The Best Air Fryer Whole Chicken

Air fryer whole chicken is gluten-free, paleo, keto, low carb, and also Weight Watcher friendly! You can make a whole chicken and save leftovers for meals throughout the week. 

Do you wish you could have a chicken that tastes like it came right out of the rotisserie? Try this method for cooking a whole chicken in the air fryer. After you try this method for cooking a whole chicken in the air fryer you will not buy any premade storebought ones anymore. I used my homemade seasoning to coat the chicken and sprayed it with some olive oil cooking spray. Instead of deep frying your chicken in oil and fat, it is much healthier to air fry your whole chicken instead.

I recently just upgraded my air fryer to a Power XL 5.3 QT. My old air fryer was having issues in the back where the air vents out. Do not leave your air fryer near a wall or anything because one day it overheated and the back venting area started to melt. Plus the timer on it no longer worked. No way would this almost 5 lb whole chicken have been able to fit in that. If you are on a hunt for an air fryer and have never bought one before do get one with a larger basket size like mine is. Mine is 5.3 quarts and holds way more. This Power XL air fryer is by far my favorite air fryer because of the digital temperature and time sets you can enter.

Different types of Air Fryers

I have only tested this air fryer whole chicken recipe in my Power XL air fryer. Some air fryers do not go up to certain temps and the degree listed below is in Fahrenheit. I get many questions if I’ve made this in such and such air fryer before and the answer to that is no. I do not have enough room in my house to buy all the different brands of air fryers there are out there but not everyone has the same air fryer. If you make this recipe, please let me know what type of air fryer you have when you leave a comment so that others reading this post might have.

My 5-pound chicken was done in an hour. A whole chicken weighing 6.5 pounds takes 75 minutes. If you have any chicken that is more than 6.5 pounds please make sure to check if that will fit in your air fryer basket first. If your bird is bigger than your air fryer basket you might want to consider baking it in the oven instead. 🙂 For every chicken that is higher than 6.5 pounds add on 15 minutes.

How to Cook a Whole Chicken in the Air Fryer

1. Take the whole chicken out of the packaging and pat it dry.
2. Season it with your favorite seasoning. I used my easy homemade seasoning. Sprinkle that stuff over the whole chicken. Then spray it with some Olive Oil Cooking Spray.
3. Set the whole chicken in the basket and set your timer to 45 minutes and your temperature to 350. After the 45 minutes is up, take the bird and flip it over and cook for another 15 minutes.
4. The temp of the chicken must read 165. If it is not up to the temp by then cook for 10 minutes longer.
5. If your air fryer requires you to preheat it, then please do that. Mine doesn’t require any preheating.

Other Air Fryer Recipes

If you love your air fryer as much as I do, you should check out these other recipes!

Air Fryer Chicken Breast

Air Fryer Grilled Cheese

Air Fryer Turkey Breast

Serve this air fryer whole chicken with some mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans!