Sundays are my food prep days where I prepare easy meals for the week ahead. It saves time and prevents me from having to figure out what’s for dinner or lunch. Like most foodies I have multiple kitchen appliances and I’ve always wondered if air fryer chicken breast would taste as indulgent as traditional pan-fried chicken. It turns out the results are unexpected.
In round one, I prepared and cooked two separate chicken breasts exactly the same; one was cooked in the air fryer, only with sprayed olive oil, and the other in a pan with a moderate amount of extra virgin olive oil. Both were dipped in beaten egg, rolled in gluten-free bread crumbs, and topped with salt cooked exactly the same amount of time, seven minutes on each side.
Here’s the surprising part: the pan fried chicken breast was less tender and while it tasted better for flavor, the oil felt rather heavy in my mouth. (I regularly prepare my food on a lower fat spectrum.) The air fryer chicken was moist (significantly more so than the pan-fried version) and perfectly done. Unfortunately, the healthier, air fryer version was bland and tasteless.
So I combined the two cooking methods and once the air fried chicken was done, I browned it in a tiny amount of extra virgin olive oil in the pan, and then re-tested (tasted) all three methods.
No surprise: fat tastes good.
Debra’s take-away: This combined method would be perfect for date night, or a really small family, if you have the time to spare and you don’t mind doing the dishes. It is quite delicious and overall very healthy. But I wouldn’t waste it on ungrateful teenagers, or anyone else who won’t appreciate the time and effort it takes to truly create perfection!
Lucky me… Now I have perfect chicken breasts prepped and ready to enjoy in the week ahead.
Debra Yergen, Author 