These saucy Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Legs turn out so juicy and flavorful! Just 4 ingredients and they cook in 20 minutes! They will quickly become a weeknight favorite!
BBQ chicken is such a familiar food. We all grew up eating BBQ chicken at one point or another.
As my husband and I were chatting about all the great BBQ dishes, we realized we haven’t had BBQ chicken legs in over 10 years! We did make some in our air fryer about a year ago, so we used that as our starting point for this recipe.
The advantage of the legs is twofold. One, it makes me feel like a kid. I can’t explain it, but when I am eating chicken legs cooked in any way, I can’t help but smile. The second is they are so easy to make and eat!
They leave tender meat, and crispy skin, and you can eat them with or without silverware!
These take just 4 ingredients, cook in 20 minutes, and the entire family will enjoy gobbling them up! So sauce and delicious, these are really hard to resist!
About Time
- Prep Time 5 mins
- Cook Time 20 mins
- Total Time 25 mins
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons BBQ dry rub see notes
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce more to taste
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Add the chicken, olive oil, and BBQ rub to a bowl, and use your hands to coat the chicken in the rub.
- Arrange the chicken in the air fryer basket. Do not overcrowd. You may have to work in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Cook for 17 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through.
- Baste the chicken with the BBQ sauce and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes or until the chicken has reached at least 165 degrees and up to 185 degrees, see notes.
- Sprinkle chicken with parsley and serve hot.
Amount Per Serving
Serving: 2legs | Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 234mg | Sodium: 412mg | Sugar: 7g
NOTES
The USDA recommends cooking chicken to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees, which is perfect for chicken breasts and thighs. Chicken legs tend to have a better texture and are more tender when cooked to 185 degrees.
You can add as much or as little sauce to your chicken legs as you like, depending on how saucy you want the finished product. The sauce will caramelize a bit in the air fryer and get a bit sticky, but these are still a bit messy to eat, especially if you use a lot of sauce (my kids think this is part of the fun!).
