Air fryer chicken gizzards are breaded, crispy, tender and delicious. This is the best way to cook gizzards so they are fork tender and don’t go to waste.
Hate wasting food and wondering what to do with the organs inside a whole chicken? Air fryer chicken gizzards are a delicious snack your kids will even love! Just one of many easy air fryer recipes we have shared lately on The Typical Mom blog. (affiliate links present)
Frozen Chicken Gizzards in Air Fryer
You can use fresh or frozen for this. The only difference between the two is the latter will take a little bit longer in the boiling process to get tender. That step is necessary whether these are baked, fried or cooked in your Ninja Foodi. One thing about cooking gizzards is to not rush things.
Organs such as these and liver need a little more pampering before being cooked. If you skip steps they will be tough and not pleasing to your palate. Follow them to a tee and you may be surprised at how much you like them.
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Chicken Gizzards Recipe
We have a few different machines at home, they all work just fine to make these. I don’t have a huge preference between my Cosori or Air Wave but I do love all Ninja air fryer recipes for sure.
Well the air fry cook time is only about 8 minutes once they’re breaded BUT you do want to soak, then boil them first before that. If you just bread and throw them in right away they will be very tough and chewy. Tenderizing them first in a pot of boiling water will change the consistency to fork tender.
As you can imagine these are quite bland as is. There’s a trick on how to cook chicken gizzards. When you soak them in salt water first you’ll add flavor and that will help to break down the protein cells making it softer. Then boiling them will continue to break the toughness out of it and after THAT you’re ready to coat and fry.
Seems like a bit of a lengthy process but you can prep, walk away and just come back. Set a timer and when they’re on the stovetop leave it at a low rolling boil so you don’t have to pay much attention to them.
How long do chicken gizzards take to cook?
Once it reaches a boiling point you’ll want to leave them on there for a good 30 minutes. This isn’t the only way to prepare and enjoy them either so you could make a larger batch, bread some, and make gizzard gravy out of the rest for dinnertime.
Instant Pot Chicken Gizzards
To make this process faster you could boil in your electric pressure cooker instead. For this method you would add them after soaked in the bowl of salt water. Drain that, rinse, pour into your IP with water 2″ above the top of your meat.
- Close lid and steam valve
- Set to high pressure for 15 minutes
- Allow for a 10 minute natural release at the end
- Drain and follow the process at the bottom to air fry after that
As far as seasonings go you could use whatever you wish. Dry taco seasoning works really well though for this air fryer snack. Brings a ton of flavor to an otherwise bland bite and it’s already mixed together in a jar so no need to add more prep.
Southern Fried Chicken Gizzards
If you want more of a down South flavor I might choose to use this spicy dry mix. About 1 Tbsp should do it unless you use substantially more than I did.
Fried Chicken Gizzards
- Place gizzards in a medium size bowl and coat with salt.
- Fill with water and soak for 2 hours, then rinse
- Then put them in a pot full of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
- While simmering, get out 2 separate bowls to prepare the whisked egg and breadcrumb mixture.
- Drain the pot and set aside to cool off.
- Whisk egg in a separate bowl. Place bite size pieces (one at a time) inside, coat and sit for 5 minutes to thoroughly coat.
- Put several at a time in the breadcrumb mixture and toss to coat. Repeat until all are well coated.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Open air fryer basket and spray with non stick spray. Place coated pieces in a single layer in the air fryer.
- Air fry chicken at 400 for 6-8 minutes cook time or until crispy as desired on the outside.
- Can spray the tops with olive oil to get REALLY crispy
I don’t like to shake the basket after you cook for 4 minutes halfway thru because the breading falls off. There isn’t a real need for this. If you like dipping sauces to serve with these there are a few popular choices. Fry sauce is great, tartar sauce, or ketchup work too.
You really could follow these same steps if you wanted to air fry chicken liver pieces. I would cut that into smaller bite size pieces too in order to get them tender. You can coat all with egg and fill container with breading. Add, snap the lid on and shake to coat. This will work but will not coat it as well as one at a time.
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Air Fryer Chicken Gizzards
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken gizzards
- 1 egg
- 1 c Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning or seasoning of choice
Instructions
- Place gizzards in a medium size bowl and coat with salt. Fill with water and soak for 2 hours.Rinse thoroughly.
- Place gizzards in a sauce pot full of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. While simmering, prepare the egg and breadcrumb mixture.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg until light and frothy. In a medium dish, blend together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasoning of choice. Drain the gizzards and set aside to cool off.
- Place the gizzards in the bowl of beaten egg and thoroughly coat the gizzards. Put several gizzards at a time in the breadcrumb mixture and toss to coat. Repeat until all are well coated.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 F for 5 minutes. Spray inside of basket with non stick spray. Place coated pieces in a single layer in the air fryer. Cook at 400 for 6-8 minutes or until crispy as desired on the outside. Serve warm
David Randall
Saturday 1st of October 2022
I've tenderized gizzards many times, but haven't pre-salted or soaked in buttermilk, which I understand will tenderize too. I start them in cold water, cleaned of any yellow, cut into reasonable pieces, add a sliced onion, a couple cloves garlic, any other aromatics you might like. Bay leaf for sure. I bring to boil, reduce to a bare simmer (a hard boil will toughen, in my experience), and simmer 60-90 minutes. One advantage is the broth (top off if water gets below an inch above), gets super flavorful, and pulls enough collagen that it gels in the fridge. Cool, bread to fry, slice into a Belgian salad or an Asian dish. They will melt in your mouth!