Crunchy Air Fried BBQ Chicken Drumsticks Recipe

At Ajpal, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Crunchy Air Fryer Drumsticks

If you love our delicious baked BBQ chicken drumsticks, but want a faster, easier way to make them in a fraction of the time, this recipe is for you!

We’re using an air fryer to crisp and crunch chicken drumsticks, layer BBQ sauce flavor, and make the most insanely delicious chicken drumsticks you’ll crave all the time.

These chicken drumsticks are easy to whip up, don’t involve any previous cooking experience, and make a great hearty low carb meal.

For a great easy recipe to make from-frozen BBQ chicken drumsticks, check out out The Best Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Legs.

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!

How To Cook Chicken Drumsticks In The Air Fryer

Cooking drumsticks in an air fryer is a delicious, easy way to get crunchy, juicy, deep-fried chicken flavor without all the extra oil or carb-y breading.

If you love crunchy chicken drumsticks, be sure to check my top tips for perfect air fried chicken drusticks below:

Preheat air fryer

Run your air fryer for a few minutes before adding the food so it is hot and ready to go when you go to air fry your chicken drumsticks.

This is optional, but I feel it helps the skin to puff up and get a crispy “fried” texture.

Crisp, Then Add Sauce

This recipe uses a method to layer the sauce on to get a crunchy “crust” throughout the cooking, similar to my baked BBQ Chicken drumsticks.

We will first let chicken fat render and let skin crisp as we build a bark to the chicken with BBQ sauce without drowning it in sauce – so it stays crispy, crunchy, and delicious.

At the end, we will hit it with a bit of extra sauce for the classic BBQ messy texture and flavor!

Don’t Open Too Often

Since air fryers are completely sealed off, it’s hard to judge your chicken’s doneness by the look of it.

Don’t open your air fryer constantly, letting heat escape – trust in the timing of the recipe, and a handy rapid-read digital meat thermometer.

Check the temperature of the chicken when you’re already opening the air fryer to flip them – don’t open it just to check the temperature or too much heat will escape.

Use a Digital Thermometer

When your timer is done, immediately test the temperature of the chicken pieces with a digital thermometer inserted into the middle of the thickest part of the chicken drumstick without touching bone.

Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees internally.

If chicken has not met 165 degrees internally, add another 2-5 minutes to cook time.

Don’t crowd basket

Air fryers help get hot air to circulate around the chicken drumstick to get a heat so high it makes meat taste fried – and to do that, it helps to not crowd the pan.

Put the chicken in your air fryer pan in a way they aren’t crowding each other – it makes a huge difference.

The Best Chicken Drumsticks Recipes

If you love chicken drumsticks, be sure to check out our favorite recipes:

Baked Chicken Legs

Roasted Greek Chicken Drumsticks

BBQ Chicken Quarters

Easy Grilled Tandoori Chicken

You can find the rest of our chicken drumstick recipes here.

Instant Pot Air Fried Chicken Drumsticks

If you have a crisping lid for your Instant pot, or an Instant Pot Duo crisp, you can also use your Instant Pot to air fry chicken!

If you’d like to buy an Instant Pot with pressure cook and air fry functions, click here.

Use the method below to make these chicken drumsticks in your Instant Pot:

Instant Pot Air Fried Chicken Legs

• Prep chicken legs as called for in recipe below.
• Place the chicken drumsticks in the CrispLid basket.
• Place the trivet and the basket inside the inner steel pot.
• Place the Crisplid on the Instant Pot.
• Set to 425°F and follow instructions in recipe below.

FAQs

Chicken drumsticks are done when they reach 165 internal temperature at the thickest part of the drumstick.
Take care to not get the thermometer probe too close to the bone when gauging temperature or your temperature will be inaccurate.

Air fried chicken drumsticks can last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

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