Brine and Marinade. That’s the secret for crispy-skinned, tender and juicy Air Fryer Chicken. My recipe is warm, savory, and deeply sweet with its rosemary and clove marinade. Perfect for those cold winter days.
It’s the damndest thing. I’m in bed or on the train or out for a run and can write an entire blog post in my head. I know exactly what I want to say and how I want to say it. I’m filled with Air Fryer Chicken poetry and newsy bits that make life sound interesting. And then I sit down to type it all out. And all of a sudden…. It’s like I’ve had one too many glasses of wine. My mind is broken. The ideas slur together. My eyes gloss over.
Well, perhaps I have had one too many glasses of wine. As I’ve gotten older – a mature 30 to be exact – Sundays have become my favorite day of the week. I sit here drinking my second glass of Sunday afternoon wine, the snow sprinkling down outside the window, boyfriend drinking an espresso at the bar beside me, our suspender-clad barista is whistling some snappy tune. And I am happy.
Happy to have an extra hour this week to do something for me other than sleep and eat and work and commute and sleep. I suppose going to the gym is for me, but it’s also so routine. It’s a non-negotiable – like brushing my teeth or feeding my dog.
Two months ago, I had another few hours of me time. (Of course, this is all an exaggeration. There’s been plenty of me time, it’s just that there’s a difference between energized me time and exhausted me time.) And with those few energized hours, I made Air Fryer Chicken. A WHOLE Air Fryer Chicken. And I did not take any shortcuts.
Brine and Marinate. Brine and Marinate. Never. Ever. Don’t Brine. I truly think that makes all the difference.
Please keep in mind that I’ve had two glasses of wine this afternoon and I am not going to look up the scientific facts behind the brining process, but instead am going to relay that from memory. But this is why I think brining is important:
For Air Fryer Chicken or any skin-on chicken for that matter, brining is important. You are soaking that chicken in salted (and sugared) water. I put sugar in parentheses because I think the salt is the important part. After 30 minutes, you pull it out of the brine and let the naked chicken sit in the refrigerator for several hours. Something about that salt pulls all the moisture out of the skin. But leaves all that moisture inside the meat. OR SO I SAY, but bless you if you take my tipsy word for it. Once you air fry it, that skin gets super crispy and the meat inside stays tender and juicy. Just like a rotisserie chicken, but better. An Air Fryer Chicken. A whole Air Fryer Chicken.
Voila!
(I’d like to end the post right here because I think it’s clever and to the point, but since I haven’t spoken about the marinade yet, I better at least mention it.) I knew I wanted a winter marinade – something warm, savory, and deeply sweet. I can’t remember exactly what ingredient I started on, but I took out The Flavor Bible and first paged to “rosemary” (or “cloves “or “yogurt” or “chicken” or “orange”) and eventually found these five ingredients to be a common thread that would make a delicious winter marinade – something warm, savory, and deeply sweet.
And so there you have it, Air Fryer Chicken in Warm Rosemary Marinade.
Air Fryer Chicken in Warm Rosemary Marinade
Brine and Marinade. That’s the secret for crispy-skinned, tender and juicy Air Fryer Chicken. My recipe is warm, savory, and deeply sweet with its rosemary and clove marinade. Perfect for those cold winter days.
Ingredients
For the brine:
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 5 pound whole chicken or similar size
For the marinade:
- 1 ½ cups plain fat free yogurt
- ¼ cup chopped rosemary
- ½ tbsp ground cloves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
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Brine the chicken. In a large bowl, combine water, salt, and sugar. Whisk until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add chicken and let soak for 30 minutes. Remove, rinse, and pat dry. Let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
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Prepare the marinade: In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for the marinade. Rub evenly over every surface of the chicken.
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Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees F. Spray air fryer basket with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the air fryer and cook 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook another 30 minutes or until completely cooked through. Skin should be crispy.
I own this BELLA 2.5L Air Fryer and I LOVE it! If I had a bigger kitchen and were feeding more than just myself, I’d definitely go bigger. The BELLA 5.3qt Air Fryer has excellent reviews and is still very affordable.
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