It’s been a hot minute since I share a recipe and I am coming in hot with this extremely simple Air Fryer Chicken Thigh recipe. I’ve had my air fryer for just over three months now and I still love it and use it multiple times a week. One of my absolute favorite ways to use it is making chicken thighs. I used to make chicken thighs in my cast iron skillet on the stove and it was so messy. Oil would splatter literally everywhere including on myself which if you’ve ever had hot oil splatter on you, it isn’t fun. My air fryer has saved me on oil, a messy stove and oil burn marks.
I never used to eat chicken thighs until I learned how to cook them to make them actually taste good. The secret is to get the skin nice and crispy! I first learned to cook chicken thighs using Nom Nom Paleo’s Cracklin Chicken recipe. If you don’t have an air fryer that would be a great recipe for perfectly crispy chicken thighs too. The air fryer gets the skin absolutely perfect while keeping the inside nice and juicy. I love the fact that I don’t have to use a ton of oil and the clean up is so easy.
The honey mustard dipping sauce is crazy simple to make too! It uses simply ingredients you probably already have and can be whipped up in minutes while the chicken fries. Save the leftover sauce to use with other foods like burgers, salads, grilled chicken or potato wedges.
This recipe is so simple that I can hardly call it a recipe. This meal would be perfect for a night when you need dinner fast or great to get going while meal prepping other foods during your weekly meal prep.
- For the chicken thighs
- 1lb or 4 skin on, bone in chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- For the dipping sauce
- ½ cup paleo mayo
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 3 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp paprika
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp garlic powder
- Rub olive oil onto the skin of each chicken thigh and sprinkle with salt.
- Set the temperature to 390 on your air fryer and set the timer for 28 minutes. Let the air fryer preheat for 3 minutes. Once the timer hits 25 minutes, pause the timer and place the chicken thighs skin side up in the air fryer basket. Start timer.
- While the chicken fries, make the dipping sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- When the air fryer time is up, remove the chicken thighs. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
- Enjoy!
