Affiliate links in this post will be clearly marked with a *. Clicking one of these links means I earn a discount or receive payment.
We absolutely love hunters chicken in our family. It’s super simple to cook, the chicken stays juicy and succulent and a layer of bacon and cheese almost always makes for a super tasty, delicious meal! I’ve shared slow cooker hunters chicken, and Ninja Foodi hunters chicken in the past and now this is my air fryer hunters chicken recipe.
If you’re a big fan of using the air fryer, as I am, be sure to check out my air fryer tips and tricks. 20+ fantastic ways to make the most out of your air fryer and save time and effort too.
I love to make easy delicious dinner recipes in my air fryer, and while I typically make a lot of dry foods in the air fryer from time to time I like to mix it up with a nice sauce based dish.
This recipe I made using my homemade brown sugar BBQ sauce, but you can use shop bought with similar results I’m sure! If you want to make something a little different be sure to check out my air fryer BBQ chicken breast or this air fryer chicken parmesan.
I use chicken breasts for this recipe but if you want something a little more flavoursome then you could use chicken thighs instead. If you’re looking for something a little different then this german schnitzel is perfect!
Be sure to check out my other air fryer chicken recipes while you’re here.
Also, hunters chicken is commonly known as a couple of other things, such as chicken cacciatore or chasseur, depending on what you Google, although I know these to be slightly different dishes made with wine, stock and other lovely ingredients such as tomatoes or mushrooms.
Just to avoid confusion I am talking about chicken breasts, streaky bacon, grated cheese and delicious bbq sauce. This is my own recipe and it is the same as the hunters chicken you will find in pubs.
If you’re looking for some inspiration for other air fryer recipes then be sure to check out my what can you cook in an air fryer post. This post is full of great ideas for simple air fryer meals, snacks and side dishes, many of which are low cost too!
Air fryer hunters chicken ingredients:
Spray oil (I use olive oil but this isn’t always advised for air fryers)
2 Chicken breasts
4 pieces of smoked streaky bacon
40g grated cheddar or mozzarella / cheddar mix
50ml BBQ sauce
Salt and pepper
Method for cooking hunters chicken in the air fryer:
Season your chicken breasts well.
Lightly spray the chicken breasts with a little oil.
Cook at 200C for 10 minutes.
Wrap each chicken breast with two pieces of the streaky bacon. I like to ensure that the ends of the bacon are underneath the chicken breasts, ready for when I place them back in to the air fryer basket. I use tongs for this part!
Cook at 200C for 6 minutes.
Spread on the BBQ sauce and add the grated cheddar carefully. I like to press down slightly so it stays on top of the breast.
Cook at 200C for another 4-5 minutes.
Check the temperature of your air fryer hunters chicken before serving, to ensure it is a minimum of 74C/165F internally.
Enjoy!
What to serve with air fryer hunters chicken:
I’ve got a whole host of amazing recipes. On this occasion I went for air fryer hasselback potatoes and air fryer green beans. If you’re looking for something different be sure to check out this post which has 25+ great side dishes including mashed potatoes, vegetables and much more:
What is the best cheese to use for hunters chicken?
Personally I love to use a mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. This melts, to give a lovely golden top, but gives a great stretch pull apart when you cut into the chicken too.
Cheddar alone works well, particularly strong cheddar, and a little really goes a long way with this dish!
Can you use homemade BBQ sauce for hunters chicken?
Absolutely! I do! You can also use shop bought BBQ sauce with no problems at all. You don’t need to change any of the cooking timings or methods and this is a great way to save yourself a little time and effort. Also, shop bought BBQ sauce tends to last for weeks once opened and as you only need a little bit for this recipe it’s a great way to be frugal.
How to make hunters chicken sauce:
This is a BBQ sauce, I use my own homemade recipe, but you can either buy a jar of sauce specifically for hunters chicken in UK supermarkets or you can just buy a ready made bottle of sauce. I find the squeezy bottles work well for this recipe!
What to do with leftover hunters chicken?
We don’t usually have leftovers in our home for this dish, as we just cook the correct portion size, but if you’ve got leftovers then I hear a hunters chicken lasagne is absolutely amazing!
You could also use leftovers like you would any other chicken dish; in a wrap, panini (we often have leftover from when I make air fryer tuna panini), soft white roll, or for a toasted sandwich. You could even make a hunters chicken pasta dish which would be packed full of flavour and a great way to cut food waste.
Want to try hunters chicken with another meat?
Steak would work well for this, with adjustments to the cooking time (down). I have also made this with Quorn fillets in the past, with facon instead of bacon, and it works pretty well! Make sure to adjust the cooking time though and keep a close eye on it to prevent drying out or even burning.
Can you freeze this hunters chicken?
Absolutely you can! It is SO simple! You could cook this, and then freeze it and defrost before re-heating thoroughly. Alternatively you could freeze the components in a bag together, defrost in the fridge for 12 hours minimum, and then cook as per the recipe.
What types of chicken can you use for hunters chicken?
Chicken breasts work great but really you could use any type of chicken. Boneless and skinless would be my preferred choice, just because it would be a little trickier to eat otherwise, and chicken thighs would bring some extra flavour to this dish, though I know some people are fussy about using those!
Something to note about air fryer recipes is that all air fryers have different sizes, depths and as such the cooking times can vary. All air fryer recipes on this website are intended as a guide, and not a guarantee that the timings will be perfect. Enjoy!
How to make air fried hunters chicken:
Air fryer hunters chicken
Smoky bbq sauce and cheese topped hunters chicken cooked in the air fryer
Ingredients
- Spray oil
- 2 Chicken breasts
- 4 pieces of smoked streaky bacon
- 40 g grated cheddar or mozzarella / cheddar mix
- 50 ml BBQ sauce
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
-
Season your chicken breasts well.
-
Lightly spray the chicken breasts with a little oil.
-
Cook at 200C for 10 minutes.
-
Wrap each chicken breast with two pieces of the streaky bacon. I like to ensure that the ends of the bacon are underneath the chicken breasts, ready for when I place them back in to the air fryer basket. I use tongs for this part!
-
Cook at 200C for 6 minutes.
-
Spread on the BBQ sauce and add the grated cheddar carefully. I like to press down slightly so it stays on top of the breast.
-
Cook at 200C for another 4-5 minutes.
-
Check the temperature of your air fryer hunters chicken before serving, to ensure it is a minimum of 74C/165F internally.
-
Enjoy!
Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.
If you enjoyed this post I’d love it if you could pin it on Pinterest!
