Frozen Chicken Breasts in Air Fryer

This air fryer recipe for cooking frozen chicken breasts has helped me many nights get dinner on the table straight from the freezer! I’m sharing all my tips for ensuring the chicken is cooked through, including times, when and how to season them, and more.

Can You Cook Chicken From Frozen in the Air Fryer?

Believe it or not, you can cook frozen chicken without thawing it first. If you’re like me and frozen chicken breasts are your go-to ingredient for making delicious chicken dinners, you’re going to love this cooking method.

It works with plain breasts or frozen marinated chicken breasts. And yes, you can even make frozen chicken tenders in the air fryer! The best part is that the air fryer can help you prevent freezer-burned chicken by using up your uncooked stash.

How Much Frozen Chicken Can You Put in the Air Fryer?

The size of your air fryer basket will determine how much frozen chicken can be cooked at the same time. The frozen pieces need to fit in a single layer without being stacked on top of each other, leaving enough room between them for the hot air to move around.

In my standard air fryer, these are typically round or square, I can fit 2 to 3 large pieces of frozen chicken. In my XL rectangular air fryer, I can fit 5 sometimes up to 6 chicken breasts.

How to Make Frozen Chicken Breasts in the Air Fryer 

Having cooked frozen chicken breasts in the air fryer many times, there are some tips that can be helpful to know ahead of time for each step. They are:

1. Preheat
   You want to start out with a hot basket and a warm temperature inside the air fryer. If your air fryer has a preheat mode, use that; otherwise, 5 minutes at 400F is all you need.
2. Cook the first side
   Place the frozen chicken breasts in the air fryer, without any seasoning, and cook them for half of the total cooking time.
3. Season
   Right before flipping the chicken breasts over, halfway through the cooking process, you’ll brush or spoon the olive oil and seasoning mixture over both sides.
4. Cook the second side
   After seasoning, flip the partially cooked chicken breasts over and finish cooking them until the internal temperature reaches 165F. Cooking time will vary see chart.

When to Season Frozen Chicken in the Air Fryer

When cooking frozen chicken in the air fryer, I recommend seasoning the chicken breasts after they’re flipped halfway through the cooking process. At this point, they’ve already thawed out and begun to cook, so the seasoning will stay on the chicken meat itself.

If you want to use a sauce, trust me when I tell you that you’ll want to wait to coat them with the sauce until they’re almost done cooking to prevent the sauce from burning in the air fryer -it’s the sugars in the sauce that burn.

How Long To Cook Frozen Chicken in the Air Fryer 

Frozen chicken breasts can take anywhere between 15 and 35 minutes to cook in the air fryer at 400F, which is why when I’m in a hurry, I’ll cook frozen butterflied chicken breasts, which are half as thick as regular.

These cooking times are approximate total cooking times of frozen chicken breasts when measured at the thickest part of the breast –more notes on frozen breast thickness further down.

Frozen Chicken Breast Thickness	Air Fryer Time
Thin – ½ inch	10 to 12 minutes
Medium – 1 inch	15 to 18 minutes
Thick – 1 ½ inches	25 to 30 minutes
Thick – 2 inches	30 to 35 minutes

How to Know When Air Fryer Chicken Is Done

Using a digital meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken breast cooked in the air fryer is the best way to know for sure if the chicken is done.

Without a thermometer, check doneness when you’re about 3 minutes away from reaching the estimated total cooking time based on the size (thickness) of the frozen chicken breast. To check, slice the chicken through the thickest part and visually confirm that the chicken meat is white and no longer wet or pinkish-looking.

Can You Make Frozen Cooked Chicken in the Air Fryer

If you grilled or pan-seared chicken breasts and froze them, already cooked, for future meals, you can use the air fryer to thaw and reheat them. Technically they’re already cooked.

To make a meal with frozen and cooked chicken breasts, first, preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes. Then, place the frozen-cooked chicken breasts in the basket in a single layer and heat them up at 375F for 8 to 10 minutes-the total time will vary depending on their thickness.

Quick Sides for Frozen Air Fryer Chicken

Some of my favorite sides to serve include cilantro lime rice, avocado salsa to serve on top, a quick side salad, or an easy alfredo pasta when I need to feed hungry teens. If you have a double air fryer, you can also whip up some air fryer baby carrots or air-fried Brussels sprouts.