Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken

Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken is easy to make without the mess—or extra calories!—of deep frying. This version gets a hit of mouth-tingling spice from Szechuan peppercorns and a topping of stir-fried hot chiles and sliced garlic.

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I love to make Salt and Pepper Chicken by deep frying it on occasion. But sometimes I just don’t want to deal with the mess, or the extra calories, that comes with making deep fried food at home. But I swear, this Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken is just as delicious as the deep fried version.

Before you cook this recipe, read out my post on How to Air Fry Chicken for some tips and techniques that will ensure success.

Made in the air fryer, this salt and pepper chicken is just as crispy and crunchy as the deep fried version. It also has the same spicy chile-garlic topping.

The flavors of ginger, garlic, white pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, and chiles explode in your mouth.

What ingredients do you need?

Most of the ingredients needed to make Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken are widely available in supermarkets. I’ve offered easy substitutions for those items that might be harder to

• Shaoxing wine (or substitute dry sherry, dry white wine, sake, or even beer). You can buy Shaoxing wine at Asian markets or online.
• Fresh ginger
• Fresh garlic
• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• Cornstarch or potato starch
• Oil for spritzing or brushing
• Red or green chile peppers (you can use fresno, jalapeno, serrano, or another chile.)
• Ground white pepper
• Szechuan Pepper Salt or Sichuan Pepper Salt (make your own using the linked recipe or find it at an Asian market or buy Szechuan pepper-salt online). This is optional, but really takes the dish over the top.

How do you make it?

1. See my post on how to make Air Fryer Fried Chicken for helpful tips.
2. Combine the marinade ingredients and add the chicken. Toss to coat and then marinate for at least 20 minutes or as long as overnight (in the refrigerator if more than 20 minutes).
3. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.
4. Put the cornstarch in a separate bowl.
5. Dunk the chicken pieces first in the cornstarch, then in the egg, and then in the cornstarch again to coat.
6. Arrange the coated chicken pieces in the air fryer in a single layer and spritz or brush with oil.
7. Air fry the chicken, flipping it over halfway through cooking if you are using a basket style air fryer or an air fryer lid on a pressure cooker.
8. While the chicken is cooking, saute the chilies and garlic.
9. When the chicken is finished air frying, transfer it to a medium bowl and toss with the chile-garlic topping and season with the Szechuan Pepper-Salt and white pepper.

Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken Frequently Asked Questions

more fried chicken recipes you’ll love

If you love these crunchy fried chicken bites, try my Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken, Air Fryer Sesame Chicken, Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken, Chicken Karaage, and Chicken Pakora.

Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken

Robin Donovan

Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Chicken is easy to make without the mess—or extra calories!—of deep frying. This version gets a hit of mouth-tingling spice from Szechuan peppercorns and a topping of white pepper and stir-fried hot chiles and sliced garlic.

4.91 from 20 votes

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Additional Time 20 mins

Total Time 55 mins

Course Main Dish Recipes

Cuisine Chinese

Calories 530 kcal

Ingredients

  

To marinate the chicken

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Shiaoxing wine or substitute mirin, sake, sochu, or dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For dredging and air frying

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cornstarch
• Oil for spritzing or brushing

For the topping

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 to 6 chiles like serrano, red or green or a combination, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon Szechuan pepper-salt see note

Instructions

 

• Line the air fryer basket with parchment paper or a reusable silicone liner (see note).
• In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, salt, and pepper and toss to coat the chicken. Let marinate for at least 20 minutes. If you want to marinate the chicken for longer, cover and refrigerate it for as long as overnight.
• Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.
• Put the cornstarch in a separate shallow bowl.
• Dunk the chicken pieces first in the cornstarch, then in the egg, and then in the cornstarch again to coat. Arrange the coated chicken pieces on the parchment paper in the air fryer.
• Once all of the chicken is coated and arranged in the air fryer (you will likely have to do this in 2 batches), spritz or brush the chicken with a bit of cooking oil.
• Air fry the chicken at 400ºF for 8 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces over, spritz or brush with a bit more oil, and then cook for another 7 minutes at 400ºF.
• While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once it is sizzling and begins to foam, add the chiles and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the chiles begin to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
• When the chicken is finished in the air fryer, transfer it to a serving bowl or platter. Add the fried chiles and garlic and toss gently to distribute. Sprinkle with the white pepper and the pepper-salt and serve immediately.

Notes

1. If you don’t have Shiaoxing wine, you can substitute sake, dry sherry, dry white wine, or even beer.

2. Instead of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, you can use bone-in wings or drumsticks. You’ll want to cook them a bit longer to make sure they’re cooked through.

3. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cooks often use potato starch in place of cornstarch for dredging. It tends to make a crunchier coating but doesn’t brown as well. You can substitute potato starch or you can use a combination of the two.

4. You can make Szechuan Pepper-Salt yourself or buy it online or in an Asian market. If you don’t have it, you can substitute kosher salt and ground black pepper.

5. Choose your chiles based on how spicy you want the dish to be. You can use very spicy Thai chiles, spicy serrano chiles, milder Jalapenos, or even milder fresnos. If you don’t want any heat at all from the chiles, use red and/or green bell peppers instead.

6. I like to line my air fryer basket with perforated parchment paper liners or a silicone liner to make flipping and cleanup easier. See the post for links to purchase either of these.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 530kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 46gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 308mgSodium: 970mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4g

Keyword air fryer, air fryer salt and pepper chicken, salt and pepper chicken

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