Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Breasts
🍗 What to make when you forgot to take your chicken out of the freezer to thaw! 🙌🏻 There is no thawing required and I promise the chicken cooks through properly and it's juicy, tender, with a light barbecue sauce glaze. Just 4 key ingredients for this easy air fryer chicken recipe that's like a 'get out of jail free card' on busy weeknights!If your chicken is already thawed, I recommend making my Air Fryer BBQ Chicken recipe instead since it was developed for thawed chicken.
Servings: 4
Calories: 219cal
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup barbecue sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or as desired
- 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste if desired
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or more to taste if desired
- optional other dried herbs or seasonings (cumin, ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, smoked paprika, etc.; I suggest starting with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon and increasing if desired)
- 1-1.5 pounds frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts (similar sized chicken breasts recommended; chicken breast tenders or chicken strips may be substituted and will cook faster; do not use bone-in chicken, I haven't tested chicken thighs)
- optional fresh herbs for garnishing (fresh parsley, basil, mint, cilantro, green onions, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 375F if you need to preheat yours.
- To a small bowl, add the barbecue sauce, oil, honey, salt, pepper, any optional extra seasonings, and stir to combine.
- Add the frozen chicken pieces* (see Tip below) to a plate or your air fryer basket and lightly brush them with the bbq sauce mixture on all sides (just pick them up with your hand and brush the underside). Set the extra sauce aside and brush it on the chicken when you flip it over midway through cooking.
- Tip - If there are any pieces of chicken* that are frozen together, run them under warm running water to separate them. If they're more stubborn, submerge them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes or so, or until they separate.
- Arrange the pieces in a single layer and air fry for about 15-20 minutes.
- Flip the chicken over, brush the remaining sauce all over each piece, and continue air frying for about 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is done.
- Chicken is done when it reaches 165F as measured by a digital thermometer; take the temperature and do not guess! Cook as long as necessary until your chicken is done. If you're cooking pieces of varying sizes, smaller pieces may be done sooner than larger pieces so pull those out when they are. Chicken strips or breast tenders will also cook much faster than larger chicken breasts.
- Important Cooking and Temperature Notes - Undercooking chicken is dangerous and overcooking results in tough and dried out chicken. Due to the unique nature of this recipe and you're starting with frozen chicken, it's obligatory to take the temperature! You never know which piece in the deep center of it may only be at 160F rather than 165F. All air fryers have very different heat outputs which affects how long the chicken will need to fully cook through. Food that's in smaller or more crowded baskets will tend to cook slower than when placed in a bigger or less crowded basket.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes on a cutting board or platter so that the natural juices redistribute.
- Optionally garnish with fresh herbs, slice, and serve. Tip - Pour any juices that have collected in the air fryer over the chicken when serving it because there's so much flavor.
Notes
Storage: Leftover chicken will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the microwave as desired or serve chilled from the fridge in salads, wraps, sandwiches, etc.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 219cal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 959mg | Potassium: 485mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 90IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
