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This Air Fryer Crispy Chilli Chicken recipe is quick and easy to make with gorgeously crisp chicken and a sweet chilli sauce. It’s naturally gluten free, ready in 15 minutes and air frying it makes it so much healthier than the take-away, deep-fried version.
This Crispy Chilli Chicken Recipe Is SO Easy!
- Why choose this recipe? This crispy chilli chicken recipe came at the behest of a LOT of requests after demonstrating my crispy chilli beef recipe at a food event! It’s a variation on that recipe using chicken thighs, and it is SO good. It uses cornflour so is naturally gluten free, and way quicker than ordering takeout!
- No Air Fryer? You can bake this recipe in an oven at 220C for 15-20 minutes until crispy and cooked through. But I recommend using an air fryer for the best result.
- Top Tip: Give the chicken strips some space in the air fryer – this helps them to crisp up! If you cram too much in, they will just stick together and go soft.
- Serving Suggestion: Serve this crispy chilli chicken with stir-fried gluten free egg noodles, egg fried rice, or with dishes like gluten free cashew chicken or salt and pepper chicken. Bonus points for a side of gluten free prawn toast!
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below for this air fryer crispy chilli chicken recipe with the full quantities. But here are the main ingredients and ideas for any swaps.
- Chicken Thigh: I recommend using chicken thigh fillets cut into thin strips. I found chicken breast can go dry quite quickly, though you could swap if you really want.
- Spray Oil: I tend to use an oil with a high smoking point as it’s better for air frying, like avocado oil, rapeseed oil or vegetable oil.
- Cornflour: This is naturally gluten free and helps create that light, crispy coating.
- Garlic and Ginger: I use pastes as I don’t want any lumps in my marinade!
- Sesame Oil: Essential for that classic taste.
- Tamari: Or gluten free soy sauce. Just make sure you double check it’s free from gluten as normal soy sauce contains wheat flour.
- Spring Onions
- Sweet Chilli Sauce: I just find this *so* much quicker and easier than making my own. Most sweet chilli sauce is gluten free but always double check.
This crispy chilli chicken recipe is naturally egg and dairy free as well as gluten free, so there’s no need to make any extra swaps to adapt it for multiple allergens.
How to Make Crispy Chilli Chicken
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free crispy chicken recipe is to make in the air fryer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy crispy chilli chicken. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
This recipe is definitely best eaten fresh. However, any leftover crispy chilli chicken can be kept in the fridge – I recommend storing it before adding the sauce as this will make it soften. Reheat in the air fryer to get that nice crunch back!
Yes, you can. This recipe is definitely best eaten fresh but you can freeze any leftovers to avoid food waste. I recommend freezing the cooked crispy chicken without adding the sauce, then reheating in the air fryer before eating to get that crispiness back.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can spray the pieces of coated chicken with oil and lay them out evenly on a baking tray. Bake for around 15-20 minutes at 220C / Fan 200C / Gas Mark 7 until the chicken is cooked through. It may not go quite as crispy as it would in the air fryer but it should still crispy up nicely.
More Gluten Free Fake-Away Recipes
If you loved making this crispy chilli chicken air fryer recipe, you simply have to team it up with some of my other favourite fake-aways!
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Cut the chicken thighs into thin (1-2cm) strips. Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then pour over the beef chicken. Mix well so the chicken is coated – at this stage you can either refrigerate overnight for maximum flavour, or continue on with the next step.
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Pour the cornflour over the marinated chicken strips and mix together using a spoon (or your hands!) – it should form a thick, sticky batter which coats all the chicken pieces.
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Liberally spray the air fryer basket (with grill tray) with spray oil. Lay the chicken strips out in one layer, with some space between them. I have a dual-basket air fryer with smaller baskets, so I divided the chicken between the two. Alternatively you could cook this in batches – the space is crucial to ensure the chicken goes crispy!
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Air fry at 220C (428F) for 6 minutes, then open the drawer and turn the chicken over (or give it a good shake). Air fry for another 3-4 minutes at 220C (428F) until crispy and sizzling.
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Turn the crispy chicken strips into a bowl and serve with sweet chilli sauce drizzled on top and a sprinkle of chopped spring onions. Great with gluten free noodles or rice, or your favourite Asian dishes!
- Storage: Any leftover crispy chilli chicken can be kept in the fridge – I recommend storing it before adding the sauce as this will make it soften. Reheat in the air fryer to get that nice crunch back! You can also freeze any leftovers and air fry to reheat.
- No Air Fryer? Spread the coated chicken strips on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 220C / Fan 200C / Gas Mark 7 for 15-20 minutes until crispy.
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos of this method if you find it easier to follow a visual guide.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and a little comment if you make this Air Fryer Crispy Chicken recipe and love it. It really helps support my blog and get the recipe out there to more people! Thank you xx
Serving: 1 portion (minus sweet chilli sauce) | Calories: 450kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 28g
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