Air Fryer Whole Chicken

a whole cooked chicken in an air fryer basket.

This Air Fryer Whole Chicken is so simple and delicious. In under one hour you can have an incredibly juicy and tender chicken, with an irresistible crispy skin. You'll never want to buy a grocery store rotisserie chicken again!

Course Main

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 307

Author Ashlyn Edwards | Belle of the Kitchen

Equipment

Air Fryer

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter softened
1 whole chicken about 3-5 pounds
2 Tablespoons Trader Joe's BBQ Rub and Seasoning or bbq rub of your choice

Instructions

Remove chicken from packaging and pat dry with paper towels. Remove and discard neck and giblets from cavity of chicken.
Loosen skin from the breast meat of the chicken by running a small spatula or your fingers gently underneath the skin. Spread 2 tablespoons of softened butter underneath the skin on both breasts. Use your fingers to spread it around under the skin.
Liberally sprinkle the bbq seasoning over all sides of the chicken and rub into the skin so that it sticks. Place the whole chicken breast-side down in the basket of your air fryer.
Set the air fryer to 350 degrees and cook the chicken for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes is up, pull out the basket and flip the chicken breast side up. Place back in the air fryer at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees.
Allow chicken to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes

Add butter under the skin: this is my favorite tip! Spreading softened butter under the chicken skin directly onto the breast meat before cooking creates super juicy chicken. I do this with my Thanksgiving turkey every year, too!
Preheat your air fryer. I like to preheat my air fryer for a few minutes before adding the food. This ensures that the proper temperature has been reached and that your air fryer whole chicken will cook up crispy and juicy.
Cooking time: this recipe will work for a chicken anywhere from 3-5 pounds, but all air fryers (like conventional ovens) cook differently and some cook hotter than others. Cook until the internal temperature of your chicken reaches 165 degrees. A smaller, 3 pound chicken, will be fully cooked around 45 minutes, while a larger 4-5 pound chicken will require closer to an hour to cook.
Start with your chicken breast side down: For a perfectly juicy chicken, begin air frying with the breast side down. After 30 minutes, you'll flip it breast side up. This will prevent the chicken breast from drying out.
Make sure it fits: I use a 6 quart basket style Air Fryer, and have no issues cooking a 4-5 pound whole chicken. An air fryer smaller than 6 quarts might not work depending on the size of your chicken. If you have a 6 quart or larger air fryer and are unable to push the basket back in all the way after adding your chicken, you can press down on the center of the chicken and break the breast bone to make it lay more flat in your air fryer.
Let it rest: Allow your chicken to rest after air frying for about 10 minutes. You want to allow the delicious juices to soak back into the meat before slicing.
Storing and reheating: Any leftover air fryer whole chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, you can place your prepared chicken in the air fryer for at 370 degrees for four minutes. You can also reheat for a couple of minutes in the microwave.

Nutrition