Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken
If you are craving hot chicken, you must try our recipe for hot chicken from the air fryer! The flavors of traditional Nashville hot chicken inspire our homemade hot sauce. The recipe will be ready to serve in about 20 minutes!
Ingredients
Chicken
- About 2-4 frozen pre-cooked breaded chicken breasts
NASHVILLE HOT SAUCE
- ¼ cup oil
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tbsp ground cayenne pepper , or 2 Tablespoons for extra hot
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- ½ tbsp salt , or to taste
Servings
- Pickles , whatever you prefer – bread & butter, dill, or both
- 6-8 slices white bread
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl or saucepan (butter, oil, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, garlic powder, paprika, Worcestershire or soy sauce, salt, and pepper). Microwave or heat until the butter melts (the hotter it is, the more difficult it is for the spices to emulsify in the liquids). Whisk well until smooth.
- As the sauce gets colder, it doesn't separate easily, so we prefer to spread the sauce on the chicken when it is a bit cooler or at room temperature. If you want your sauce to heat up, keep stirring or whisking the sauce while brushing the chicken, so you have as little sauce/oil separation as possible. The warmer the sauce, the greater the desire for the spices to separate from the liquids.
- Place the frozen, breaded chicken breasts in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Make sure they are not overlapping—no need for an oil spray.
- Air fry at 380°F / 193°C for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken.
- Continue to Air Fry at 380°F/193°C for two more minutes. Check chicken breasts and add another 2-3 minutes or until heated through and crispy to taste.
- Put the chicken on top of the white bread. Brush both sides of the chicken with hot sauce. Top with pickles and warm feet. Enjoy!
Notes
- No oils are needed. Frozen cook - do not thaw first.
- Do not overcrowd the air fryer basket. Lay in one layer.
- Recipe timing is based on an unheated air fryer. If cooking multiple batches of a chicken back-to-back, subsequent batches may cook slightly faster.
- Recipes tested in 3.7 to 6 quarts—air fryers. If you use a larger air fryer, the chicken may cook faster, so adjust the cooking time.
- Remember to set a timer for the flipping/tossing as directed in the recipe.