CHICKEN TENDER BREADING RECIPES

Today's recipe for Air Fryer Chicken Breast makes a healthy, gluten free, keto chicken dinner with garlic-herb marinated chicken breast and green beans. Chicken and beans both are cooked in air fryer in just 15 minutes. Chicken comes out moist, juicy and very flavorful. 

This recipe needs no breading. So prep time is shorter and meal low in carbs and keto diet friendly. If you are watching diet then this is The chicken dinner for you. If you don't have air fryer, don't worry. Simply marinate chicken as descried in Recipe Card and then bake in the oven. 

Announcement I have decided to share all my air fryer recipes on the blog. Check back every Wednesday for a new recipe. Today's recipe is first into Air Fryer Recipe Wednesday series. 

This will become your go-to air fryer chicken dinner. You will love the flavors! So let's make moist and juicy, air fryer chicken breast today! 

Air Fryer Chicken Breast

Cooking moist and juicy chicken breast in air fryer, in matter of minutes, is one of the Top reason why I use my air fryer every day. For this recipe, I marinate chicken breast (boneless and skinless) in Greek style marinate of lemon, herbs and garlic. That's it. Once marinated, cook chicken in air fryer. Read on to know more tips and details.

What Do You Need to Make Moist Chicken Breast in Air Fryer?

Ingredients to make moist chicken breast in air fryer are easy to find pantry staples. Here is what you need to make marinate for chicken: 

1. Olive oil
2. Lemon Juice
3. Garlic
4. Herbs - Oregano & Cumin
5. Paprika
6. Salt and Pepper

Marinade helps to tenderize chicken and infuse with delicious herb, garlic and lemon flavor. 

To make chicken in air fryer, I start with marinating the chicken. Either leave chicken in marinade to marinate for at-least 20-30 minutes or refrigerate until ready to use (up-to overnight)

Cooking Moist Chicken Breast in Air Fryer

My experience with air fryer has taught me three important things to note while cooking perfectly moist chicken breast in air fryer. i.e. 

1. Preheat Air Fryer - This ensures even cooking from the start. Chicken cook golden browns from outside and juicy inside.
2. Adjust the timings as per the side/make and model of air fryer. (more on this ahead)
3. Flip Chicken Breast half way through cooking. This ensure that chicken cooks evenly. Also gives good idea of how long it will take to chicken to be fully done. (very important to avoid dry chicken breast)

I used Ninja Foodi Max XL Air Fryer (5.5 quart) and cooked boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe. As shown in pictures above, process of cooking is very simple:

1. Marinate Chicken Breast for at-least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat air fryer and place marinated breast on air fryer rack. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Flip after 5 minutes and add seasoned beans.
4. Cook additional five minutes or until chicken is cooked through. If cooking beans, make sure to stir twice (every 2 mins) for even cooking. 

Air Fryer Timings for Cooking Chicken Breast

Time to cook chicken breast in air fryer vary based on two things:

1. Size of Chicken Breast. For example, when air fried at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, smaller chicken breasts will be ready in 10 minutes where as large chicken breasts will take 12-14 minutes.
2. Size of Air Fryer.  For example, if an air fryer is bigger in size (i.e. more space to circulate hot air), it will cook faster than smaller. So to ensure proper cooking, always preheat air fryer for 3 minutes. After first 5 minutes of cooking, flip chicken and then cook 5 minutes, then on keep an eye and check every 2 minutes for doneness. 

Air fryer makes cooking fun and fast! I've been using it more than my pressure cooker. (which says a lot) If you are still thinking to buy an air fryer, I can tell you that it's a worth investment. The time I've saved by cooking dinner in air fryer has already paid off my investment (plus few folds).

If you have an air fryer recipe in mind that I should share on the blog? Leave a message below and let me know.

Happy Air Frying!

Provided by Savita

Categories     Main Course    Dinner

Total Time 20 minutes

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Yield 1 lb. Chicken Breast

Number Of Ingredients 10

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : Calories 291 calories

When Popeyes debuted its new crispy chicken sandwich on August 12, 2019, the company was not prepared for the eruption of social media video posts comparing the new sandwich to Chick-fil-A’s classic chicken sandwich. As a result of the apparently unplanned instant viral campaign in which Popeyes almost always emerges as the winner, customers swarmed the stores and waited in long lines to try the now-famous sandwich. The buzz continued to build day by day, and just two weeks after its debut, the sandwich had sold out—a full month ahead of schedule. But sold out or not, you don’t need Popeyes to get the great taste combo of the crispy buttermilk breaded chicken breast, soft buttered brioche bun, mayo, and pickles. Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on several of the sandwiches before they were gone and cranked out a Popeyes Chicken Sandwich copycat recipe so you can now know how to make the Popeyes fried chicken sandwich any time you want. With these new tricks you’ll be able to make crispy chicken at home that’s flavorful, juicy, and tender, just like Popeyes, coated in a thick golden breading with the same light crunch. The secret to moist, tasty chicken is to brine it for several hours in a spicy mixture of buttermilk, pepper sauce, salt, and MSG. The buttermilk is slightly acidic, so it will help tenderize the chicken without making it too tough like harsher acids, while the salt enhances the flavor (as does the MSG) and keeps the chicken juicy. The MSG (monosodium glutamate) is an amino acid with a salt-like flavor that at one time was thought to be unhealthy, but is now considered an important culinary additive. Popeyes uses it in their chicken because it provides an essential savory flavor called “umami,” and you cannot make an accurate clone without it. To imitate the light, crispy breading, we’ll use baking powder in the flour. The baking powder forms bubbles in the flour when the chicken cooks so that the breading is tender and crispy, rather than crusty and dense. I found that self-rising flour works great since it conveniently has just the right amount of baking powder and salt already added. But don't use a low-protein self-rising flour like White Lily. That brand is awesome for biscuits, but its low gluten content makes it not stick well on chicken breasts. I used Gold Medal self-rising flour, and it worked great. If all-purpose flour is all you’ve got, that can work as well. I’ve put measurements for using all-purpose flour, plus baking powder and salt, in the Tidbits below. If you'd like to kick up your Popeyes Chicken Sandwich copycat recipe, clone the spicier version by replacing the plain mayo with my easy hack for Popeyes Spicy Mayonnaise. 

Provided by Todd Wilbur

Total Time 4 hours 55 minutes0S

Prep Time 4 hours 35 minutes0S

Cook Time 20 minutes0S

Number Of Ingredients 23

• Ingredients