Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Thighs and Potatoes

Air Fryer Chicken Thighs and Potatoes. Bone-in chicken thighs with a mustard and panko bread crumb crust, air-fried on a bed of baby potatoes - it tastes fancy, but it is an easy meal to put together. Salt the thighs, rub them with mustard, and then coat them with panko breadcrumbs. Halve the baby potatoes, salt them, toss them in oil, then lay them in a single layer at the bottom of a preheated air fryer. Set the panko-crusted chicken thighs on top and air fry for 35 minutes, flipping them over after 20 minutes to brown evenly.

Jump to:

• Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
• Step-By-Step Pictures of Air Fryer Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
• Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Make Ahead and Storage
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

As I've said many times before, I am a fan of dark meat chicken - especially chicken thighs. They are cheap and full of flavor. This is one of my favorite ways to dress thighs up and make them fancy - baking them with a crispy mustard and bread crumb crust. I have an oven version of this recipe, and an air fryer is just a countertop convection oven in a convenient form factor, so it is perfect to make a small batch of this chicken.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Panko bread crumbs: Panko is Japanese bread crumbs, which are larger and more flaky than typical American store-bought bread crumbs. You can use regular bread crumbs if you have to, but Panko makes a much better crust for these chicken thighs. If you do get regular bread crumbs, I like using the Italian-style crumbs because they add extra herbs that pair well with the mustard.
• Dijon Mustard: Any mustard will do, even cheap yellow mustard. The only mustard I don't recommend is whole grain mustard - it doesn't cling to the chicken and panko as well due to the chunky grains of mustard. (Stone-ground mustard is fine.)
• Baby potatoes: Any baby potato will do - red, white, yukon gold, fingerling - they will all work well in this recipe.
• Big potatoes cut into chunks: You can also use whole potatoes, cut into 1-inch to 2-inch chunks in this recipe. They should cook in about the same amount of time as the baby potatoes.
• Other cuts of chicken: Chicken drumsticks are a great substitute - they cook about 5 minutes faster than the thighs. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs cook too quickly - the crust will not get crispy. And, sigh, if you have to, you can use chicken breasts in this recipe. Bone-in, skin-on breasts will cook in about the same amount of time. Try to cook them to an internal temperature of 160°F so they don't dry out. (Chicken breast is less forgiving about overcooking than chicken thighs.)
• Adding herbs or spices to the panko: I'm doing a simple version of this recipe, but you can make it fancier by mixing some herbs or spices in with the panko. Some suggestions are: a half-teaspoon of garlic powder, a half-teaspoon of smoked Spanish paprika, a half-teaspoon of dried thyme, or (my favorite) a half-teaspoon of dried Herbes de Provence herb blend.

Step-By-Step Pictures of Air Fryer Chicken Thighs and Potatoes

Coat the chicken with mustard and panko breadcrumbs

Toss the chicken thighs with the mustard, then press into the panko to give it an even crust

Toss the potaotes with olive oil and salt

Potatoes and chicken into 400°F Air Fryer for 35 minutes...

...flipping the chicken after 20 minutes

Serve and enjoy

At 35 minutes, the chicken should be golden brown and delicious.

Adapted from: Baked Mustard-Herb chicken legs, Mark Bittman and the New York Times.

Print

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should I pre-heat the air fryer? Yes, this recipe works better when you pre-heat the air fryer. Wait for it to reach temperature before adding the potatoes and chicken.
• How big of an air fryer do I need? You need to be able to fit the potatoes in one layer, and the chicken in another single layer. (No stacking the chicken, or the bread crumb crust will not brown.) I have a 6-quart air fryer, which was the perfect size for this recipe.
• Can I double this recipe? Not in a 6-quart air fryer - the chicken needs to be in a single layer. You can increase the recipe size if you have a larger air fryer; as long as you can fit the thighs in a single layer, not touching, you can add more thighs.
  

Make Ahead and Storage

This recipe is not a good one to make ahead - the panko will get soggy, and not crisp up in the air fryer. Leftovers will last for a couple of days in the refrigerator - the panko will get soggy, but the coat of browned panko still tastes good. You can save the whole legs; I like to cut the meat off the bone and into bite-sized chunks, then save the meat and potatoes in 2-cup containers so I can have it as a grab-and-go lunch later in the week.

Related Posts

Quick Air Fryer Tilapia (with Spice Rub)
Instant Pot Air Fryer Frozen French Fries (with an Air Fryer Lid)
Pressure Cooker Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic
Instant Pot Chicken Legs (with Herb Rub)
Instant Pot Chicken Paprikash recipe (with boneless chicken thighs)
If you're looking for something else, here is my index of Air Fryer Recipes.

Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via email and share this post with your friends. Want to contribute directly? Donate to my Tip Jar, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.