A crispy-skinned hen thigh paired with a couple of sides—like a cucumber and tomato salad, steamed or air-fried broccoli, or mashed potatoes—is considered one of my favourite simple dinners. It’s easy and dependable, and one thing I can do with out a lot effort. There’s a purpose why many dwelling cooks, together with myself, flip to hen thighs once they’re in quest of a zero-fuss meal: They’re juicy, flavorful, and inexpensive, to not point out extremely versatile. Win, win, win, win. I usually bake thighs, however now I’ve a fair sooner, extra environment friendly strategy to prepare dinner them: the air fryer. As we have famous earlier than, the equipment is principally a mini convection oven that circulates sizzling air to prepare dinner meals shortly and evenly.

As we identified in our recipe for primary air-fryer hen breasts, the air-fryer is an undeniably fast and straightforward strategy to make hen, however it’s not a provided that that hen might be juicy and flavorful. So we requested our take a look at kitchen colleague and veteran recipe developer Julia Levy to give you what we described as a primary technique for air-fryer hen thighs which can be ultra-tender and flavorful with splendidly crispy pores and skin. Via quite a few checks and tweaks, Levy did simply that. Learn on for the essential recipe, together with suggestions for getting the moistest, most appetizing hen within the air fryer. You’ll additionally discover 5 variations on the essential recipe, together with lemon-pepper, za’atar mint, chipotle-lime, and miso-ginger, which considered one of our testers described as having a “pretty caramelized crust that was simply on the sting of being burnt,” including, “It tasted like they only got here off the grill, which is a taste that’s exhausting to copy in an air fryer.”

3 Easy Suggestions for the Finest Air-Fryer Hen Thighs

1. Select bone-in, skin-on thighs. Whereas boneless, skinless thighs do not dry out as simply as boneless, skinless breasts, we nonetheless suppose it is price choosing bone-in, skin-on right here for probably the most succulent outcomes. Not solely will you get optimum juiciness, however you will additionally get fantastically browned pores and skin that considered one of our recipe testers described as “past crispy.”
2. Dry-brine the thighs for juicier, extra flavorful meat. We’re longtime advocates for dry brining—this straightforward course of makes for a lot juicier, extra flavorful meat, and, not like moist brining, you need not fuss with a container of liquid taking on house in your fridge. On this recipe, we name for merely rubbing the meat with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, and baking powder, then letting it sit for no less than an hour (and as much as 24 hours) within the fridge. 
3. Add some baking powder to the dry brine for crispy pores and skin. As we’ve famous earlier than (see Niki Achitoff-Grey’s article about crispy hen and turkey pores and skin), baking powder is barely alkaline and raises the pH stage within the hen pores and skin. This permits proteins to interrupt down extra effectively, resulting in crispier, evenly browned pores and skin. Achitoff-Grey notes that because the baking powder comes along with the chicken’s pure juices, carbon dioxide gasses type, producing “a layer of tiny bubbles” that “enhance the pores and skin’s floor space, permitting it to develop a crunchy texture as soon as cooked.”

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