Use your air fryer to make an Air Fryer Whole Chicken in about 1 hour! The crispy, well-seasoned and browned chicken tastes delicious!
Using an air fryer to cook an entire chicken is a great way to prepare a crispy, browned whole chicken. The process is extremely simple, and the cooked chicken is full of flavor! After the chicken is well-seasoned, the air fryer does the rest of the work for you!
Air fryers use extremely hot air circulating around the food to cook it, and we really enjoy using ours! There is minimal hands-on, prep time necessary (about 10 minutes) to make a 4½ pound air fryer whole chicken. The rest of the time is simply letting the air fryer cook the chicken! When you use the homemade spice mixture as shown below, the cooked chicken also has great flavor! Here’s how to make this dish:
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Looking For A Good Spice Rub?
Obviously, when making an air fryer whole chicken, feel free to use whatever spice mixture you enjoy, to season the chicken. However, I love to use this homemade spice mix and have included the ingredients in the printable recipe card below.
The spices used are brown sugar, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, cayenne, cumin and dry mustard, and they add great flavor to the chicken! Mix these ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. The ingredients will yield about 1/2 cup of spice mix, but you’ll only need 4 Tablespoons to season one chicken, so save the rest for another time!
Prepare The Chicken For Cooking
Remove giblets from the cavity of the chicken (and discard). Rinse the chicken, and pat it dry, using paper towels to absorb moisture. I recommend using kitchen twine or raffia to tie the legs of the chicken together (see photo below). This helps the chicken cook more evenly! Tuck the wings snugly under the chicken for cooking, as well.
Place 4 Tablespoons of the combined spice mixture and 1½ T. olive oil in a separate bowl. Mix together, then spread this spice rub over the entire chicken. Be sure to spread some of the spice rub into the chicken cavity, also. Now this big ol’ chicken is ready for the air fryer!
Into The Air Fryer It Goes!
Preheat your air fryer to 360°F. This usually takes 4-5 minutes. Place the seasoned whole chicken into the fryer BREAST SIDE DOWN. NOTE: The photo below is only to show that an entire chicken can fit into the basket of an air fryer! Anyways… place it breast side down into the basket for cooking.
Cook the chicken at 360°F. for about 45-50 minutes. Carefully turn the chicken over to the other side (breast side up), and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes or until the chicken reaches a safe internal temperature of 165°F. Once the internal temperature is 165°F., it is considered done and is safe to eat. To check the temperature, insert a meat thermometer into the thick part of the chicken between the thigh and the breast. The finished chicken should also be beautifully browned and crispy on the outside.
TIP: Because the weight of each chicken used may vary a bit, keep an eye on it! Yours may take slightly less time or slightly more time to finish cooking. Check the temperature occasionally, to make sure it is not overcooked or undercooked.
Time To Serve The Air Fryer Whole Chicken
Transfer the whole chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. This “resting time” allows the juices time to redistribute throughout the chicken. After the air fryer whole chicken has rested, slice away! A whole chicken can be cut into 8 pieces, with two pieces each of the breasts, legs, thighs, and wings.
I hope you enjoy making and eating this air fryer whole chicken! We enjoy cooking whole chickens this way, and love the flavor and the way it turns out. Thanks for stopping by today, and I invite you to come back again soon for more recipes! Take care, and have a GREAT day!
Looking For More AIR FRYER Recipes?
You can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. I have a nice variety of air fryer recipes, including:
- Air Fryer Chicken Chimichangas
- Italian Meatballs (air fryer)
- Asian BBQ Chicken Wings (air fryer)
- Glazed Butternut Squash (air fryer)
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↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Use your air fryer to make an Air Fryer Whole Chicken in about 1 hour! The crispy, well-seasoned and browned chicken tastes delicious!
- 4½ pound whole chicken giblets removed from cavity
- 1½ Tablespoons olive oil
- 2½ Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons paprika
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons black pepper
- 1½ teaspoons onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon dry mustard powder
Remove giblets from the cavity of the chicken. Rinse and pat the chicken dry using paper towels. Use kitchen twine or raffia to tie the legs of the chicken together. This helps the chicken cook evenly! Tuck the wings snugly under chicken for cooking.
Mix spices together in a medium-sized bowl. NOTE: This will yield about ½ cup spice mix; you only need 4 T. spice mix for one chicken (so save the rest for another time). Place 4 Tablespoons of the combined homemade spice mixture and the olive oil into a separate bowl. Stir to combine, then rub entire chicken with the spice mix. Be sure to spread some spice mix inside the chicken cavity.
Preheat air fryer to 360°F. (about 4-5 minutes). Place seasoned chicken into fryer basket BREAST SIDE DOWN. Cook chicken at 360°F. for about 45-50 minutes. Carefully turn chicken over (now breast side UP). Continue cooking 10 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Because weight of chickens used may vary, keep an eye on it! Check internal temp. occasionally, to make sure it isn't overcooked or undercooked.
Transfer chicken to cutting board; let it rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. This allows juices time to redistribute through the meat. Once chicken has rested, slice away, and serve!
NOTE: Estimated caloric calculation made using 8 pieces of chicken divided between total calories. Depending on the size piece consumed, calorie count may vary. The total amount of spices were used to calculate nutrients, however you will not use all the spice mix for one chicken.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!