Weeknight Saucy Air Fryer Rotisserie-style BBQ Chicken that’s super quick and easy with little prep. Made in the air fryer, the chicken is first marinated to ensure its tender and juiciness as it cooks and smothered in a homemade BBQ sauce that’s ready in just a few minutes. I like to serve this up with some french fries and a little salad or some coleslaw to give it that comforting take-out dinner feel. This is such a great weeknight dinner and the best way to cook a delicious chicken dinner.

Is there anything the air-fryer cant do?! What I love the most about this style of cooking is how amazing the chicken tastes. By far so much better than all the other cooking methods. Forget pan-frying, or oven baking and even the grill. You cant get chicken this juicy in this amount of time. This meal has very little prep and uses a lot of pantry staples so that it comes together effortlessly and quick for an awesome tasting meal. Bonus is that it leaves for great leftovers the next day for a sandwich or salad. 

MARINADE 

We’re ultimately trying to replicate the flavours and tenderness of rotisserie cooked chicken that’s done low and slow on a rotating spit but for a fraction of the time and without all that equipment. It really does resemble the final product. The flavours of delicious BBQ chicken are there all you need is the right sides to go along with it. The first thing to do is to season the chicken whether your using bon-in or boneless, breasts or thighs it comes down to your preference or what you’ve got in the fridge. I like to do skin on chicken because it mimics rotisserie chicken the most as the whole chicken is done with the skin on plus you get that crispy crunchy outside layer. I stuck to some basic BBQ spices and used soy sauce to add a little sweetness and Worcestershire for that umami flavour. Cover the chicken in the rub for 30 minutes to allow everything to soak in properly. 

AIR-FRYER 

Cook the chicken presentation side down (breast) first so that when you flip it, it becomes face up and will develop a little crust on the outside. I love to add a touch of water into the basket that’s separated from the meat because of the rack insert so it never sits in the water. This helps from smoking and reduces burning and it also adds a steaming element. Its nice because chicken takes some time to fully cook you don’t want the outside to cook up and burn before it gets fully cooked on the inside. Especially if you have thicker pieces of meat. I’d only recommend when doing chicken. As you can see my pieces were quite large so they took up a lot of space in the basket but I have done 4 regular boneless, skinless breasts with this exact recipe and the results were identical. You do get a little bit of a crust or sear that develops on the outside even though there isn’t any skin. 

BBQ SAUCE

For this recipe I thought it would be fun to serve it up with my own homemade BBQ sauce. you’ll see with just a few refrigerator staples you can create an amazing sauce in roughly 5 minutes. A lot of store bought sauces have a ton of sugar and extra added ingredients that aren’t necessary. At least when you make your own, you can control the amount of sugar. I found that the molasses makes it plenty sweet so it doesn’t need any brown sugar. If you don’t happen to have some molasses kicking around that back shelf from your Christmas cookie baking simply swap it out for 1/4 cup of brown sugar. The sauce is made up of ketchup, which is your typical BBQ sauce base, I added soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, molasses, and some hot sauce to balance out the acidity and sweet. For a stronger tomato flavour I recommend adding 1 tsp of tomato paste. I usually buy the tubes and always have some on hand for sauces and soups. 

The recipe makes just enough sauce to slather onto the chicken and serve a little bit on the side for extra dipping. I like to make the sauce while the chicken is cooking so that its warm when ready to eat. With the leftover chicken I like to use it up in a salad the next day or make myself a roasted chicken sandwich depending on my mood. It takes great cold or reheated and this would even be a great recipe for anyone who likes to meal prep and have meals that are ready to go for those grab and go days.

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Print Recipe

Air Fryer Rotisserie-style BBQ chicken

Air fryer rotisserie-style BBQ chicken is super quick and easy cooked until tender and juicy and served slathered in a homemade BBQ sauce. Perfect for a weeknight dinner that the family will enjoy!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Additional Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Weeknight Dinners

Servings: 2 -4

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 2-4 bone-in chicken breasts with skin or boneless and skinless if preferred
• 1 1/2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 1/2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 TBS garlic powder
• 1 TBS onion powder
• 1 TBS salt

TBS ground pepper

• 1 TBS smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
• BBQ sauce:
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1 1/2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS molasses
• 2 TBS hot sauce

Instructions

• Prepare the chicken marinade: combine together all the ingredients and mix well. Pat dry the chicken breasts and place in a container large enough to hold. Cover with the marinade mixture ensuring both sides have been coated. Let rest and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the air-fryer according to directions. Add 2 TBS of cold water to the bottom to prevent the chicken from smoking and add a bit of steam. Place chicken breast side down in the basket and cook for 13-15 minutes per side at 350 degrees F depending on thickness of your pieces. Ensure chicken reaches 165 degrees F.
• To make the BBQ sauce: in a saucepan over medium heat, combine all the ingredients stirring frequently. Bring to a slow bubble and reduce to simmer 5 minutes.
• Once the chicken is cooked, brush with the BBQ sauce and serve with your choice of sides.