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Air Fryer Salsa Chicken Thighs Recipe – delicious crispy, crunchy chicken thighs loaded with fresh salsa flavor!
These chicken thighs are tender and juicy, with a crispy, crunchy, crackling crust and are loaded with spicy salsa flavor!
We love serving this chicken with Instant Pot pinto beans, air fryer shishito peppers, Pineapple Jalapeño Salad, Green Chile Guacamole, Easy Keto Tortilla Chips, some 4 Citrus Margaritas and of course our spicy and tangy Tito’s Tacos Style salsa recipe!
This chicken thigh recipe is marinated in salsa flavor and then topped with more salsa after air frying in it – making it crispy, crunchy, and full of zesty southwest flavor!
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do.
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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
Air Fryer Salsa Chicken Thighs
If you love crispy, crunchy chicken – and fresh, cool, spicy salsa – this recipe is going to be your next favorite.
We’re loading chicken thighs up with fresh salsa (we use our Knockoff Tito’s Tacos Salsa Recipe, but you can use any salsa you love) as both a marinade AND a topping – so you’ll get tons of spicy flavor in every bite!
This is one of our favorite delicious recipes for knockout chicken thighs because:
- salsa chicken fits perfectly in a keto eating plan, as it is naturally low carb.
- crispy, crunchy chicken skin is even more delicious with spicy, fresh salsa baked into it!
- chicken marinated in salsa is bursting with flavor and unbelievably tender – the spices and lime juice help to soften the meat and keep it from drying out.
- you can add this chicken to salads, wraps, tacos, and burritos – or serve with some cilantro lime rice and pinto beans!
Easy Salsa Recipes
We like to make this recipe using our Knockoff Tito’s Tacos Salsa Recipe – it is tangy, spicy, and the runny texture works perfectly as a marinade and topping.
If you’re looking for a bit of another flavor, you can use any salsa you love.
Some of our favorite salsa recipes:
- Easy Mango Avocado Salsa Recipe
- Avocado Tomatillo Salsa Recipe
- Spicy Pineapple Mango Salsa
- Watermelon Salsa
Pro tip: Whatever salsa you use, you will use some as a marinade and discard after marinating raw chicken in, and then you will use different salsa as a topping. Never use marinade salsa as a topping, as it will have touched raw chicken.
How To Air Fry Chicken Thighs
You can use boneless or bone-in chicken thighs, skinless or skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe – it will change your cooking time a bit (add 2-3 minutes for both bone-in and skin-on) but will not change your cooking process at all.
Whether you choose skin or not/bones or not is completely up to you – picking chicken thighs that have not been trimmed and de-boned are often more economical and do offer more fat and benefits for keto diets.
If you aren’t worried about keto diet macros, you can trim off skin and remove bone yourself to save money – or buy skinless and boneless. Again, it’s completely up to you – this recipe is designed to work with either, and come out perfect no matter what you pick!
What Temperature To Air Fry Chicken Thighs
We like to air fry chicken thighs at 400 degrees – which helps the chicken skin get crispy and crunchy without drying out the chicken meat.
If your air fryer doesn’t heat to 400 degrees, set it as high as it can go. We want it to render fat quickly and crisp skin so it can get crispy, crunchy, and crackly – and a high heat and the air fryer’s air circulation can help achieve that.
When Are Air Fried Chicken Thighs Done
Chicken thighs are fully cooked at 165 degrees internal temperature when a thermometer i inserted into the thickest part of the chicken thigh.
Be sure to not hit the chicken bone when measuring your chicken’s temperature.
What To Serve With Air Fryer Salsa Chicken Thighs
This recipe is keto and low carb – but it is delicious alongside traditional Mexican food dinners and sides, too.
Chop this chicken up and serve it in tacos, burritos, and wraps; serve it in a rice bowl; use it in a Cheesy Chicken Taco Salad Stuffed Avocado; in 10 Minute Chicken Tortilla Soup; alongside Pineapple Jalapeño Salad, or with Easy Keto Tortilla Chips!
For the rest of our tacos, burritos, and fajitas recipes, click here.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken is fully cooked at 165 degrees internal temperature.
We prefer air frying chicken at 400 degrees, but if your air fryer doesn’t go to 400, 375 works great too.
Chicken thigh cooking time can vary based on your air fryer model, size of each chicken thigh, how well you preheated, etc – but this recipe should take 15-18 minutes to cook.
Air fried salsa chicken thighs can last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
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Air Fryer Salsa Chicken Thighs Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skin-on chicken thighs, please see notes for bone-in or skinless
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 cups salsa, divided
- juice of 2 limes, divided
- 2 teaspoons celtic sea salt, I prefer maldon
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- sliced olives, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees (or as high as your air fryer will go.)
- In a small bowl, add oil, half salsa (set half aside for topping, do not use marinade as topping), and half lime juice to bowl and mix.
- Drizzle over chicken thighs, toss to coat.
- Chicken can be marinated overnight, but this is optional.
- Remove chicken from marinade and add chicken thighs to air fryer basket. Season with salt and pepper and spoon a bit of marinade onto chicken to bake into chicken as it cooks. Discard any leftover marinade.
- Air fry at 400 for 8 minutes.
- Flip thighs, cook another 8 minutes. Spoon just a bit of fresh salsa (not the salsa you used to marinate to prevent cross contamination) onto side you flipped over.
- Using a digital thermometer, probe the thickest part of the chicken thigh’s meat, taking care to not hit the bone.
- You will likely need to flip chicken thighs once more and cook an additional 4-6 minutes to reach 165 internal temperature, but be sure to go off your thermometer, not the cooking time on your air fryer!
- If you used skin-on chicken, and your chicken skin is not crispy, crunchy, and golden brown, pop directly under your air fryer’s broiler or your oven’s broiler to crisp for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from air fryer, and let sit for at least five minutes before serving.
- Top with additional lime juice and salsa, and optional sliced olives.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sweet C’s Favorites
If you love this easy recipe, be sure to check out our other reader favorites, like our famous pork tenderloin!
