Air Fryer Blackened Chicken

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Air Fryer Blackened Chicken is spicy, delicious and so easy! Made with homemade cajun seasoning and ready in the air fryer in under 10 minutes, you'll have a great prepped protein for all your meal prep needs.
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Plate of blackened chicken.

Air Fryer Blackened Chicken is spicy, delicious and easy! This is going to be your go to meal prep. It’s quick, easy, flavorful and all clean whole ingredients.

This chicken is perfect for meal prep due to its versatility. You can add it to salads, sandwiches, pasta, tacos or by itself for a quick and easy protein snack. It is good in anything, on anything and with anything. We make it every single Sunday and I’m pretty sure this one is my all time favorite recipe. 

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • Tastes good on and in basically anything!
  • All clean and easy accessibly ingredients. 
  • This air fryer blackened chicken is so easy to make and ready in under 10 minutes in the air fryer. 
  • You can easily adjust the spice to your liking with the cayenne pepper. 
  • Freezer friendly!
  • Meal prep friendly. 

Can you BBQ this chicken?

You can definitely BBQ or bake this air fryer blackened chicken recipe. If you BBQ do not cut the chicken into strips. Pound the chicken thin to approx. 3/4″ thick and season the entire chicken breast. Place on the BBQ and cook until completely cooked through. 

How do you track this recipe in MyFitnessPal?

MyFitnessPal tracking tip: weigh your meat raw and enter as a recipe ingredient. Weigh your meat upon cooking and set as your total number of servings. Each time you use the meat enter the total grams used as your serving size.

Nutrition facts for using 1 lbs. of raw chicken and 4 cooked servings. 

This recipe can be used for up to 2 lbs. of chicken. Note the seasoning will be less with more chicken.

Blackened chicken on a white plate.

Can you freeze this chicken?

Yes!! Stop buying frozen chicken and prep yourself this air fryer blackened chicken recipe and place in freezer safe bags. Grab them straight out of the freezer and reheat in the air fryer or microwave. 

Sliced blackened chicken on a wooden cutting board.

What to pair the air fryer blackened chicken with?

Check out these blackened chicken recipes: 

“Cannot even begin to explain how good the air fryer blackened chicken from @ohsnapmacros is. They’re easy, minimal ingredients reheat well and work with everything!!”

@mo.tiu.425

Plate of blackened chicken.

Air Fryer Blackened Chicken

Danielle Lima
Air Fryer Blackened Chicken is spicy, delicious and so easy! Made with homemade cajun seasoning and ready in the air fryer in under 10 minutes, you'll have a great prepped protein for all your meal prep needs.
5 from 22 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings
Calories 145 kcal

📱 MyFitnessPal & MacrosFirst App Users

You can find this recipe and many others on MyFitnessPal and MacrosFirst by searching: Ohsnapmacros – Air Fryer Blackened Chicken

Equipment

  • Air Fryer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs.  chicken breast
  • 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp.  salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/4 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions
 

  • Mix seasonings in a deep mixing bowl and set aside.
  • Slice chicken breast into strips. Add chicken to bowl of seasonings and mix together well to evenly coat.
  • Preheat air fryer. Lay chicken in air fryer without any pieces overlapping. Cook at 380 for 8 minutes.
    You can also pan sear, bake or BBQ this chicken. If baking – either cut into strips or leave in whole breasts and bake at 375 for approx. 20-25 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink. If BBQing – pound chicken breasts to approximately 1/2 inch thick. Top with the seasonings and coat well on all sides. BBQ on both sides until cooked through, approximately 4-5 minutes each side. If pan searing – suggest cutting into strips and searing a hot cast iron until cooked through.

Notes

Depending on the thickness of your cut strips cooking time will vary. See photo of thickness of my slices. Serving size 100 grams cooked chicken. This recipe can be used for up to 2 lbs of chicken. Note the seasoning will be less intense with more chicken.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 3oz. cookedCalories: 145kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 26gFat: 3g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

39 Comments

  1. This is the BEST way to meal prep chicken for salads! I would typically just oven roast with some seasoning and olive oil, but this took my salad to the next level ??

  2. These chicken strips are better than any frozen ones you can buy! They are so easy and delicious! I am a baby when it comes to cayenne, so I either leave it out or only use about 1/4 tsp and it’s perfect for me and my fam! Delicious!

  3. This chicken recipe is on repeat at my house when we have chicken breast thawed out. Perfect for a bowl, quesadilla, a pita, a pasta bowl, literally anything! Super tasty and easy.

  4. 5 stars
    Our Costco stopped carrying blackened chicken tenders for a long period of time so I tried these. Now we ONLY make these instead of buying them. 10/10

  5. 5 stars
    I make this all the time & it’s so good!! I love to make it with chicken thighs (personal preference) & sometimes cook it on a cast-iron skillet. The combination of seasonings is amazing!! I will never buy the brand name version ever again!!

  6. 5 stars
    LOVE IT! Do you think I could make this in the oven as well? if so, for how long and at what temperature?
    Thank you! Big fan of your recipes

  7. Perfect seasoning on this chicken to spice up my salads and warps. Air Fryer makes the chicken a perfect texture for me! My go to prep!

  8. 5 stars
    This was so easy to make, and I had all the seasonings already on hand! I’ve put it over noodles, and in burrito bowls. Great and versatile!

  9. 5 stars
    I wish I found this recipe sooner! It’s SO easy! I’ve been using it for meal prep and looking forward to eating it for lunch in my salads each day. It is crispy and flavorful (even days later). I will be using this at least once a week moving forward.

  10. 5 stars
    I made your air fryer blackened chicken last night instead of buying the Tyson ones. We didn’t air fry it, because we were grilling so just tossed it in there.

    Why have I waited so long? So good. So easy. 💯 better!!!

    1. Amazing!! It is my absolute favorite and can be used so many different ways. Love this! Thank you for sharing.

  11. 5 stars
    Huge fan for everyone in the family who loves the recipe (even my picky 8 year old) and can choose to use the chicken however it works for them throughout the week.

  12. 5 stars
    The best chicken to meal prep for the week ahead! I love to use this recipe in my wraps for lunch during the week!

  13. I CANNOT recommend this recipe enough for quick grab and go meal prep throughout the week! It’s delicious in wraps, on salads, quick tacos..the flavor of the chicken is next level! Best part is, it takes less than 10 minutes to make! This is a weekly staple in our house!

  14. 5 stars
    My go-to chicken for everything– pasta, salads, entree’s, shredded, etc. It goes perfectly with everything and tastes delicious!!

  15. 5 stars
    This chicken is the best. I put my on a tortilla with spinach and a touch of chick fil a said for the perfect spicy snack wrap. The whole family loved it!

  16. 5 stars
    DO NOT MISS OUT ON MAKING THIS! This is a staple- I use this chicken for everything. Delicious!

  17. 5 stars
    This is my go-to for meal prep. It’s great on salads, wraps, pasta, etc!! So easy and simple, yet so good!

  18. 5 stars
    This is the best, easiest chicken recipe! I make it in bulk weekly and have to for lunches. Great for chicken tacos/fajitas too!

      1. It’s the same! You’re just cutting chicken breast into tenderloins so buying tenderloins will work great and save you a step.

  19. 5 stars
    Had this tonight with chips and peas. My first meal cooked in my new air fryer. Chicken nice and moist. Will cook again.

  20. 5 stars
    This chicken is SO good. I doubled the recipe but kept the cayenne halved because I’m a baby and it was the perfect kick!

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