Air Fryer Whole Chicken Roast

Easy, delicious, flavorful and juicy Air Fryer Whole Chicken Roast that will beat any rotisserie chicken! You have to try it to believe it!

Roasting a whole chicken may sound intimidating. Trust me, I have never prepared a rotisserie chicken by myself until today. I only always assists Dad while he prepares whole roast chicken in the oven.

But I took up the challenge and decided to go for it today because I believe I am getting really comfortable with air fryer cooking.

Whole Roast Chicken in Air Fryer

I had a zillion questions running in my mind when I decided to roast a whole chicken in an air fryer. Most importantly, I wondered if the chicken would fit inside the air fryer. But it did and that too, perfectly well!

Trying this recipe boosted my confidence because it resulted in a crispy skin and juicy meat chicken without doing much effort! All you have to do is season the whole chicken and air fryer for about an hour! That's pretty much it!

Also, I usually do not like having chicken breasts in a rotisserie chicken, for it always tends to be dried chicken meat. But roasting the chicken in the air fryer resulted in tender chicken breasts and I have saved some leftovers for making sandwiches and quesadillas.

Air Fryer Whole Roast Chicken is

Air Fryer Whole Chicken Roast Ingredients

• Whole Chicken: Depending on the air fryer capacity, choose a 2-3 pound (1 to 1.5kg) chicken. Always choose whole chicken with skin-on because you do not want to miss out on all the flavors of the crispy skin. Unfortunately, I couldn't get hold of a whole chicken with skin on. And I truly missed the crispy roasted skin.
• Herb Seasoning: Garlic, Lemon, and Olive oil are the primary flavors I opted for this chicken. I prefer using freshly minced garlic to garlic powder although you may use the latter. I have also used Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, and crushed pepper.
• Optional: I decided, at the very last minute, to stuff the chicken with carrots, lemon, onion, bell pepper, herbs, boiled potato, and eggs. This made the chicken moister and juicier.

How to Make Whole Chicken Roast in Air Fryer

Roasting a whole chicken in the air fryer follows a simple three-step process.

1. Clean the whole chicken and remove the giblets.
2. Apply oil and rub the chicken with seasonings.
3. Air fry the chicken according to the air fryer instructions.

Let's go this into detail.

1. Clean the chicken well and remove the giblets. You can use it for making soup.
2. Pat dry using a kitchen towel.
3. Let's make the herb seasoning. For the first seasoning, melt butter. Add minced garlic and Italian seasoning. You can use fresh or dried parsley, oregano, and rosemary instead.
4. Spread half of the garlic butter seasoning all over the chicken. Loosen the skin and spread underneath too. I also added the seasoning inside the chicken cavity.
5. Prep the veggies or stuffing. I chopped some large chunks of carrots, onion, green bell pepper, boiled potato, and two boiled eggs. Stuff these into the cavity.
6. To the remaining half of the seasoning, add paprika, crushed pepper, salt, and or sriracha sauce, if you like some heat to the roast chicken. Spread the seasoning again and tie the chicken legs together with a string.
7. Preheat the air fryer to 200 C or 350 F for 7 minutes.
8. Place the chicken carefully in the air fryer basket and cook for 30 minutes at 200 C or 350 F.
9. After 30 minutes, pull the air fryer basket and flip the chicken. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes more at 200 C or 350 F.
10. Once the time is up, the roast chicken is done. Carefully remove the whole chicken roast into a serving plate and let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

How Long to Roast the Whole Chicken

In the air fryer, you should roast the chicken for about 50 minutes. After the first 30 minute mark, flip the chicken and cook again for another 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Mine was a 4lb, ie. about 1.75kg of chicken. The ideal temperature for the air fryer would be 200 C or 350 F.

What to Serve With The Whole Chicken

You can serve the whole roast chicken with anything and everything. But the best sides would be roasted veggies and/or carbs. I recommend Air Fryer Honey Glazed Carrots, roasted potatoes, and beans.

Do the chicken legs need to be tied together?

There are three reasons why I recommend tying the chicken legs together.

• It helps the whole chicken to be compact and it will snuggly fit into the air fryer.
• Typing the legs also helps in keeping the chicken moist and juicier.
• It also helps in keeping the stuffing inside the cavity.

Suggest the size of air fryer that is required to cook a whole chicken

I use a 3.5 L or 4 quart air fryer and it was perfect for the 1.75kg chicken.

This is the air fryer that I use and recommend: Kenstar Aster Digi Oxy Fryer

What to do with leftovers?

The leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. I would recommend remove the meat from the bone and storing in an airtight container.

I usually shred the leftover roast chicken and ass it to my sandwiches, wraps, or quesadillas the next day.

👉 Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla

Air Fryer Whole Chicken Recipe

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I'm participating in #AtoZChallenge and #BlogchatterAtoZ where I'll be sharing 26 Easy Recipes with you this April. I'm dedicating the posts to the amazing community members who helped me figure out this theme for the challenge. Thank you!