Best Air fryer chicken legs quarters that you can make in under 40 minutes. For an even better taste, marinate the meat for one hour, and you will get a juicy chicken quarter which you did not expect to obtain. The chicken quarters are super affordable and are great if you are looking for some budget and delicious dinner ideas.
If you’re cooking for a while in the air fryer, you know how this kitchen gadget cuts down the cooking time when we are comparing it with the conventional or fan oven. Also, you will use a lot less oil in it. If you still didn’t own one, I highly recommend you to buy one if you want to save time and money while you will cook.
Quick note: Personally, I own a Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT and it is perfect for a family of 3-4 members, so all the directions and instructions that I will give in this recipe will be based on it. If you own a smaller Air Fryer take into consideration that usually, the cooking time in a smaller air fryer is a little bit smaller.
We will get a nice crispy skin on the bone-in chicken leg quarters and the meat inside will be incredibly tender and juicy. You can’t beat the crispy skin and tender meat that we are getting in the air fryer.
If you didn’t try to air-fried chicken quarters, you must give a try to this recipe.
If you’re looking for a recipe for how to air fry the chicken legs, check this recipe of how I make the chicken drumsticks in the air fryer.
🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- Cheap source of proteins. The chicken easy leg quarters are an inexpensive source of high-quality proteins (in comparison with other parts of the chicken). Around 48 grams for a medium chicken leg.
- You will get the juiciest chicken meat.
- We will use simple ingredients that you probably already have in the kitchen.
- It’s an easy recipe. You need to make a simple marinade and to leave the meat to marinade for one hour, and after that to cook the meat for 40 minutes.
- This recipe is very easy to modify to your taste. You can easily remove or add other ingredients into the marinade and to make it your own.
- It is a keto friendly recipe. If you’re on a low carb keto diet, this recipe will be a great fit for you.
- It’s healthy. We will get the same crispy skin and moist inside like is the deep-fried version, but we will less oil.
🏆 Tips for Success? How to Make It Better?
- Add sesame seeds over the meat.
- If you like sweet tastes, you can add honey about 5 minutes before the timer will end. If you will add the honey from the beginning, the honey will burn.
- If you have some additional time, leave the meat to marinate for a longer period of time. If you want to get an even better and juicier taste, leave the meat to marinate overnight.
🤔 How to Scale the Recipe up and Down?
This is a simple recipe, so increase or decrease the ingredients proportionally.
Quick note: After I cooked the chicken quarters, I cut the chicken legs into drumsticks and thigs, so I served it as 4 servings for 4 persons. If you need to serve more meat per person, please take into consideration increasing the amount of meat.
Nutritions Facts
An average chicken quarter (12 oz. / 340g.) provides about 475 Kcal, it has 48g. of proteins, 23g. of fat, and 328mg. of Cholesterol.
🥘 Ingredients Needed for This Recipe?
- 2 Chicken Leg Quartes. When you will pick the chicken quarters, keep in mind the size of your air fryer basket. I used Cosori Air Fryer 5.8 QT and it fitted perfectly 2 average chicken quarters. If you are using a smaller-sized air fryer, consider in cooking them in two batches or to pick smaller chicken quarters.
- 2 tablespoons of Mayonnaise.
- 1 tablespoon of Mustard.
- ¼ teaspoon of Dried Garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon of Chili flakes (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon of Salt (or to taste)
- ⅓ teaspoon of Black Pepper (or to taste)
🥦 Ingredients Swap?
- Mayonnaise. If you want to replace the mayo, you can use for the marinade yogurt, sourcream, or olive oil instead.
- Dried Garlic. You can use fresh garlic instead.
- Chili Flakes. You can replace it with paprika, fresh chili peppers or omit it altogether.
- Black Pepper. You can replace it with a mix of peppers.
- Mustard. You could replace it with wasabi or omit it altogether.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
You can serve these roasted juicy chicken quarters near a variety of dishes like:
- fried zucchini with parmesan
- Parmentier potatoes
- Oven-baked potato wedges
- Air Fryer Broccoli
- Creamy Polenta
- Nando’s Spicy Rice
🍲 Variations
- Air Fryer Chicken Legs Panko. Follow the same recipe for marinade and after the meat will marinate, soak the chicken quarters in panko and cook it in the air fryer.
👩🍳 Directions
Clean the chicken well of all excess of the fat or pieces and corners that you do not like how it looks.
Put the chicken quarters in a bowl, pour over them the mayo, mustard, and rest of the spices that you decided to use. Cover well the meat with the marinade that we just made.
Cover the plate with plastic food wrap and let the meat marinate for at least 1 hour. Also, you can put the chicken quarters in well-closed Ziploc bags to marinade.
After the meat was marinated, preheat the air fryer at 380°F (190°C) for about 5 minutes and put the chicken quarters in the air fryer basket.
Quick Note: If you see that the chicken hindquarters are too crowded in the air fryer basket, for the best results, consider cooking them into separate batches. This will allow them to cook evenly on all sides.
Cook the chicken quarters for about 35-40 minutes at 380°F (190°C)
Quick Note: Keep in mind that the cooking time may differ from the size of the chicken leg quarters and from how your air fryer works because the heating methods, may differ from one air fryer manufacturer to another. For this recipe, I used Cosori Air Fryer 5.8 QT. Also, take into count that if your fryer is smaller, the meat will cook faster.
I didn’t flip the chicken hindquarters. All I did, after 20 minutes, I cover them with aluminum foil to stop burning the skin from the top and to let the meat from the bottom cook slowly.
If you don’t have aluminum foil at hand, you may consider just flipping the chicken quarters on another side after 20 minutes.
To make sure that the meat is enough cooked, we need to get a nice golden skin and if you have a meat thermometer, then check if the internal temperature of the meat is at least 165°F (75°C).
Quick note: If you don’t have a meat thermometer and you can’t verify the internal temperature of the meat, choose the part of the meat that is the thickest, and with a knife, make a cut to see the inside of the meat if there is some blood left. If you can’t see any blood, then the chicken legs are ready.
Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes before consuming. By letting it rest, the meat will fully absorb the moisture and as a result, it will become more tender.
♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:
You could marinate the meat ahead and freeze it marinated. When you will plant to cook it, take it out of the freezer and cook it in the air fryer.
If you have leftovers, put the meat in a well-closing container and you can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
I would not recommend freezing leftovers because chicken skin will become soft and the meat will not be so juicy.
You could heat it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, or in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes at the maximum temperature.
📋 Recipe Card:
Air Fryer Chicken Leg Quarters
Equipment
- COSORI Air Fryer 5.8QT
- Meat Thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 pieces Chicken Leg Quarters Medium-sized
- 2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Mustard
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon Chili Flakes or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste
- 1/3 teaspoons black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Clean and remove the fat and corners or unwanted pieces from the meat.
- Take a large bowl and put in it the chicken quarters. Pour over the meat, the mayo, mustard and spices that you decided to use for the marinade.
- Cover well the chicken quarters with marinade on all sides. Cover the bowl with food plastic wrap and leave the meat to marinate for at least one hour.
- Preheat the Air Fryer at 380°F (190°C), put the chicken quarters in the air fryer basket and cook them for 20 minutes at 380°F (190°C)
- After 20 minutes, flip the meat on other side or cover it with aluminum foil and cook the meat for another 20 minutes.
- Check the internal temperature of the meat to be at least 165°F (75°C)
- After the meat is cooked, wait 10 minutes and you can serve it on the plates.
Notes
- You can marinate the meat also in Ziploc bags.
- If you have the possibility, leave the meat to marinate for a longer period. You will get even softer and juicier meat.
- Instead of flipping the meat on the other side after 20 minutes, you can put on top of the meat an aluminum foil to stop burning the chicken skin.
- If you don’t have a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat, you can use a knife to cut the meat in the thickest part and to check if it still has blood. If not – the chicken legs are ready to be served.
Another yummy dish! I just made this recipe and everyone loved it, thank you!!