Best air fryer chicken thighs ever! Use this dry rub for chicken to make sweet and crispy chicken in an air fryer that’s tender and juicy inside. Yum!
Yes, I have been obsessed with creating easy air fryer recipes lately! For breakfast, lunch and dinner our handy crisping machine comes out and these air fryer chicken thighs were our latest meal. Using our sweet dry rub for chicken thighs everyone gave it a thumbs up. (originally published 4/19, affiliate links present)
- The Foodi air fryer is what we have so we can air fry everything.
- Find more information on the Ninja Foodi pressure cooker and air fryer here, but any brand of air fryer will do.
- Then LIKE our easy air fryer recipes page to get new ideas for meals and snack ideas daily!
Why do we love air fryer chicken thighs??
- Thighs are really cheap
- The meat inside is super moist
- If you use bone-in with the skin on the tops will get deliciously crispy
- They’re done start to finish in about 30 minutes
This is what we started with here. I bought basic store brand bone-in chicken thighs with the skin on. They are the cheapest cuts of chicken ever and overlooked a lot I feel. Once they’re done they’ll be packed with flavor, tender on the inside and crispy skins on the outside.
What you’ll need to make chicken in an air fryer:
- 4 chicken thighs – can use more but 4 fit perfectly without overlapping
- We used bone-in with the skin on
- If using boneless minutes would need to be adjusted for less time
- Olive oil
- Spices
- Use what you normally would use to coat a whole chicken and bake it.
- We also have a recipe below for a sweet brown sugar mixture you can try, or use our marinated chicken air fryer sauce.
- I love using this air fryer grill pan.
Our dry rub recipe for chicken
Rub thighs with olive oil, then mix:
- Brown sugar – optional
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Chili powder
- Black pepper can be added too if you like
Other ideas for a dry rub for chicken thighs
Massage chicken thighs with olive oil, then use:
- Salt free seasoning
- Or mix even amounts of salt, pepper, and garlic powder
- Another option is to go simple with a sprinkle of Lawry’s seasoning
- Marinating is great too. We did this with our sheet pan chicken thighs.
- Soak your thighs in your favorite type overnight in the fridge.
If making our brown sugar chicken rub the top skin will get dark brown because the sugar is going to caramelize. Not to worry. We did 10 minutes time once the skin was facing up and everyone in the house agreed that they were amazing!!
What temperature do you cook chicken in an air fryer? It depends but this one is perfect set to 375 degrees. Other chicken recipes may be set to a bit lower or higher depending on whether the pieces are breaded or not and how thick they are.
- Total cook time for our chicken thigh recipe was 25 minutes. Timing will vary slightly depending on how large each piece is. Our total weight for 4 pcs. was 2.3 lbs.
- Use this air fryer cook times printable for more info.
- You’ll cook chicken thighs in the air fryer basket you have.
- Always ensure the internal temperature of your piece of chicken is at least 165.
- The air fryer cooks fried chicken without oil which we love!
It is important to flip them halfway through so you get a nice golden brown on both sides.
Looking for air fryer side dishes?
- Air fryer tater tots are the bomb
- Our air fryer baked potatoes are amazing
- Brussel sprouts in the air fryer are the perfect vegetables
- These air fryer ravioli are great
Other ways of cooking chicken thighs
- Our Instant Pot spicy teriyaki chicken thighs seen below are to die for
- This Instant Pot crack chicken casserole uses diced boneless chicken thighs
- As well as our Instant Pot chicken and potatoes.
- Oven baked thighs are great
If you have a smoker I would make our Traeger smoked chicken thighs with a teriyaki marinade for dinner.
Find more ideas on our Ninja Foodi recipes post and air fryer dinner recipes too.
Here are a few more resources if you have a Foodi:
- This is the Ninja Cooking system we got
- You can grab a free recipe book too here. 😉
- You’ll find more Foodi air fryer recipes here too.
- Join my EASY Foodi Recipes Facebook group for more recipes.
Always ensure your chicken reaches a safe 165 degrees internal temperature before eating.
Here are printable instructions as well as how to make air fried fried chicken and air fryer egg rolls.
- For air fryer chicken breast recipes refer to this post. We love all the parts and pieces of this bird in our hot air fryer!
- What are disadvantages of an air fryer? I haven’t found many at all myself other than some models have a pretty small basket. I like this large air fryer with shelves, it’s perfect for large families.
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Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs approx 2 lbs, bone-in with skin on is what we used
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 c brown sugar optional if you want sweetness, can omit
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Mix brown sugar and all spices together well in a bowl. (or if you want to just sprinkle with salt and pepper, skip this step)Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees for at least 5 minutes.
- Trim any excess fat hanging off the sides of your chicken thighs (ours were bone-in with skin on).
- Rub olive oil on each thigh and put herbs and spices on top and bottom. Any you’d like. If you want to try our brown sugar mixture shown above then: Pour spice mixture on to a plate. Rub olive oil on outside of each chicken thigh, top and bottom.
- Press thigh on to plate so spice mixture sticks, do this on both sides. Place thigh on to trivet that has been sprayed with non stick spray turned upside down, with skin side down.
- Do this for all 4 thighs. Try not to overlap in the air fryer.
- Set to 375 degrees again and cook for 15 minutes. Then open lid and flip all chicken thighs over so skin side is now facing up. Cook at 375 degrees for an additional 8-12 minutes. Check at 8 minutes to see if you want it browner and/or chicken is done inside.
Robbie says
Think only thing I did different was use liquid smoke and olive oil mix, let sit couple hours then added rub.
Amanda says
I wanted to let you know that *this* is the recipe that made me get the air fryer out that I purchased last year during a sale, but never used. I had one of those value pack chicken thighs we got at our recent walmart pickup, and wow, this was amazing!! Thank you so much.
I was literally just searching ‘chicken thigh recipes’ and found this, so I’m glad it happen to be an air fryer one. Hehe.
Mary says
Would there be any difference for turkey thighs? I can’t find any recipes for them. Thanks, Mary
Dave says
I used slap ya mama spice and these were awesome!!
The Typical Mom says
OH yeah, I need to get some of that
Cathy Homan says
I’m using frozen so let’s hope it works
Debbie says
This is a great quick recipe. My husband loved them. They are moist and tender, with a crispy skin. I left out the brown sugar and used onion powder instead of garlic. Will be making again. Thank you!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved them
Steven Stevenson says
Very good simple sweet rub. Thank you.
Heather says
Made this tonight but used Kansas City steak seasoning on the chicken! It was delicious. Had never made chicken in the air fryer before but needed a quick option!
Suzanne says
I’m new to this gadget so I’m confused with what button to press to cook it…am I Bake/roasting the chicken 1st or strictly cooking it using the Air Crisp? Sorry if I’m not quite understanding, there’s just so many ways to use this and when I use the Air Crisp it was just to crisp up the skin after using the pressure cooker. Thank you in advance.
The Typical Mom says
If you’re referring to a Ninja Foodi you use the air crisp function with the lid that is attached to make air fryer recipes.
Andrea says
Thank you for asking this question because I was perplexed as well!
Candice says
We tried this recipe tonight and it turned out really good! I used a harissa rub that I made a paste out of by infusing with olive oil to marinate the chicken. Came out juicy and tender, used skin on bone in thighs. Paired it with some sheet pan yukon potatoes and kale. Excellent! Very versatile recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂
The Typical Mom says
Yay!
Kim says
Were the green beans canned or fresh
Joleen says
Green beans added…
This sounds really weird, but just before I turned the 4 pieces of chicken, I pull out the basket, threw a bunch of green beans in the bottom, replaced the chicken and basket, and cooked it all a remaining 10 minutes. The green beans cook in the seasoned fat from the chicken rub at the bottom. They cook to the the point of crispy. I put them in paper towels, like I would with bacon, to absorb a lot of the fat. Throw salt on them. Like I said, it sounds weird, but my husband and I both love the taste and texture.
The Typical Mom says
Yay great idea!!
Karen says
These turned out awesome! A prefect quick weeknight meal. I’m always looking for new ways to use my Foodi. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
The Typical Mom says
Yay, so glad they were a hit!
Joan says
I’ve been very skeptical about the air fryer. It’s so big and bulky and cooks small portions. That being said this chicken was delicious. I threw some potatoes in when I turned the chicken. I’ll be more open minded!
The Typical Mom says
Yay!!! It took me a while to get into it too but now I love it! Hope my recipes help you love it too.
Donna says
Calories from Fat is a high percentage
FirstPancake says
Are you aware of how chicken thighs work? Clearly the fat didn’t come from the ingredients in the recipe other than the thighs.
Beth says
What’s your point? Don’t make it if you don’t want to.
Carol Franklin says
It’s perfect for my keto self.