Air Fryer Chicken Legs are an easy and delicious dinner recipe loved by both kids and adults alike. Coated with olive oil and a blend of seasonings, cooking chicken legs in the air fryer takes just 20 minutes and results in the most perfectly crisp, flavorful skin.
Easy Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks
A welcome alternative to chicken breasts, these air fryer chicken legs are absolutely delicious and so easy to make. Smothered in flavor thanks to a combination of simple everyday seasonings, the result is perfectly cooked chicken legs with crispy skin and tender, juicy meat inside.
Ready in right around 20-30 minutes from start to finish, these flavorful chicken legs make the perfect weeknight dinner – especially if you have small kids or husbands who prefer a more hands-on approach to dinner time eating.
Low-carb, gluten-free, made with simple ingredients, and loved by the whole family – what’s not to love about this easy dinner?
How Long to Cook Chicken Legs in the Air Fryer?
Chicken legs (aka drumsticks) take approximately 18-22 minutes to cook in an air fryer that has been preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Cook Chicken Legs in the Air Fryer
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees f.
- Pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels (this helps to get crispier skin) and transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
- Mix together the seasonings for the dry rub in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the chicken legs then mix well to evenly coat the chicken in the seasoning.
- Place the chicken legs in the air fryer in a single layer. Cook for 10 minutes, flip over, and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes, or until the internal temperature of your chicken registers 165 degrees as measured by a digital meat thermometer.
What Air Fryer Do I Use In My Recipes?
I own and use the COSORI Air Fryer for almost all of the recipes I make. It works great!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture on the surface of the skin. This helps guarantee even crispier chicken skin.
- You only need a little bit of oil. Too much oil and the skin will be soggy.
- You may also season your chicken legs with your favorite marinade or store-bought dry rub. If you’re hoping to have crispy skin, however, steer clear of marinades as they add too much moisture making it difficult for the skin to get crispy.
- Do not overcrowd the basket. The air fryer works by circulating hot air throughout a small, confined space. If the air has no space to circulate, this typically results in food that is cooked unevenly.
What to Serve with Air Fryer Chicken Legs
I like to serve chicken legs with a fresh green salad, tomato salad, or even a fruit salad. Usually, if I’m craving something a little heartier, I’ll add a baked potato or buttery mashed potatoes.
Have you tried cooking Chicken Legs in the Air Fryer?
Tell me about it in the comments below! I always love to hear your thoughts. And tag me #theforkedspoon on Instagram if you’ve made any of my recipes, I always love to see what you’re cooking in the kitchen.
Air Fryer Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken legs
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes.
- As the air fryer preheats, pat the chicken legs dry with a paper towel and transfer them to a large bowl. Drizzle the chicken legs with olive oil and use a pastry brush or your hands to evenly coat the entire surface of each drumstick with oil.
- In a small bowl combine the Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over the chicken legs and mix well to evenly coat in the seasoning.
- Transfer the chicken legs to the air fryer basket in a single, non-overlapping layer (see notes). Air fry for 10 minutes at 400 degrees f, then rotate the drumsticks 180° (flip them over) and cook for an additional 10 minutes. You know your chicken legs are fully cooked when the internal temperature registers 165 degrees f.
Jessica’s Notes
- For crispy skin, do not overlap the drumsticks. Even better, leave a little space between each drumstick. This allows for ample air circulation in the basket. You may need to air fry the chicken in two batches.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
Quick, easy and tasty seasoning mix. Chicken was very juicy and oh so tender…😋 This a keeper❤️Thank you!
My new go to snack, easy, fast and delicious
I’m going try them tonight so I let you know how it goes. Thank you for the recipe.
How did they turn out
Excellent air fryer chicken legs and wonderful flavor thanks for the recipe
Followed the recipe, except cut the salt by half. We crowded a Casori 4.5 qt. Fryer with six wings, so we added 4 minutes to the time, and flipped the wings a couple of times. Perfect and very tasty. We’ll do this one again.
If I don’t have a basket can I lay the chicken legs on the wire rack ?
yes, that should be fine 🙂
I used one rack plate and one basket both lined with aluminum foil to cut back on added cleaning. It worked well, I air fried 12 legs using a French door 360 air fryer Gourmia.
Made your air fryer chicken legs tonight. WOW! They are better than fried chicken. Kids loved them too. (Our AC is broken so put air fryer on back deck. Easier than grilling..and faster too)
Thank you for the nice feedback, Eden 😀