Air fryer whole chicken

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Whether it is because illness has hit, we fancy a nice roast dinner or I’m meal prepping for the days ahead I love to make an air fryer whole chicken.

In an hour maximum I can cook a succulent, tender chicken, of any size, and then I can break it down for family meals, sandwiches, serve it as part of a tasty roast or even freeze it in individual portions for simple lunches.

This whole chicken takes just a few minutes to prepare, has enough juices for the start of a succulent chicken gravy and you can even place some vegetables or potatoes in the pot during the cooking time to serve a complete meal.

I love to make air fryer chicken recipes as they’re a great way to have fast dinners or even sandwich fillers.

I love to use leftover roast chicken in these leftover sausage rolls. A great way to make an additional main dish to a family meal with just a little bit of meat.

Ingredients for air fryer whole chicken:

1 whole chicken (Mine was 1.5kg but whatever size you get just make sure it will fit into your air fryer basket)

15ml olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon each of sage, thyme, paprika

1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper

Method for cooking a roast chicken in the air fryer:

Crush the garlic cloves.

Mix together the oil with the sage, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper.

Reserve a small amount of this oil mix in a separate bowl for later (1/3 will be sufficient).

Dress your chicken with the rest of the oil herb mix.

If you have an *air fryer sling then this is a great time to use this. Has to be one of my favourite Ninja Foodi accessories.

Place chicken, breast side down, in your air fryer basket.

Cook at 180C (355F approx) for 40 minutes.

Turn your chicken over, baste with the remaining oil herb mix.

Cook breast side up, at 180C (355F approx) for 15-20 minutes. Check at least once during this cooking time to ensure that the skin is not burning or going too crisp.

Check that the internal cooking temperature has reached at least 75C (165F approx). I love a *meat thermometer to check this.

Serve and enjoy.

How to air fry a whole chicken in any air fryer:

All of my air fryer recipes on this website are Ninja air fryer recipes. They ARE perfect for cooking in just about any air fryer but I’ve made them in my Ninja Foodi OL750UK.

Want to cook potatoes or vegetables with your chicken?

I’ve got a TON of air fryer cooking times for things like air fryer roast potatoes, air fryer green beans, air fryer carrots and parsnips, air fryer stuffing balls and more. You can just add these in near the end of the cooking time, based on how long they take to cook.

As a rough guide I’d add roast potatoes for about 30 minutes and vegetables vary from 5 – 20 minutes.

Does your chicken have stuffing in?

The cooking times should be the same for a bird with stuffing in, though you may want to cover the skin near the end of the cooking time, just because it will be a little thinner where the stuffing has been added.

Breast up or down?

Personally I like to cook this whole chicken breast down, and then flip it near the end of the cooking time. I feel this works best for this recipe as it helps to keep all of the moisture in and stop the breasts from drying out.

Want to brine your chicken first?

You absolutely can brine your chicken first if you want it to be extra tender and delicious. I have found this chicken brine recipe to be a winner!

Want to make a delicious gravy alongside this chicken?

You won’t get as much juice from this chicken as you will a slow cooker whole chicken, but you can absolutely use this as the start of a chicken gravy. I’m a beef gravy fan myself mostly, but this is tasty too!

Add two tablespoons of chicken juices to a pan, add two tablespoons of plain flour. Mix well and cook off for a minute or two.

Crumble in one chicken stock cube.

Gradually add the rest of the chicken juices, topping up with water if required to make a delicious rich chicken gravy.

Simmer until it thickens up.

Fancy trying a different seasoning on the outside of your chicken?

Personally I love to add one of my seasoning blends to a chicken. Fajita seasoning, peri peri seasoning, cajun seasoning or my Mexican spice blend all add lots of flavour and go great alongside air fryer chips and air fryer corn on the cob for a simple dinner.

While you’re here why not check out some of my other air fryer chicken recipes?

• Chicken nachos in the air fryer
• Air fryer chicken fajitas recipe or Ninja Foodi chicken fajitas
• Chicken wings in the air fryer
• Air fryer frozen chicken fries
• Frozen chicken nuggets in the air fryer
• Air fryer rosemary chicken breast
• BBQ chicken breast in the air fryer
• Air fryer hunters chicken
• Peri peri chicken in the air fryer
• Air fryer cajun chicken
• Tikka chicken breast in the air fryer

How to make a whole chicken in the air fryer:

Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.

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