Sweet Chili Air Fryer Chicken (Printable)
Juicy chicken thighs with a sweet-spicy chili glaze, air-fried until golden and crispy in under 35 minutes.
# What You'll Need:
→ Chicken
01 - 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, about 2 lbs
→ Marinade & Glaze
02 - 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
03 - 2 tablespoons soy sauce
04 - 1 tablespoon honey
05 - 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
06 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
07 - 2 garlic cloves, minced
08 - 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
09 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
10 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
→ Garnish
11 - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
12 - 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
13 - 1 lime, cut into wedges
# How-To Steps:
01 - Pat the chicken thighs thoroughly dry with paper towels to ensure maximum crispiness during air frying.
02 - In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, olive oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, salt, and black pepper until well combined.
03 - Place the chicken thighs in a large zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour 2/3 of the marinade over the chicken, reserving the remaining 1/3 for glazing. Seal and marinate for at least 20 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
04 - Preheat your air fryer to 390°F.
05 - Remove the chicken from the marinade, shaking off any excess. Place the thighs skin-side down in the air fryer basket in a single layer, ensuring they are not overlapping.
06 - Air fry for 12 minutes, then flip the chicken thighs and brush generously with the reserved marinade. Continue air frying for another 10 minutes, or until the skin is golden and crispy and the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
07 - Transfer the chicken to a plate and let rest for 3 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice before serving.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The glaze caramelizes in the air fryer into something that tastes like it took hours, not minutes.
- Bone in, skin on thighs stay impossibly juicy while the outside gets shatteringly crisp.
- Most of the magic happens in a zip top bag, so cleanup is almost embarrassingly easy.
02 -
- Patting the chicken thoroughly dry before it touches the marinade is the single biggest factor in getting truly crispy skin.
- Reserving part of the marinade separately for glazing keeps it safe from raw chicken contamination and gives you that layered, glossy finish.
03 -
- For maximum caramelization, brush on a second coat of reserved glaze during the last two minutes of cooking and watch it bubble into a sticky shellac.
- If your sweet chili sauce is very mild, a pinch of red pepper flakes in the marinade adds dimension without making it genuinely spicy.