The Amazing Air Fryer

Yes indeed we’ve all been hearing about how amazing air fryer’s are and how they can revolutionize various aspects of healthy and convenient cooking. No doubt many of you already have such an appliance sitting in your kitchen. That said, I wanted to touch on the subject a bit and share the great success I’ve had with my air fryer, since getting it as a present from my mom over Christmas.

The XL Air Fryer from Emeril Lagasse, the pick of my older sister…an air fryer veteran. Mom took the tip and hooked me up at Christmas. Thanks Mom! Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

At First Daunting

I will admit that when I first received my air fryer as a gift I was a bit distressed. Here was this big, new appliance with a gazillion settings and a thick owner’s manual. Not a fan of owner’s manuals in the first place, this one just looked so important it caused me to simply set it all aside for a few weeks, until I decided to dive in. Well, I’m sure glad I took the plunge because not only is an air fryer incredibly easy to use, it’s versatility and speed in cooking simply can’t be matched. Ok, Ok, so what’s the big deal? Well, there are three key advantages to an air fryer IMO: 1) You can “fry” foods without oil, giving them that crunchy, fried texture without the caloric and cholesterol hit, 2) You can “bring back to life” leftovers that have become soggy in the refrigerator (and I mean food comes out of the fryer like it was the moment you first had it), 3) You can bake, broil, dehydrate (as in fruit leather, etc.), rotisserie, roast, reheat and, very key, make INCREDIBLE PIZZA! Gosh, I could list items 4-25 on what’s great about an air fryer, but I’ve keyed in here on the things I use my fryer for the most…and I honestly would rather part with my microwave now than my air fryer…it’s become that integral.

Let’s Talk Fried Chicken

Long one of my biggest vices, I would drive miles for good fried chicken (heck once I darn near flew for it). And then suddenly I discovered tremendous fried chicken right here in the Portland/Vancouver area at Amaro’s Table (wrote a blog post just on that!). However, classically-prepared fried chicken is a gigantic calorie hit and, well, as a result it’s not something one can eat all that often if you care about your health. So, for me, fried chicken became a once-in-a-while treat. Of course, all that changed once I got my air fryer and began making “air fried chicken” with zero oil. So without further adieu, I want to share my personal fried chicken recipe below, which may just get you rolling with your air fryer if you haven’t yet jumped in.

Here’s a shot of my last batch of air fried chicken. Honestly, there’s no way to tell it’s not “regular fried chicken” other than it doesn’t leave you with a greasy, heavy feeling. So, I guess there is a way! It’s much better… Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

Dan’s Air Fried Chicken

This is an easy recipe and a great starter with your air fryer. Have fun and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• (1) large package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• (3) eggs

• (2 cups) of unbleached, white flour (whole wheat is a fine substitute)

• (1 TBSP) ground black pepper

• (1 TBSP) seasoning salt

• (2/3 cup) grated parmesan cheese

• (1-2 cups) panko bread crumbs (preferably with Italian seasoning)

Directions:

1. First, pre-heat your air fryer to 400 degree F and set to “Air Fry.”
   While the oven pre-heats, begin preparing your chicken into uniform pieces while trimming off all fat.

2. Once the chicken is prepped, get a medium-sized bowl and crack all (3) eggs into it and scramble them.

3. Sprinkle a healthy amount of pepper into the eggs, along with some extra seasoning salt (you’ll save the measured pepper and seasoning salt noted above for later).

4. Get another medium-sized bowl (or preferably a 1-gallon ziplock bag) and put the flour into it. Put a little extra pepper and some extra parmesan cheese into this flour (again, save the measured amounts of these items for the next step).

5. Get yet another medium-sized bowl (or, again, preferably a 1-gallon ziplock bag) and put the panko bread crumbs into it. You can swap in crushed ritz crackers, smashed almonds, or just about any kind of dried bread or nut you can get into panko form. I’ve used all of the above with great success.

6. Combine in the measured parmesan cheese into the panko bread crumbs, along with the measured Pepper and seasoning salt.

7. Spray your air fryer tray(s) with non-stick cooking spray

8. Now, it’s time to dredge. Go ahead and put all of the chicken pieces you’ve prepped into the ziplock bag with the flour mixture in it. Once it is all in, close the bag and give it a big SHAKE! Like Shake-n-bake ;).

9. Now, take out all of the chicken pieces and place them into the bowl with the egg mixture. Swirl things around and get all of the chicken pieces well-coated.

10. Now, one-by-one, take out each piece of chicken and place them into the ziplock bag with the panko bread crumbs in it. After getting about 3-4 pieces into the bag, SHAKE again…getting an even coating on all of the pieces. Once done, remove each piece and place them on the cooking tray. Repeat until all of the chicken is loaded on the tray(s).

11. Now you’re ready to cook! Be sure the air fryer is at 400 degree F and put the chicken in.

12. Depending on how thick your chicken is, the size of your air fryer, etc., cooking times will vary. Most important is to use a meat thermometer and get the thickest piece of chicken to 165 degrees F. Thinner pieces may be removed earlier, if they’re getting to that critical temp faster.

13. You’re done! Use the chicken in all kinds of ways from eating is as straight, fried chicken, to chopping it up for use as a topping on a salad (a major go-to for me ;).

My Air-fried chicken prep station, before I figured out the advent of using 1-gallon-sized Ziplock bags! So much easier! Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

In this batch of chicken I began employing the Ziplock bag technique, which kept the mess way, way down from before. You can see here I’ve washed the chicken in the egg wash and am now coating the pieces in the panko bread crumb bag. However, my panko (in this case) is made of crushed Ritz crackers. Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

The chicken is prepped and loaded onto the cooking tray here. Time to air fry! Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

Two trays of delicious, air-fried chicken on the way to becoming delectable! Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

One of my favorite uses of my air-fried chicken is as a topping on a salad. Here I’ve made one of those pre-made salads (Thai Cashew here, a fave) and added the chicken. This is an awesome meal that clocks in at about 500 calories but tastes like 2000! Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

A close-up of my first air-fried pizza. While there isn’t any health advantage to cooking pizza in an air fryer, I will tell you that it is truly amazing in taste and texture. It’s hard to explain, but it just comes out so darn good! And not only that, when you take leftover pizza out of the fridge and put it into the air fryer to “bring it back,” I swear you can’t tell that it’s a leftover anymore. Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers

Final Air Fryer Tips

So, maybe you already have an air fryer, maybe not, but either way, if you’ve read this far you’re likely at least intrigued. Thus, here are a few key tips beyond what’s already been shared.

1. Get a good air fryer cookbook. This was the key for me, just in getting used to how it works, and what it can and can’t do.

2. Don’t try to do everything with your air fryer, at least not in the beginning. You don’t want to burn out. Pick a few key things and master those first. For me it’s pizza and chicken. Next? I’m going to try making chocolate chip cookies (they’re supposed to be amazing in the fryer). After that? Fruit leather here I come!

Enjoy!