Cooking frozen chicken breast in the air fryer

Tender frozen chicken breast in air fryer is so easy to make! Great hack if you forget to defrost your chicken but dinner is just minutes away. Yes air fryer frozen chicken wings are great but to feed hungry kids you’ll want more than that. Works great to make Ninja Foodi frozen chicken too.

Want to make air fryer chicken breast with no breading but forgot to defrost it?? We’ll show you how to make tender frozen chicken breast in air fryer so dinner isn’t ruined! (affiliate links present, originally published 9/19)

Frozen Chicken in Air Fryer

First we made a KFC copycat air fryer fried chicken breast recipe. Then the next time I thought about it they were still rock hard! SO I had to figure that one out in order to save dinner for us, and share my findings with all of you too. 😉

Yes, we shared how to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot but now it’s time to use our other favorite appliance! And yes you can use those instructions for frozen chicken Ninja Foodi style too, they both have the high pressure function.

If you love air fryer recipes too, here are some resources to start with:

• THIS is my Favorite Air Fryer!
• You can find more Air fryer recipes here, we have Ninja Foodi recipes as well; bookmark them both!
  • Grab the best air fryer cookbook here.
• Here’s a printable air fryer cook times chart here for your fridge.
  • It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.

Then join our Facebook page where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love. We have a Foodi social media group as well.

Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Breast

I am far from perfect. I have 3 girls, am homeschooling 2 of them, work full time (here), and sometimes forget to prep dinner. I always have a bag of frozen chicken in the freezer so that is usually my go to.

Yes I have made Crockpot frozen chicken before and that is great for shredded chicken tacos. BUT you have to remember to take that out and put it in the pot in the morning.

I am not always totally together in the morning to do this especially if we have a busy day of work and horseback riding ahead of us. 😉 SO I’m here to share my air fryer hack with you here today.

Ninja Foodi Frozen Chicken Breast

Yes this is a healthy air fryer recipe, so if you’re following a keto or low fat diet this will be great.

We didn’t use any bread crumbs this time to keep the calories down, and if they’re rock hard nothing is going to stick anyway.

• If you’re looking for something more like air fried chicken with a coating follow this recipe, or the one for homemade Ninja Foodi chicken tenders.

BUT this basic chicken in the air fryer recipe is great for everyone, even my 11 year old loves it.  We’re using medium to large chicken breasts found in a bag in your local grocery store freezer.

Timing is set for the size and thickness you see here, it may vary slightly depending on the size of your chicken pieces.

Let’s start with putting 2 into your air fryer basket. Then you’ll want to sprinkle with seasonings like garlic powder and anything else you’d normally use.

Frozen chicken breast air fryer

1. Bag of frozen chicken breasts – 2 at a time fit comfortably
2. Salt and pepper
3. Garlic powder
4. Parsley

This is what we sprinkled on before we began to cook the chicken. Add any other dry seasonings you’d like as well.

How Long to Cook Frozen Chicken Breast in Air Fryer

Steps to follow: I like to preheat the air fryer but I will admit I don’t always remember to. If you forget don’t worry, the cooking time won’t change a lot.

Ideally I do because it creates more of a deep frying crisp on the outsides of my food.

• Now place your frozen chicken into your basket, we’re talking about previously fresh and not breaded chicken here
• Add your seasonings
• Close your basket and set to 360 degrees for 15 minutes
  • if your meat is on the smaller side I would set for 12 minutes and check
  • always ensure internal temperature of chicken is 165 degrees to be safe

Allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing to maintain juiciness and enjoy!

Tyson Frozen Chicken Breast in Air Fryer

Looking for other Ninja Foodi recipes (or any other air fryer brand you own)

• Try our air fryer stuffed chicken breast tonight!
• Meatballs in an air fryer are easy and another keto low carb meal

If you’re wondering how to cook other frozen foods, follow and print out our air fryer cooking times chart. That’s how we knew how long to cook our frozen Ninja Foodi sausages and more.

What goes well with chicken?

I mean a vegetable is usually what we pair with every meal and many times some sort of carb. Rice is an easy one that is cheap and everyone loves it. Since you have the protein covered think outside of the box and grab produce that is on sale at the time.

• As well as our air fryer cauliflower
• Or these fluffy air fryer baked potatoes

If you haven’t tried our air fryer wings recipe yet, it gets RAVING reviews with it’s dry rub and crispy skin.

Can you cook frozen meat in an air fryer?

• Yes!! 
• It comes out tender and juicy too if you follow the instructions below.
• Air fryer frozen shrimp is one of our favorite meals too
• Here are more air fryer chicken breast recipes.

If your kids are a bit pickier, then throw in some air fryer frozen chicken nuggets for them and enjoy a meal together y’all! Our air fryer whole chicken recipe are wonderful too.

Ninja Foodi Frozen Chicken

You can make this with the directions below, OR follow this pressure cooker frozen chicken breast with sauce recipe.

Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!

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***** If you LOVED this recipe give it 5 Stars below and let everyone know what you thought about it. 😉

5 from 3 votes

Frozen Chicken Breast in Air Fryer

Tender frozen chicken breast in air fryer is so easy to make! Great hack if you forget to defrost your chicken but dinner is just minutes away.

Course Entree, Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword air fryer, chicken, chicken breasts, frozen, keto, low carb, ninja foodi, no breading

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings 2

Calories 260kcal

Author The Typical Mom

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts frozen, boneless skinless is what was used
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp parsley flakes

Instructions

• Put frozen chicken breasts in your air fryer basket. Sprinkle ingredients on top evenly between the two of them.

• Close and cook at 360 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove and check to ensure they are done (some are thicker than others so may need additional time). Allow to sit for 5 minutes to maintain juices before slicing them.

  How long do you put frozen chicken breast in the air fryer?

  Put the chicken in the air fryer basket and cook at 360 degrees F until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center reads 165 degrees F, 18 to 20 minutes.

  How long to cook frozen chicken breast in air fryer at 400?

  Place frozen chicken in the air fryer basket. Set temperature to 400°F / 200°C and cook for 15 mins. Flip Chicken over and apply the rest of the marinade and continue cooking for another 10-12 mins or until internal temperature is 165°F / 74°C.