should be so that they are safe to eat.
- Answers to frequently asked questions, like how long to cook chicken legs in the air fryer.
Chicken drumsticks are so easy to make, you won’t believe how little you’ll need to make a tasty and satisfying meal. The combination of savory spices and a bit of brown sugar are the perfect blend of flavors!
Air Fried Chicken Legs ingredients
- Chicken legs — about 2 pounds
- Salt
- Oregano
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Brown sugar
- Black pepper
- Olive oil
How to Air Fry Chicken Legs
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
STEP ONE: Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees F and mix together the paprika, salt, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, and black pepper in a small bowl. Add a bit of cayenne pepper if you like spicy food.
STEP TWO: Place the chicken drumsticks into a large bowl and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture on top, then toss to coat completely.
STEP THREE: Add the chicken to your air fryer basket, being careful to arrange them in a single layer. It’s important not to crowd them — you can always cook your air fryer drumsticks in two batches if you have to.
STEP FOUR: Air fry for 15 minutes, making sure to flip the drumsticks halfway through. Serve immediately with your favorite sides!
How long to Air Fry Chicken Legs?
You shouldn’t have to cook your chicken drumsticks in the air fryer for much more than 15 minutes. Remember that the chicken legs’ temperature needs to be 165 degrees F in order for them to be safe to eat. You can test this with a food-safe thermometer.
What to serve with Air Fryer Chicken Legs
- Air Fryer Stuffed Mushrooms
- Air Fryer Cornbread
- Air Fryer Garlic Bread
- Air Fryer Green Beans
- Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Chicken Legs Air Fryer FAQs
Absolutely! You don’t have to worry about precooking your chicken drumsticks. You won’t want to skip out on the oil or the seasonings, as this ensures crispy and crunchy results. When you cook chicken drumsticks in the air fryer, they’ll be perfectly juicy on the inside too.
In my opinion, you shouldn’t stack your chicken legs. I get the best results when I line them up in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
Remember that you can always cook your chicken legs in batches if you’re working with many. It’s better to take the extra time since they won’t cook properly if you crowd them.
It depends on how big the pieces are. Again, be careful to arrange your air fryer drumsticks in a single layer. This will ensure that they cook evenly. Your air fryer chicken legs temperature needs to be 165 degrees F, and to achieve this, you shouldn’t overcrowd the basket.
Yes, you can put aluminum foil under the chicken for better cleanup, but it can prevent the air from circulating in the air fryer to get that nice, crispy skin.
Yes, you can use parchment rounds with holes specially made for an air fryer under the chicken legs to help with clean up.
I don’t recommend using normal parchment paper as it can decrease the airflow in the air fryer.
Other Air Fryer Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
- Air Fryer Bone in Chicken Breasts
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
- Air Fryer Frozen Chicken
- Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings
- Air Fryer Whole Chicken
- Air Fryer Boneless Chicken Breast
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Chicken Parm
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
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Air Fryer Chicken Legs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 lbs chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400F.
- In a small bowl, stir together the paprika, salt, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, and black pepper to make the seasoning.
- Add chicken drumsticks to a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with seasoning, and toss to coat.
- Place chicken drumsticks in a single layer in the preheated air fryer basket.
- Air fry for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until cooked to 165 F.
- Serve immediately.
I’m trying this tonight! The chicken really looks delicious! Thank you!
Can you make this using the steam and crisp function?
Hi Karen, I have not personally tried this function, but it may work. I would love to hear your experience if you decide to try it.