Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken

The air fryer I bought 3 months ago is now probably my most used kitchen appliance.

It’s just so easy to throw something in the air fryer to heat it up. I prefer cooking my frozen vegetables that way (see: air fried frozen Brussels sprouts, my FAVORITE way to cook them). If you need some quick french fries, the air fryer is there to help.

We use the air fryer at least 3 times a week if not more. I don’t know why it took me so long to buy it to begin with, but now I’m glad that I did. It’s truly a miraculous invention.

It’s basically just a convection oven that sits on your countertop. It’s not made of any new material and it’s not a new technique. It’s just…handier. Instead of heating up the whole house when you turn the oven on, you’ve got this little contraption sitting on your counter that can do it in a snap with a lot less energy.

Air frying chicken is the easiest thing ever, too. I usually bread my chicken with panko and then heat it to 375 degrees and cook a few tenders at a time for 10-15 minutes. It really depends on how large your tenders are for how long you cook them. I usually check the temperature around 7 minutes in, if that helps. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, you can poke one to see if the juices run clear. If not, cook them for another 3-4 minutes.

If you’ve never had Nashville hot chicken, you need to try it ASAP. One of my husband’s favorite restaurants in OKC is Nashbird, a chicken restaurant that specialized in Nashville hot chicken. It’s basically just fried chicken coated in an ultra-spicy chili/pepper oil.

This hot chicken filled a craving for Nashbird. It’s spicy, sweet, and full of flavor.

Enjoy!

Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken

• Servings: 3-4
• Time: 30 mins
• Difficulty: Medium
• Print

Classic spicy Nashville hot chicken cooked in an air fryer for easy cleanup.

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 3 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 TBS. hot sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 TBS. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 TBS. cayenne pepper (yes, TABLESPOONS!)
• 1 tsp. dry mustard

Directions

1. Season chicken breast strips with 1 teaspoon garlic powder, salt and pepper.
2. Set up a dredging station: in a small bowl, whisk together milk and hot sauce. In a larger bowl, stir together panko, 1 teaspoon paprika, onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
3. Dip chicken strips, a few at a time, in milk mixture. Shake off extra milk and roll in panko mixture.
4. Place chicken in the bottom of an air fryer. Cook a few at a time (don’t put any chicken on top of each other) at 375 degrees for 10-13 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine vegetable oil, brown sugar, cayenne, remaining teaspoon of garlic powder, remaining teaspoon of paprika and dry mustard. Heat until mixture bubbles, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
6. Place cooked chicken tenders in a bowl and toss with pepper oil until they are well coated.