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Short-Order Kitchen

Air Fryer BBQ Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries

By Wes Ellis2 min read
Barbecue-glazed chicken wings with crispy potato wedges in a black skillet.
Recipe card
Servings
1
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
15 to 20 minutes
Method
Air fryer
Heat
375°F to 400°F air fryer
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 1 of the thread Air fryer weeknights

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • Fries go first at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes, shaken halfway.
  • Chicken runs at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes, flipped once, to 165°F inside.
  • Frozen sweet potato fries usually need no oil at all.
  • Use a low-sugar BBQ sauce if you want to keep the sugar down.
THE RECIPE · AIR FRYER BBQ CHICKEN WITH SWEET POTATO FRIES

Ingredients

You'll need

  • Air fryer
  • Bowl
  • Tongs

Directions

Prep

  1. Pat the chicken dry, season with salt and pepper, and coat it generously with the BBQ sauce. Let it sit a few minutes, or longer in the fridge.
  2. Fresh sweet potatoes: cut into fries and toss with a little oil spray, salt and pepper. Frozen: use them straight from the bag.

Cook

  1. Air fry the fries at 400°F in a single layer for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking halfway, until crisp.
  2. Air fry the chicken at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until it reads 165°F inside and the sauce is sticky.
  3. If you cook them together at 400°F, pull the chicken a little earlier and keep an eye on it.
  4. Serve hot with the coleslaw or green vegetable.
Notes Keep leftover chicken and fries in separate containers in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, and reheat the fries in the air fryer at 375°F so they crisp back up. Roughly 380 calories and 42 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/air-fryer-bbq-chicken-with-sweet-potato-fries/

A sauced chicken breast, a pile of orange fries, and something green and crunchy on the side. It's a backyard cookout plate that fits in one air fryer basket and doesn't need a grill.

Two temperatures, one basket

The fries want 400°F, the chicken is happier at 375°F. If your basket's big enough for both, you can run everything at 400°F and just pull the chicken a few minutes early. Otherwise do the fries first, dump them in a bowl, and let the chicken go while you plate the slaw. Fries reheat fine for a couple of minutes at the end.

The sauce is the thing to watch. BBQ sauce is mostly sugar, and sugar goes from caramelized to burnt fast. Flipping halfway helps, and so does a thermometer, because a thick breast can need more time than the sauce wants to give it.

Tip

Frozen sweet potato fries are already coated, so skip the oil spray. Fresh-cut ones need a light mist or they come out leathery.

Where else to take it

If the chicken comes out thinner than you'd like, the Air Fryer Cheat Sheet has the time-and-temp numbers for other cuts. Leftover BBQ chicken is also most of the way to a BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza, and if you'd rather have regular fries, the staggered-start trick in Burger and Fries works the same way here.

LINKED FROM2 notes

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