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Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken. A delicious healthy lemon pepper chicken breast recipe that is whole30, paleo, gluten free and dairy free. Perfect for an easy lunch or dinner with minimal prep.
Before we dive into this air fryer recipe, I have something even better than our air fryer lemon chicken for you to check out first.
It is our Learn Your Air Fryer online course and our free air fryer mini course. They are ideal for air fryer beginners. The free course runs for 5 days and is in the format of an email miniseries. While the learn your air fryer course runs every week with a new PDF and ecookbook for a whole year.
Or browse our site as we have 450+ air fryer recipes that are easy to recreate at home and we have been showing people how to use the air fryer since 2011.
Table of Contents
Air Fryer Lemon Chicken
I originally shared this air fryer lemon chicken recipe on Recipe This back in January 2017. Back then I was in the middle of a round of the Whole30 and was looking for something simple to have for dinner in the air fryer.
With our own lemon tree that is out of control and producing more lemons than we could possibly use, I decided to make air fryer lemon chicken.
Made from some spare chicken breasts I had in the fridge our air fryer lemon pepper chicken breast was born.
I loved it so much that it became my go to protein throughout my whole30 and beyond and a recipe I often recommend to air fryer beginners.
Can You Cook Chicken Breast In An Air Fryer?
I often get asked if you can cook chicken breast in the air fryer and the answer is a big fat YES.
Chicken breast in the air fryer is fantastic and just like with the oven or a shallow pan, you can do whatever flavour floats your boat.
You could do a lemon pepper chicken, like we are doing today, or go with any favourite seasoning. Some of my air fryer chicken breast favourites include mixed herbs, honey and garlic, peri peri, or salt and pepper.
How To Make Juicy Chicken Breast In Air Fryer?
The easiest way to make juicy chicken breast in the air fryer is to use a lemon pepper marinade, or a similar wet marinade.
This is because it creates a moist maker on the chicken breast and stops it from getting dry. Also, if you want to avoid extra virgin olive oil the use of lemon juice can work as a replacement.
Crispy Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast
To make your lemon pepper chicken breast crispy without any breading, the secret is extra virgin olive oil and some good seasoning.
Simply add extra virgin olive oil first to your chicken breast, then add seasonings. The seasonings will then stick to the chicken breast and create a crispy coating as it cooks.
Do You Have To Flip Chicken In Air Fryer?
Yes you do if you want to keep your chicken breast crispy and stop it from getting dry. The idea is that if the top of the chicken breast is cooked for too long, top side up it will become dry.
But if it shares its cook time with the bottom of the chicken breast and they take it in turns, you don’t have to worry about dry chicken breast.
But you only need to flip your chicken in the air fryer once.
Lemon Pepper Chicken In Air Fryer
Cooking air fryer lemon chicken is super easy:
- Smother chicken breasts in lemon juice and lemon rind.
- Add seasonings to chicken breasts.
- Load into the air fryer with lemon slices.
- Air fry + enjoy!
There is a little bit more to air fryer lemon pepper chicken but that is the basics.
How Long To Cook Chicken Breast In Air Fryer?
The air fryer chicken breast time is JUST 15 minutes. Though do use your own common sense as some chicken breasts are going to be bigger or smaller than others. I recommend you start with 15 minutes and check your chicken and cook a little longer if necessary.
More Healthy Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
Are you looking for even more healthy air fryer chicken recipes? The kind that you can just dump in the air fryer and come back when the air fryer beeps? Well check these out:
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas
- Air Fryer Rotisserie Chicken
- Air Fryer Chicken Skewers
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
- Air Fryer Chicken Wrapped In Bacon
Print Recipe
4.84 from 6 votes
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken. A delicious healthy lemon pepper chicken breast recipe that is whole30, paleo, gluten free and dairy free. Perfect for an easy lunch or dinner with minimal prep.
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time18 minutes mins
Total Time23 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Air Fryer
Servings: 3
Calories: 276kcal
Author: RecipeThis.com
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Ingredients:
- 3 Large Chicken Breasts
- 1 Large Lemon juice and rind
- 1 Medium Lemon
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ Tsp Sea Salt
- 2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
Metric – Imperial
Instructions
Lay chicken breasts out on a clean chopping board.
Smother the chicken breasts in lemon juice and rind from your large lemon and season with sea salt.
Add ground black pepper and garlic powder.
Place your chicken breasts into the air fryer basket. Cut your lemon slices and find a place on top of the breasts and to the side of them. Air fry for 15 minutes at 180c/360f.
Check the chicken and then cook for a further 3-5 minutes if they are still pink in the middle. Slice the chicken breasts and serve.
Notes
Size. Our chicken breasts were quite large. I recommend if you have smaller chicken breasts that you start with a cook time of 12 minutes, check on them and then add more cook time if needed.
Speed. If you would like to speed up the cook time, halfway through the cook time, slice the chicken breasts and they will cook about three minutes faster.
Thanks for reading our air fryer lemon pepper chicken breast recipe on Recipe This. We have many more air fryer recipes for you to check out next. Though if you love chicken breast, then I recommend you try our air fryer frozen chicken breast.
Nutrition
Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 651mg | Potassium: 919mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 84IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition InfoPlease Note: Nutrition values are our best estimate based on the software we use at Recipe This and are meant as a guide. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
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