Butterflied Chicken Legs Air-Fried Recipe

Butterflied chicken legs also popularly known as Butterfly drumsticks are super delicious and flavorful. They are crispy on the outside and tender and juicy in the center. Butterflying chicken legs is a simple procedure to make it easy to grab and eat for parties. This recipe is also a hit on backyard BBQ menus. They are fun to eat and faster to cook. A perfect picnic food, this delicious recipe is ready in a few minutes.

Air-fried butterflied chicken legs is an easy dinner recipe and it can be served with a variety of side dishes like French fries, twice-baked potatoes, crispy veggies, or a side salad. You don’t need to deep fry, use an air fryer and you get a healthy dinner ready in no time. It requires minimum ingredients and is quite flavourful, so it’s everyone’s favorite. The butterfly chicken has a lot of surfaces, so it cooks perfectly crispy and you can have it with a dip.

How to butterfly chicken legs

Recipe by Jacob WilsonCourse: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

3

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Calories

280

kcal

Make a deep cut down the leg in the center touching the bone. Make two more cuts on each side of the chicken leg bone. Slicing the meat this way will make it butterfly on each side of the bone. Use a chopping board and sharp knife for splitting the chicken drumsticks.

Ingredients

  • 6 Chicken drumsticks

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

  • Cilantro

  • Seasoning
  • Paprika, salt, and ground black pepper

How to make butterflied chicken in an air fryer?

  • Pat dry chicken drumsticks with a paper towel and coat them with a light coating of olive oil.
  • Lightly spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray and place the chicken drumsticks in the basket in a single layer without stacking or overlapping.
  • Airfry at 400F for 20 minutes. Flip the chicken at halfway through cooking time.
  • Remove it from the air fryer and season with paprika, salt and pepper, and lime juice.

You can keep it light by serving it with a simple salad or make it hearty by serving it with mashed potatoes or air-fried baby potatoes.

You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat the leftovers in an air fryer or oven but in an air fryer, it becomes more crispy.

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