Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets

Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets are seasoned and lightly breaded, then crisped up in the air fryer in a matter of minutes! The messy, time consuming process of pan-frying can be a thing of the past when you have an air fryer!

A simple breaded chicken breast is a meal most of us have eaten numerous times in our lives. Whether we've made it at home or ordered it in a restaurant, most can agree it's a very common way to cook chicken.

Since air fryers are a relatively new kitchen appliance, or at least new in popularity, I would argue that most of us have not air fried our chicken cutlets before! I'd say we've all had pan-fried and deep fried chicken, but air fried is new!

Air fryer chicken cutlets are cooked incredibly fast, they are seriously SO CRISPY, the coating sticks to the chicken perfectly and there is way less mess! Pan-frying and deep frying is inevitably going to produce oil splatter while cooking. Air frying completely eliminates that messy oil frying process. I don't think I'll cook panko chicken cutlets any other way!

This recipe was inspired by my other air frying recipes on this site, Air Fryer Pizza Rolls and Alexia Sweet Potato Fries Air Fryer.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Equipment needed
• Step-by-step instructions
• Substitutions
• Serving suggestions
• Pin me!
• Storage
• 📖 Recipe
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Food safety

Ingredients

• Chicken cutlets - Chicken cutlets are thinly sliced pieces of chicken breast. Sometimes you can find sliced chicken cutlets available to purchase at the grocery store. When you can't find a pre-sliced cutlet, you can easily slice your own. Simply purchase regular chicken breast and slice the chicken in half length-wise, creating two pieces of evenly sized chicken.
• Flour - Any type of all-purpose flour will work for this recipe. I used a white, all purpose baking flour.
• Eggs - The eggs are used to coat the chicken breast before pressing it into the panko bread crumbs.
• Panko bread crumbs - Panko bread crumbs are a Japanese style bread crumb that is thicker and more course than regular bread crumbs. They provide a wonderfully delicious crunch when used as a coating for fried foods. They are incredibly common and can be found in the pasta and sauce aisle or the condiment aisle of most grocery stores.
• Seasonings - I used a combination of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika for this recipe.
• Cooking spray - This will be used to spray both sides of the breaded cutlets before they go in the air fryer. I use olive oil spray.

*See recipe card for quantities.

Equipment needed

• Air fryer - Here is the air fryer that I currently use. So far I love it! It's 6 quarts and fits my needs well!
• Medium mixing bowl - This will be used for the eggs.
• Extra small bowl - You will need to blend your seasonings in a small bowl.
• A few plates - Plates will be used for the flour and the bread crumbs.
• Measuring cups and spoons

Step-by-step instructions

1. Mix the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika in a small bowl.
2. Crack the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and whisk them together. Dump the flour onto a small plate. Pour the panko bread crumbs onto a separate small plate. If you purchased pre-cut chicken cutlets then your chicken is ready to go. If you did not purchase chicken that is already cut into cutlets, then trim any fat from your chicken breast and slice the breasts into cutlets.
3. You will now bread all of the chicken cutlets by first seasoning them, then coating them in flour, dipping them in an egg wash and then coating them in panko bread crumbs. Season both sides of the cutlets and coat both sides of the cutlets in flour. After dipping them in the whisked eggs, firmly press both sides of the cutlets into the bread crumbs. ***See the photos below for visual instructions.
4. After you have breaded all pieces of chicken, spray both sides of the panko coated chicken with cooking spray.
5. Place the chicken in your air fryer in an even layer, spaced apart. You may need to cook your cutlets in a few batches. Cook the cutlets at 390°F for 5 minutes. Pull the air fryer basket out, flip the chicken over and continue cooking for 5-6 more minutes. My chicken cutlets were about ½ inch thick. If you have thicker chicken, you may need to cook it longer. If your cutlets are less than ½ inch thick, then you may want to check them at 4 minutes after you have flipped them. The only way to guarantee that your chicken is fully cooked is to use a meat thermometer. Chicken should have an internal temperature of at least 165°F.

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Hint: Some air fryers require preheating. Make sure you preheat your air fryer for 3 minutes prior to cooking, if necessary.

Substitutions

• Gluten free - To make this recipe gluten free, you will need to use a gluten free flour and gluten free panko bread crumbs.
• Dairy free - This recipe is dairy free as is!
• Seasonings - The seasoning blend used in this recipe is a blend of common, mild spices. You can definitely play around with your own blend or use your favorite bottled seasoning blend.

Serving suggestions

Serve chicken cutlets (air fryer) with any of these delicious sides!

• Vegan Garlic Bread
• Garlic Basmati Rice
• Pesto Pasta Salad with Sundried Tomatoes
• Sautéed Zucchini and Onions with Sweet Corn

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Storage

Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in a sealed, air-tight container. They lose their crispiness after they have cooled down in the fridge. When reheating them, I recommend heating them in a small frying pan, over low heat, with a little bit of oil. That will crisp the coating back up. You can microwave them too, but this will simply warm them through. They will not get crispy again.

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📖 Recipe

Frequently Asked Questions

Food safety

• Cook chicken breast to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods of time.

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.