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Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breasts Recipe – Delicious tender juicy bbq chicken breasts right from the air fryer!
Easy BBQ chicken breasts are perfect on their own, in sandwiches, in wraps, or on salads!
These air fried bbq chicken breasts are super simple, crazy quick to prepare, and packed with flavor – this is going to be one of your favorite new recipes!
If you love grilled chicken breasts but don’t want to hassle with the grill – or want a juicier, more tender chicken than baking – this recipe is for you.
We’re using an air fryer (which really is just a small convection-style cooker that helps to cook at high heat to mimic frying, without oil) to get incredible melt in your mouth chicken – and slathering it in flavor from a great rub and plenty of BBQ sauce. This method is similar to our air fryer BBQ chicken drumsticks recipe and our Air Fried Chicken Breasts Recipe.
This BBQ chicken recipe is simple enough for beginner cooks – even if it is your first time air frying – and packed with enough flavor to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
We hope you love our air fried BBQ chicken breasts recipe as much as we do!
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
BBQ Air Fryer Chicken Breasts:
Air fryer chicken breasts are one of our favorite easy dinners – you get a fuss-free meal without the hassle of the grill, or having to heat up the kitchen with the oven on.
You can make these chicken breasts as a main dish, but they are great in salads, sandwiches, wraps, or in tacos – and are great for serving at cookouts and picnics.
- Chicken breasts are economical – you can feed a family on a budget with chicken breasts. Look for bulk packaging, and freeze chicken when it goes on sale! Thaw overnight in the refrigerator (you can even pop it in a marinade as it thaws) the night before cooking for budget friendly and crazy delicious juicy chicken!
- Cooking chicken in the air fryer cuts down on smoke and cooking smells – keeping your kitchen dinner ready!
- Air frying reduces the amount of oil needed to cook meats to a fraction of what you’d use with frying or pan frying, making this a healthy option for feeding your family.
- Air fried BBQ chicken can be made keto and low carb – please use your favorite keto brand of BBQ sauce and watch spices/rubs carefully to avoid gluten and any sugars.
How To Air Fry BBQ Chicken Breasts:
Air fried bbq chicken breasts are crazy easy to whip up – but we’re sharing some of our top tips to make sure your chicken turns out perfectly, every single time you make it.
Some of our favorite top tips for making perfect, juicy, and tender air fried chicken breasts are below:
- Marinate chicken before air frying. Marinating chicken at least 20 minutes, up to overnight, helps to lock in juices, keeping your chicken breasts tender and delicious – as well as adding tons of flavor!
- Flip chicken as it cooks in the air fryer to promote even cook time.
- Go by a thermometer – not the cooking time. Always judge your chickens doneness by its internal temperature, not the amount of time it has been in the air fryer.
- Preheat your air fryer to help make sure it doesn’t stick to the air fryer basket. While you can spray with a nonstick cooking spray, we find preheating works the best! It also helps get a better sear on foods.
- Let chicken rest at least 10 minutes before serving.
Other Air Fryer Recipes To Check Out:
We have a lot of delicious, easy, flavor-packed recipes from your air fryer that you will love!
Check out some of our air fryer favorite recipes below:
Find our complete air fryer recipe archives here.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken breasts are done cooking at 165 degrees internal temperature. We often remove them from the air fryer at 160 degrees, as the chicken will continue to carryover cook the additional 5 degrees as it rests before you slice it to serve.
This BBQ chicken breasts recipe will take about 18-20 minutes depending on the size of your chicken breasts. Please go off temperature on the thermometer, not time in the air fryer.
We are using an air fry temperature of 375 degrees for this recipe.
Chicken breasts take roughly 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit in an air fryer.
Use this time as a guideline – please use a thermometer to judge when your chicken has passed 165 degrees and is safe to eat.
Air fried BBQ chicken can last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
This method will work with any air fryer – stand-alone units, or pressure cooker air fryer combination units. We prefer a Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot with air fry function, since it allows us to get two appliances in one – but this is a personal preference based on kitchen space and what you use more often.
Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breasts Recipe
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Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breasts Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2-3 breasts
- 1 bottle Italian salad dressing
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ? teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- ½ cup BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Add chicken to a plastic bag or large bowl and cover in Italian dressing, let marinate for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight.
- Spray your air fryer basket lightly with olive oil cooking spray and set it aside.
- Remove chicken from marinade, and pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel.
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, paprika, salt, and red pepper flakes.
- Sprinkle the spices over the chicken, making sure to coat each piece evenly.
- Add the chicken breasts to the air fryer basket, making sure they’re all in a single layer.
- Cook at 375F for 10 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook for an additional 8 minutes.
- Once the chicken registers 165F on an instant read thermometer, brush each piece with BBQ sauce and cook them again at 375F for 2 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite sides. Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Notes
- I’m using boneless skinless chicken breasts but you could also use thighs!
- Garlic powder, paprika, salt, and red pepper flakes are going to help enhance the flavor of the BBQ sauce. You could substitute this spice mix for 1 ½ teaspoons of your favorite BBQ flavored seasoning blend.
- I’m using Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ sauce but feel free to use store bought or homemade.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
