How to Air Fry Chicken Drumsticks

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Instructions for how to Air Fry Chicken Drumsticks are actually really simple. With just a couple of easy tips and tricks, this economical cut of chicken leg will come out the air fryer with perfect crispy skin and juicy meat every time. Quick, easy, delicious and super adaptable, what more can you ask for?!

5 from 4 votes

Prep Time: 2

Cook Time: 22

Total Time: 24

Servings drumsticks

Author Chloe

Equipment

Ingredients

6 Chicken Drumsticks - roughly 125g each
2 tsp Vegetable Oil - see notes
1 tsp Seasoning - see notes

Instructions

If your air fryer requires pre-heating, Start this setting now.
Thoroughly dry 6 Chicken Drumsticks.
Use a sharp knife to cut deep slashes in the fleshy parts of each drumstick - roughly 4 slashes in each, 2 on each side.
Drizzle over 2 tsp Oil and 1 tsp Seasoning and toss to thoroughly coat the chicken.
Place the chicken into the air fryer basket. Leave a little space between each drumstick so the air can circulate.
Cook for 22 minutes at 200c/390f.
If you want to turn them after 15 minutes, you can do - I don't need to using the rack in my air fryer.
Check the chicken is cooked through, you can see this by making a cut and checking that the meat is white in the centre of the thickest part. If there is any pink showing, Continue cooking for 2 minutes at a time.

To Air Fry From Frozen

Cook for 22 minutes at 200c/390f.
Check that the chicken is cooked through in exactly the same way as if you are cooking from fresh.

Notes

Oil - Choose your oil to match your flavouring. For example use garlic, salt and rosemary with olive oil or for a more neutral flavour, sea salt and black pepper with vegetable oil.
Seasoning - Choose any seasoning mix, spices or dried/fresh herbs. Make sure that salt is included in the mix. You can also add a little citrus juice.
I used vegetable oil with a 50/50 mix of garlic salt and paprika.
The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (‎CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I can easily fit 6 drumsticks in the basket at a time. This gives plenty of room to allow air to circulate - I could probably squeeze in one or two more if I really needed.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.

Nutrition (Approx)