Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Legs
If you ever wondered if you can cook frozen chicken legs or drumsticks in your air fryer, the answer is yes! This simple method for air fryer frozen chicken legs will help you get dinner on the table even if you forgot to thaw out your chicken. Chicken legs are affordable and can be flavored anyway you want making them a great budget friendly option too.
After posting my Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Legs recipe, I got a lot of questions about air frying frozen chicken.
Since I love cooking frozen foods in my air fryer, I gave it a shot and it was successful!
🍗Ingredients & Equipment
Air Fryer: I’ve tried many in the past but my favorite is the Ninja Foodi hands down. It’s an air fryer and pressure cooker all in one and it saves me so much time cooking healthy meals for my family.
Chicken Legs Or Drumsticks: This is the part of the chicken leg that has a round top and skinny bottom. Chicken quarters also attach the thigh and would need a longer cooking time.
Olive or Avocado Oil: This is to coat the chicken after it’s been thawed so that it gets crispy enough for the seasonings to stick.
Salt, Pepper & Garlic Powder: You could use any seasoning you like but this one is pretty standard and simple.
⏲How Long To Cook Frozen Chicken Legs
This depends on the size of your drumsticks. The drumsticks should NOT be chicken wing sized for this recipe. Here is the best way to air fry frozen chicken:
1️⃣ Add them to your air fryer basket in a single even layer. You can grease your basket if you’re worried about it sticking but this rarely happens.
2️⃣ Air fry at 375 for 20 minutes making sure you flip halfway through.
3️⃣ Remove partially cooked drumsticks from the air fryer basket and add to a bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasonings. Toss everything together until seasoning is fully coated on the skin of the chicken.
4️⃣ Return seasoned chicken legs to the air fryer basket and set to 400 degrees cooking for another 15-20 minutes flipping halfway through. Remove and serve.
NOTE: The last step may take a few minutes MORE or LESS depending on how big your chicken is and how powerful your air fryer is. During the last step, it’s best to check the chicken every 5-7 minutes until they are cooked through with an internal temperature of 165.
🐔Air Frying Chicken Leg Quarters
If you’d like to cook frozen chicken quarters, increase the initial cook time by 10-15 minutes then follow the rest of the recipe as written.
More Air Fryer Frozen Food Recipes
Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Legs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken Drumsticks about 5-6 pieces
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil
Instructions
- Add them to your air fryer basket in a single even layer. You can grease your basket if you’re worried about it sticking but this rarely happens.
- Air fry at 375 for 20 minutes making sure you flip halfway through.
- Remove partially cooked drumsticks from the air fryer basket and add to a bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasonings. Toss everything together until seasoning is fully coated on the skin of the chicken.
- Return seasoned chicken legs to the air fryer basket and set to 400 degrees cooking for another 15-20 minutes flipping halfway through. Remove and serve.
These chicken legs turned out perfect for us! Tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Thank you for sharing!
I made a marinade of merlot red wine (because I didn’t have red wine vinegar) and vegetable oil, along with garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. I let my frozen chicken leg quarters (2) soak in this for about an hour or two. Then I put chicken leg quarters in the air fryer basket and poured the rest of the marinade on top. The marinade sunk down to the bottom of the air fryer pan, so I think it made the frozen chicken more moist. Anyway, I set the Ninja air fryer on 275 for 20 minutes, turning once; and then another 20 minutes at 290, turning once. They looked done at that point, so I checked, and yes, they were fully cooked after 40 minutes. Wow, I couldn’t believe how delicious and moist they were. They were not pink at all; I even think they would have been cooked at 35 minutes this way.