Tender & Juicy Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs
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These Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs cook up in about 30 minutes and are juicy, tender and full of flavor! Smothered in a tasty BBQ sauce for a quick and easy dinner recipe you’ll make on repeat.
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I may know how to cook well and be a food blogger, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy cooking dinner. Deciding what to eat and the fact that life is busy are challenges for everyone. This BBQ chicken thigh recipe is on the menu nearly every week because it is a fast and easy dinner recipe everyone unanimously loves.
I like to serve it up with some Adobo Rice, Mashed Potatoes or my Greek Pasta Salad, which is easy to make ahead for the week as a simple side dish for almost anything.
Star Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs – My preference is bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, but this recipe is super flexible. You can use bone-in or bone-out, skin-on or skin-off chicken thighs. I find that chicken cooked with the bone in is generally more flavorful.
- BBQ Sauce – I smother mine in my Memphis BBQ Sauce that is a bit tangy and only takes a few minutes to whip together. But using your favorite BBQ sauce works just the same.
- Vegetable Oil – Just a little goes a long way to producing a nice crispy skin and also preventing the chicken from sticking.
- Seasonings – Simple seasonings that almost everyone has in their pantry. Nothing fancy here. Seasoning salt can be swapped for regular salt. Just start with a little less and taste the seasoning mixture before mixing it with the chicken to make sure it is salty enough for your taste. You can always add a little more salt, but you can’t take it away.
Making the Air Fryer BBQ Chicken
If you are using frozen chicken thighs, make sure that they are fully thawed so they cook evenly and also completely when following the directions.
I have made this recipe using the convection oven-style air fryer for years, but recently got a basket air fryer, and I find that this method turns out much crispier and cooks more quickly.
- Add the chicken thighs to a large bowl along with the oil and seasonings. Mix with a spoon to coat the chicken evenly. If you are swapping out seasoning salt for regular salt, mix the seasonings in a separate bowl first. Start with half the salt and adjust by adding more to taste.
- Preheat your air-fryer to 400°F for a few minutes. Place the chicken skin-side down in the air fryer for 12 minutes.
- Use tongs to flip the chicken over so that it is now skin-side up in the air fryer basket. Cook for another 12 minutes.
- Baste the chicken with a thick coat of BBQ sauce using a basting brush. Air Fryer for another 3 minutes to heat up the sauce before serving. Ensure that the chicken in the thickest piece has reached an internal temperature of 165°F before serving. If it needs a little more time, place the chicken back in the air fryer for another 5 minutes and retest the temperature.
Leftovers? No Problem!
Store any leftover chicken in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat in the air-fryer or microwave.
Recipe FAQs
More Chicken Thigh Recipes
- Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Greek Yogurt Marinated Chicken Thighs
- Easy Grilled Tandoori Chicken Skewers
If you’ve made this Oven Roasted Turkey Wing Recipe or any other recipe on the blog—drop a ⭐ and share how it turned out in the ✍️ comments below. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Tender And Juicy Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- Air-fryer
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs (6-8 thighs)
- ½ tsp seasoning salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable or avocado oil
- ½ cup Memphis BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, add the chicken thighs, oil and seasonings. Mix well with a spoon to ensure the chicken thighs are evenly coated.
- Place the chicken thighs skin-side down in the air fryer basket using tongs to avoid burning yourself. Air fry for 12 minutes.
- Using tongs, flip the chicken over in the air fryer basket so the skin-side is now up and air fry for 12 more minutes.
- Baste the chicken with a thick coat of BBQ sauce using a basting brush. Place the chicken back in the air fryer and cook for 3 minutes. Check that the internal temperature of the chicken in the thickest piece has reached 165°F. Use clean tongs to remove the chicken from the air fryer basket and serve.
Nutrition
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
