These Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs are a delicious and lighter alternative to traditional fried chicken. They are perfect for an easy weeknight dinner, or for meal prepping for the week. Give them a try and see how easy and delicious air fryer cooking can be!
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- 30-Minute Recipe. These air fryer chicken thighs are prepared and cooked in just 30 minutes. If you prefer to cook using the oven, try baked bbq chicken leg quarters.
- Simple Ingredients. The chicken thighs are coated in a dry rub made from a simple seasoning blend before being placed in the air fryer basket.
- Crowd Pleaser. Barbeque chicken is a recipe the whole family will love and it's an easy recipe when feeding a hungry crowd. If you love BBQ, you will also enjoy my BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders, Air Fryer Ribs and BBQ Chicken Nachos.
🥘Ingredients and Substitutions
- Bone-in chicken thighs- you can substitute the chicken thighs for chicken breasts or even drumsticks. Or check out my Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings if you prefer a wing recipe!
- Garlic powder- fresh garlic can be used in place of garlic powder just be sure to spread it out as it can be sticky and clump together.
See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.
🔪Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F while preparing the chicken.
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels then add the chicken to a large bowl. Combine your onion powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Add spices to the chicken bowl and mix with your hands ensuring the chicken thighs are coated evenly.
- Spray the air fryer basket or rack with cooking spray and add the chicken thighs. Cook time is 20-25 minutes, make sure to rotate halfway through. Using a meat thermometer make sure the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F.
- Remove the chicken from the air fryer and toss with your favorite BBQ sauce. Serve and enjoy!
💭Recipe FAQs
All cooked poultry is good for up to 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Yes! Any air fryer recipe can be made in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F for a cooking time of 40 minutes. Ensure the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F before covering with barbeque sauce and serving.
For recipes like this, I prefer the crispy skin but you can definitely use skinless chicken thighs.
👩🏻🍳Chef Tips
- It's best to add the sauce after cooking as most of the sticky bbq sauce will stay behind on your basket or rack due to the high sugar content.
- Try out different brands of BBQ sauces and find the one you love. The great thing about bbq sauce is that there are so many options out there or you could even make your own.
- Make sure your chicken is placed in a single layer for an even cook of each piece.
- This recipe is great for meal prep and busy weeknight dinners.
🥗Serving
Serve up these delicious air fryer BBQ chicken thighs with simple sides. Need to feed a crowd? Try pairing them with my Mayo-Free Potato Salad, Warm Potato Salad, Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables or Pesto Orzo Salad.
Or serve it as the protein with cavatelli broccoli pasta.
More Recipes You May Like
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- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Tacos4 Hours 15 Minutes
- Juicy Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Thighs (Easy & Flavor-Packed!)1 Hours
- Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs47 Minutes
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below—I’d love to hear how it turned out! THANK YOU!
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Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Thighs
Save this Recipe!
Get the recipe link sent to your inbox so you can come back to it later!
No spam ever. Just cozy, delicious recipes.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in chicken thighs
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ cup barbecue sauce
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel, then add them to a large bowl with the spices and mix with your hands until the chicken thighs are fully coated with the spices.
- Spray your air fryer basket or rack with cooking spray then add the chicken and cook for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through. Make sure the internal temperature is at least 170 degrees F before serving.
- Remove the chicken from the air fryer, toss in bbq sauce and enjoy!
Sarah's Tips
- It's best to add the sauce after cooking as most of the sticky bbq sauce will stay behind on your basket or rack due to the high sugar content.
- Try out different brands of BBQ sauces and find the one you love. The great thing about bbq sauce is that there are so many options out there or you could even make your own.
- Make sure your chicken is placed in a single layer for an even cook of each piece.
- This recipe is great for meal prep and busy weeknight dinners.
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