Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Drumsticks with a light seasoning, a fantastic weekday meal that is a firm favourite with kids and grown-ups too. The skin is beautifully crispy and golden, while the meat is juicy and so tender - you wouldn't believe how easy it is to make this recipe! Pair it with your favourite sides, and you get a delicious dinner that makes everyone drool!
I couldn't resist sharing yet another chicken recipe, can you tell that it's by far our favourite meat? If you have kids, I am sure you will agree that it's a no-brainer if you have to decide what to cook to please everyone.
And why wouldn't it be? It's delicious - tick, it cooks way quicker than any other meat - tick, and you can literally make thousands of recipes out of it, and not a single one would be the same. So far on the blog I probably got to hundreds, but I am sure there will be lots more.
The air fryer has become my best buddy in the kitchen, I use it to make both sweet and savoury dishes, to warm up leftovers, even to cook frozen chips and nuggets (yep, even a food blogger's kids eat those every now and then, when mama needs a break from the kitchen).
But yeah, chicken! This recipe is on the lighter side, if you are to compare it with my fried chicken recipe, which is deep fried to make it as close to the KFC chicken as possible. But this recipe is delicious without all those extra calories, so a big win here!
I cooked chicken drumsticks in the oven too, although I wasn't really after a crispy skin when I made my oven baked chicken drumsticks, but rather after some juicy goodness.
No buttermilk is needed for these chicken drumsticks, they are just lighted coated in seasoned flour to help with the crispiness. And the drumsticks are ready a lot quicker in the air fryer if you are to compare it with the oven!
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Note!
Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Ingredients used
- chicken drumsticks - use skin-on drumsticks, as it's the skin that will crisp up nicely in the air fyer, keeping the meat inside nice and juicy
- olive oil - I used it to drizzle over the drumsticks, it will act as the base for the seasoned flour
- seasoning - you can choose whatever else you like apart from what I used: onion powder, ground turmeric, etc
- plain flour - for lightly coating the drumsticks, we don't need a massive amount, just enough to help with the crispiness
- cooking oil spray - works wonders in the air fryer, although regular oil could be used too, I like how the spray is uniform, which results in even crispiness
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- drizzle the olive oil over the chicken drumsticks, and toss them well
- stretch and pull the skin on each drumstick to cover as much of the flesh as you can
- mix the flour with the seasoning, and coat each drumstick in the mixture
- arrange the drumsticks in the air fryer drawers and spray them generously with the cooking oil spray
- air fryer for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius ( 350 Fahrenheit), shaking the drawers half the way through
- increase the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius ( 390 Fahrenheit) and air fry for a further 15 minutes
Expert tips
If you use frozen drumsticks for this recipe, make sure they are fully thawed before starting. Pat them dry using kitchen paper before tossing them with olive oil, the oil will stick much better onto them.
You might be intrigued why the use of baking powder in the recipe, but it actually does help with the crispiness. The baking powder draws out moisture from the skin, which turns nicely golden and crispy.
I used baking powder for my crispy baked chicken wings and it had the same fantastic result, so I highly recommend it.
Make sure to shake the air fryer drawers a few times during cooking, and turn the drumsticks onto the other side after the 20 minutes, this will ensure an even cooking.
Other chicken drumstick recipes
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Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 9 chicken drumsticks
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tablespoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- cooking oil spray
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Instructions
- Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken drumsticks, and toss them well to be fully coated.
- Pull the skin on the drumsticks to cover as much flesh as possible.
- Mix the flour with the seasoning, and coat each drumstick in the mixture.
- Arrange the drumsticks onto the air fryer drawers (I used a double-drawer air fryer from Tefal), and spray generously with cooking oil spray.
- Air fry for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius ( 350 Fahrenheit), shaking the drawers to ensure an even cooking.
- After the 20 minutes, turn the drumsticks onto the other side, and increase the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit) and air fyer for a further 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
- If you use frozen drumsticks for this recipe, make sure they are fully thawed before starting. Pat them dry using kitchen paper before tossing them with olive oil, the oil will stick much better onto them.
- Make sure to shake the air fryer drawers a few times during cooking, and turn the drumsticks onto the other side after the 20 minutes, this will ensure an even cooking.
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