Ninja Foodi BBQ chicken breast
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I absolutely LOVE my Ninja Foodi 15-in-1. It is a real beast. A power horse! There are so many amazing features, and I love to use them all! My favourite feature, of my Ninja Foodi multi-cooker, has to be the air fryer / air crisp function. I love to use it to make this Ninja Foodi BBQ chicken breast, which is perfect for lunches, dinner and much more.
Ninja Foodis have really grown in popularity in recent years. They are frequently out of stock, such is their popularity, and I personally am on my second model now. I upgraded from the 9-in-1 to the 15-in-1, to make sure that I had all of the available features to make delicious meals with.
As busy working parents my husband and I love to meal plan, meal prep in advance, and often I'll cook up a batch of chicken breast so I have lots on hand for simple meals and snacks.
On the days where my husband is working 12 hours I like to batch prepare 2-3 days lunches. This means we can make healthy decisions, and at 5:30am when he is packing for work he can just grab a tasty lunch from the fridge.
This BBQ chicken breast recipe is so simple to follow, add a few herbs and seasonings, cook a little, marinade with a lovely sauce, and then cook some more. That is all you need to do to be able to enjoy a tender, succulent, juicy BBQ chicken breast, with very minimal effort.
This chicken works great in salads and sandwiches. I also love to serve with Ninja Foodi white rice, or Ninja Foodi roast potatoes, as well as air fryer green beans. We can have a tasty, healthy meal in next to no time at all - and with very minimal effort.
Be sure to check out my Ninja air fryer recipes while you're here!
Ingredients for Ninja Foodi bbq chicken breast
1 boneless skinless chicken breast per person (I cooked 3 for this recipe)
Spray oil
Salt and ground black pepper
Smoked paprika
Garlic salt or garlic powder
80ml BBQ sauce
How to make the Ninja Foodi BBQ chicken breast:
Once your chicken breasts are prepared, and any fatty parts removed, you'll want to spray them with spray oil.
Sprinkle over the garlic salt, smoked paprika, and season well with salt and pepper.
Rub the chicken breasts to ensure they are all coated sufficiently.
Place the chicken breast into the Ninja Foodi crisper basket.
Air fry for 10 minutes at 180C (360F approximately).
Turn the chicken breasts over and place back into the crisper basket.
Air fry for a further 8 minutes, again at 180C (360F approximately).
Add the barbecue sauce. I brush mine on using a *silicone pastry brush, to give it a great level of coverage. You can just spoon or pour it on if you want to save some time.
Air fry for 2 more minutes at 180C (360F approximately).
Once the cooking time is up check the chicken breast, in the thickest part, has reached a minimum internal temperature of 74C (165F approximately) and then serve.
If you like you can rest for 5 minutes before you slice and serve. When I'm low on energy or short on time I will serve these up whole alongside the rest of my dinner.
What to serve with Ninja Foodi BBQ chicken breast?
I personally love anything that is also cooked in the air fryer! When I want something a little different I go for OXO roast potatoes, or Marmite roast potatoes. Air fryer stuffing balls are a nice alternative dish - check out my air fryer side dishes if you want some more inspiration.
Bacon mac and cheese pasta bake or air fryer pasta bake would make an absolutely delicious side to serve too, as would homemade garlic bread made with my own cheap and easy garlic butter.
Want to add some vegetables in while cooking?
You’ll want to add more vegetables at least ½ way through the cooking time, if not ⅔ of the way through, to avoid burning. I love to add peppers, onions, garlic cloves, green beans, broccolini, carrots or courgettes. All work really well and bring some extra flavour to the dish.
Looking to try this recipe with a different cut of chicken?
ANY type of chicken will work well for this. If you're using chicken with a bone in, such as wings, drumsticks or legs, then you may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time, to ensure a safe internal cooking temperature.
I love to use skinless chicken breasts when I'm going to enjoy grilled chicken breasts. They work great for air frying too. If you don't have an air fryer then you can grill chicken breast instead.
Using a meat thermometer when serving chicken, and other meat, to your family is a great way to ensure everyone stays healthy!
Frozen chicken can be used for this recipe too, however, once again you'll need to add some cooking time. I've made this with frozen chicken thighs, chicken tenders, frozen chicken strips and even used frozen chicken nuggets when I had limited ingredients on hand!
Personally I like skinless chicken breast for this but skin on chicken thighs are packed full of flavour and work very well for this recipe!
Want to make this a Ninja Foodi grill chicken recipe?
If you have one of the press style grills then the cooking time should be similar. Around 20 minutes is perfect for medium thickness chicken breasts, though I would check and turn them 2-3 times during the cooking time.
Grilled chicken breast has a lovely char to it and works very well for a bbq chicken breast recipe. The Ninja Foodi indoor grill is a great option for making grilled food. Ninja grills are fab, but I specifically love the indoor ones.
When I grill chicken I love a blackened finish, a nice char, and that works great with bbq sauce. Ninja Foodi grilled chicken is packed full of flavour and great for salads or sandwiches too.
Ninja Foodi cooking is always high on my agenda these days as I find their items easy to clean, simple to use and quicker than the oven too.
I've also made this type of recipe in the pressure cooker, Instant pot and slow cooker, just with different timings.
Why not try some of my other Ninja Foodi recipes while you're here?
- Ninja Foodi diced potatoes
- Ninja Foodi frozen french fries
- Ninja Foodi gammon joint
- Ninja Foodi Accessories
- Ninja Foodi beef chilli
Want to try some different seasoning blends for your chicken?
While you're here why not check out my favourite Ninja Foodi accessories?
If you’re looking to get the most from your Ninja Foodi or Ninja air fryer these these are some of my favourite accessories:
Always make sure that the items fit your specific Ninja model!
How to make BBQ chicken breast in the Ninja Foodi:
Ninja Foodi BBQ chicken breast
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast per person I cooked 3 for this recipe
- Spray oil
- Salt and pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic salt or garlic powder
- 80 ml BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Once your chicken breasts are prepared, and any fatty parts removed, you'll want to spray them with spray oil.
- Sprinkle over the garlic salt, smoked paprika, and season well with salt and pepper.
- Rub the chicken breasts to ensure they are all coated sufficiently.
- Place the chicken breast into the Ninja Foodi crisper basket.
- Air fry for 10 minutes at 180C (360F approximately).
- Turn the chicken breasts over and place back into the crisper basket.
- Air fry for a further 8 minutes, again at 180C (360F approximately).
- Add the barbecue sauce. I brush mine on using a silicone pastry brush, to give it a great level of coverage. You can just spoon or pour it on if you want to save some time.
- Air fry for 2 more minutes at 180C (360F approximately).
- Once the air frying time is up check the chicken breast, in the thickest part, has reached a minimum internal temperature of 74C (165F approximately) and then serve.
- If you like you can rest for 5 minutes before you slice and serve. When I'm low on energy or short on time I will serve these up whole alongside the rest of my dinner.
Nutrition
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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I made the bbq chicken last night and it came out great!
That’s lovely thank you! X
I had my Ninja Foodi for over year before I actually started to use. I have been thrilled with the results. Recently, I baked a 6 inch chocolate cake in it. Perfection!
Yesterday, I made your bbq chicken in it. It came out juicy and delicious. Printed out the recipe for future dinners.
My only question is what setting do use the on the Ninja Foodi? Your directions say “cook” but, since you mention the crisper basket I used the air crisp setting. Thank you 🍗
Hi Deb, thanks so much for messaging! I've made this "cook" mistake a few times on some recipes so thanks so much for pointing that out, I've got it changed on this one now. It is the air crisp setting you're absolutely right. So glad you loved it too! Thanks for taking the time to comment.