Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken. Chicken drumsticks coated in a delicious crispy crunchy coating and made healthier thanks to the air fryer. This recipe is simple, and you’ll have crispy fried chicken in less than 30 minutes!
When I developed this air fryer Korean fried chicken recipe, I thought long and hard about it because I wanted to share a very crunchy crispy chicken without using lots of oil. But if you’re an avid air fryer like myself, you’ll know that wet battered foods in the air fryer don’t mix. The batter ends up slipping off and making a mess that is not fun to clean.
After much research and testing, I finally figured out how to create this airfryer Korean fried chicken without cups of oil with a crispy and crunchy coating. The chicken was flavourful inside and out with the secret ingredient to all Korean fried chicken recipes: curry powder!
Easy to make!
This air fried Korean fried chicken is easy to make at home. All the ingredients are accessible and easy to find at your grocer. If you don’t have tapioca starch it can easily be substituted with potato starch or cornstarch.
For this Korean fried chicken recipe using air fryer, you’re simply marinating your chicken in a wet rub. While that’s marinating, you’ll create your dry batter taking a cup from that to create your wet batter. Then dredge the drumsticks into the dry batter, then wet batter and dry again.
Place the drumsticks into the air fryer, spray enough oil over top and air fry on both sides until golden crispy brown.
So get ready, I’m going to teach you how to cook Korean fried chicken in air fryer with step-by-step instructions below.
Ingredients
For this air fryer Korean chicken recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- chicken drumsticks
- vegetable oil
- water
Chicken seasoning:
- white wine
- black pepper
- regular soy sauce
- garlic, minced
- salt
Dry Batter:
- tapioca starch, or sub with cornstarch or potato starch
- all purpose flour
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- curry powder
- salt
- black pepper
- baking powder
Optional but highly recommend: fresh lemon juice (to enjoy with)
How to make Korean fried chicken in air fryer
Below are steps on how to make Korean fried chicken with air fryer:
Season chicken drumsticks with seasoning ingredients and massage seasoning into drumsticks with hands. Set aside to marinate.
In a bowl, add dry batter ingredients and whisk well.
Take 1 measuring cup of dry batter and transfer to a separate bowl. Set that aside.
Then to your REMAINING dry ingredients (the bowl with more dry batter), whisk in ½ cup water to create a wet batter. You should now have a dry and wet batter in two separate bowls.
Evenly dredge drumsticks into dry batter first ensuring no empty spots. Then dredge into wet batter and then back into dry batter.
Transfer coated drumsticks to air fryer basket. Give each one enough room so air can reach it. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to air fry in multiple batches. Important: Try to angle the drumsticks so that the least amount of surface area touches the weaved basket as this can cause for batter to tear away from chicken if you’re not gentle flipping over it in next steps.
Spray or gently brush 1 tbsp of vegetable oil on one side of the drumsticks.
Air fry on one side at 375 F for 11-12 minutes until crispy and golden.
GENTLY turn drumsticks over, spray or brush on the other side with remaining vegetable oil.
Air fry for 11-12 minutes at 375 F or until golden brown and crispy. Serve & enjoy with fresh lemon juice!
Cooking Tips
Below are tips on making air fryer Korean chicken drumsticks:
Ensure dry batter is mixed well
Using a whisk really helps to distributes the spices within the starch flour mixture.
Dredge the chicken well and generously
Ensure there are no empty spots as you dredge your chicken. This will ensure crispiness all around.
Do not overload your air fryer basket
Your chicken will need enough air space to crisp up. If you’re piling the chicken on top of one another, guess what: you’re going to have soggy chicken!
Therefore, if you’re doubling the quantity of this recipe or more, you’ll have to air fry in batches.
Place drumsticks into air fryer strategically
This part requires thinking! When you place your drumsticks into the air fryer, first give them enough air space as mentioned above. Secondly, do not pile them on top of each other. Lastly, I would even recommend placing the drums on an angle so that the basket floor doesn’t touch the chicken as much.
Why? Because the basket may tear away your precious coating if you’re not careful while flipping.
Gently turn the chicken over
Do not be rough when you turn your battered chicken over. Because this is a thick crispy batter, it can easily come off so be gentle when turning it over and avoiding using kitchen tweezers (silicone tongs are fine, just don’t squeeze too hard).
Use enough oil to coat chicken
Make sure enough oil is sprayed or gently brushed over the chicken. This ensures no floury spots and a golden look to your drums. If you don’t evenly coat with oil, the coating will taste like a dry cracker.
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about my air fryer crispy chicken recipe:
How to reheat Korean fried chicken in air fryer?
Reheat in the air fryer at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes or warm through.
What’s makes Korean fried chicken so tasty?
Curry powder! That’s the secret ingredient to making it delicious, flavourful and addictive.
Can I use any curry powder?
I would highly recommend any Japanese curry powder which is less spicy than Indian curry powder as it uses less spices.
Which air fryer do you use?
I use the Phillips Air Fryer. I link to the exact model below in my recipe card.
Can I use other cuts of chicken?
Yes! Feel free to use bone in skin on thighs for this recipe.
May I substitute with potato starch or cornstarch?
Yes.
Other recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed my air fryer Korean chicken drums, you may enjoy these other recipes:
AIR FRYER JAPANESE KATSUDON
SWEET CRISPY ASIAN LEMON WINGS (Air Fryer)
KARAAGE (JAPANESE FRIED CHICKEN)
ORANGE CHICKEN
AIR FRYER SWEET AND SOUR TOFU
AIR FRYER CHICKEN KATSU
SWEET STICKY KOREAN CHICKEN
KOREAN BULGOGI CHICKEN WINGS
SKILLET VIETNAMESE LEMONGRASS CHICKEN
AIR FRYER TONKATSU SAUCE CHICKEN
Try it!
Well, I hope you give my Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken a try! It always excites me when you make my recipes and I hope this is one you try.
Thanks for visiting my blog! If you enjoyed my crispy Korean fried chicken air fryer recipe, please share it with your family and friends or on social media!
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Made this recipe and loved it?
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Take care,
Christie
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Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken (Crispy!)
Ingredients
- 5 chicken drumsticks
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 tbsp white wine
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp regular soy sauce not light or dark!
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- ½ tsp salt
Dry Batter:
- ¾ cup tapioca starch (or sub with cornstarch or potato starch)
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp curry powder Japanese kind recommended
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp baking powder
Other:
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for air frying)
Enjoy with:
- fresh lemon juice optional but highly recommend
Instructions
- Season chicken drumsticks with ingredients under "Chicken Marinade" and massage seasoning into drumsticks with hands. Set aside to marinate.
- In a bowl, add dry batter ingredients and whisk well.
- Take 1 measuring cup of dry batter and transfer to a separate bowl. Set that aside.
- Then to your REMAINING dry ingredients (the bowl with more dry batter), whisk in ½ cup water to create a wet batter. You should now have a dry and wet batter in two separate bowls.
- Evenly dredge drumsticks into dry batter first ensuring no empty spots. Then dredge into wet batter and then back into dry batter.
- Transfer coated drumsticks to air fryer basket. Give each one enough room so air can reach it. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to air fry in multiple batches. Important: Try to angle the drumsticks so that the least amount of surface area touches the weaved basket as this can cause for batter to tear away from chicken if you’re not gentle flipping over it in next steps.
- Spray or gently brush 1 tbsp of vegetable oil on one side of the drumsticks.
- Air fry on one side at 375 F for 11-12 minutes until crispy and golden.
- GENTLY turn drumsticks over, spray or brush on the other side with remaining vegetable oil.
- Air fry for 11-12 minutes at 375 F or until golden brown and crispy. Serve & enjoy with fresh lemon juice!
NOTES
This was so crunchy and very flavourful down to the bone! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed my recipe! Thanks for making it!