The Best Crispy & Juicy Air Fryer Chicken Legs
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Juicy and tender with a crispy coating, these finger-lickin’ good Air Fryer Chicken Legs are every bit as delicious as fried chicken, without all the fuss! They cook up in under 20 minutes, making them perfect for an easy dinner that feels anything but boring.
Sheila’s Recipe Snapshot for Air Fryer Chicken Legs
These air fryer chicken legs prove that dinner can be both simple to prepare and absolutely delicious.
If you haven’t jumped on the air fryer bandwagon yet, I highly recommend you do it ASAP! I’ll admit, I was once a skeptic myself. They’re quite large to store and of course, it was another expense that I wasn’t sure I could justify.
But once I bought an air fryer and started using it to make “healthier fried” foods, I was totally hooked. So I decided to try making “fried” chicken legs in the air fryer. The air fryer does a better job than the oven at getting the chicken skin super crispy on the outside.
All you have to do is toss the legs in a little olive oil, coat them in a flavorful blend of spices and cornstarch, and voila! You’ve got crispy-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside chicken legs!
It’s also a great recipe to get kids involved, like the original shake ‘n bake chicken trend from the 70s!
If you aren’t sure which air fryer to buy, I personally love my Nuwave 6-quart model and find it’s just right for my situation. However, if you have space for it, this kitchen counter convection oven air fryer combo looks pretty sweet!
Ingredient Notes for Air Fried Chicken Legs
- Chicken Drumsticks | The drumstick is the lower part of the leg, which has been detached from the thigh. If you don’t have chicken legs on hand, you can use any bone-in cut of chicken, but preferably not chicken breast!
- Oil | To help the dry rub stick!
- Cornstarch | Cornstarch is needed here to help soak up extra moisture, creating a perfectly crispy skin.
- Spices | To make the dry rub, you will need to combine kosher salt, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder and dry mustard! This combo really packed the chicken legs with loads of flavor.
Variations and Substitutions
- Make it spicy: If you want your chicken legs to be spicy, add a few dashes of cayenne pepper or a heavy shake of black pepper to the dry rub.
- Cuts of chicken: If you want to use different cuts of chicken, I recommend using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. You can also use chicken quarters, which are the leg and the thigh together. Those will take a bit longer to cook though!
- Use the shake & bake method: Place the drumsticks in a gallon-size resealable bag and add the oil, shaking to coat all the pieces. Add the spice mixture to the bag, seal, and shake until all the pieces are well coated. Cook as directed!
How to Make The Best Air Fryer Chicken Legs
This recipe is incredibly simple to make! Just season the chicken legs and air fry them until crispy perfection.
PREHEAT & PREP. Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels and place them in a large bowl. Add the oil and toss to coat evenly.
MAKE THE DRY RUB. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over the chicken and gently toss until each piece of chicken is evenly coated.
PLACE IN AIR FRYER BASKET. Place the drumsticks in the air fryer in a single layer, skin side down, leaving space between — cook in batches if needed.
AIR FRY. Cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Flip the chicken legs over and continue cooking another 8 to 10 minutes, or until done and an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees.
More Recipe Success Tips
Storage and Reheating Tips
- To store: Store cooled leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator within 2 hours after cooking and consume it within 2 to 3 days.
- To freeze: Cooked chicken legs may also be frozen for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: To reheat leftover chicken legs, place in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you start with a preheated air fryer, the cooking time will be 18 to 20 minutes.
Stacking chicken legs in an air fryer is not a good idea. Remember, an air fryer cooks by circulating air around the food so it’s important not to overcrowd the basket or rack. Give those chicken legs some breathing space!
The first and most effective way to check if chicken is done cooking, is to use a meat thermometer. Place the thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken leg (without touching the bone). Chicken is cooked once the internal temperature hits 165°F. You will also know that chicken is done when the juices run clear with no pink, the meat has shrunk in size compared to when it was raw, and it feels firm (not rubbery or jiggly) while being easy to pierce with a fork.
Looking for More Air Fryer Recipes?
This easy air fryer coconut shrimp and my air fryer pork chops (no breading) are both family favorites. And you can serve these air fryer truffle fries on the side!
What to Serve With Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Legs
While this air fryer chicken drumsticks recipe is delicious all on its own, serve it with a side of your favorite bbq sauce, honey mustard, or drizzle with my easy and oh-so-yummy Alabama White BBQ sauce!
Make these juicy chicken legs a complete meal by adding a butter lettuce salad, herbed potato salad (or maybe this Summer squash casserole), and my mayonnaise biscuits.
There you have it — a quick and easy, delicious weeknight meal!
Beyond the Recipe
Fried chicken is as Southern as it gets when it comes to delicious comfort food. And while it’s one of my family’s absolute favorite dishes, it’s time-consuming and not the healthiest way to prepare chicken.
For that reason — much to my family’s dismay — fried chicken is reserved for special occasions at our house. At least, that was the case before I tried air-frying chicken!
An air fryer doesn’t fry food; instead, rapidly circulating hot air does the cooking. The amazing thing is that with little or no oil, food still gets crispy outside just as if it had been deep-fried!
Now with this easy recipe, we can enjoy air fried chicken drumsticks without the guilt or the mess — that’s a WIN, WIN!
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Air Fryer Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 4 – 6 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels and place in a large bowl. Add the oil and toss to coat evenly.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard, Sprinkle the spice mixture over the chicken and gently toss until all pieces are evenly coated.
- Place the drumsticks in the air fryer skin side down, leaving space between — cook in batches if needed.
- Cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Flip the chicken legs over and continue cooking another 8 to 10 minutes, or until done and an instant read digital thermometer registers 165 degrees.
Notes
- Don’t over crowd the air fryer basket! Make sure to give each chicken leg a little bit of space around them to be able to really crisp up in the air fryer. If you need to cook them in batches, place any air fried chicken legs on a sheet pan in a 250°F oven to stay warm while they others cook.
- Preheat the air fryer. In this case, it helps to preheat the air fryer so that the skin starts to crisp up right from the start!
- Pat the chicken legs dry before seasoning! The enemy of crispy chicken skin is excess moisture. For the crispiest chicken legs, pat them dry with paper towels before seasoning them!
- Taste the dry rub and adjust. To know if you like how your chicken is going to taste, you can taste a little bit of the dry rub! Adjust the salt and other spices as needed.
- Don’t skip the brown sugar. I know it might sound odd, but the brown sugar in the dry rub will caramelize beautifully in the air fryer, creating even more texture on the outside. And no, it won’t make your chicken sweet!
- To store: Store cooled leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator within 2 hours after cooking and consume it within 2 to 3 days.
- To freeze: Cooked chicken legs may also be frozen for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: To reheat leftover chicken legs, place in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Easy and crispy. There was a good deal of flavor that other recipes didn’t have. Enjoyed!
Delicious and crispy.
Taste was okay, but I was disappointed with the skin not being crispy at all.
Thanks to you, I feel more confident making things in my air fryer. This chicken legs recipe was a hit with my whole family, and we’ll definitely be making it again.
Another winner for my air fryer! I just got mine a couple of months ago and am still learning what I like best in it. These are definitely right up there!
My kids always fight over the drumsticks when I make chicken, and they went nuts when I told them I was ONLY making drummies last night! LOL This recipe was simple to make and everyone loved them!
I love being able to eat “fried” chicken without all the oil and bad for you ingredients. Thanks for this recipe!!
This was so delicious and perfectly crispy!!
I love my air fryer, and these chicken legs made my family happy. They even asked for more!