Air Fried Chicken Sandwiches

I’m gonna preface by saying this may be one of my favorite recipes I’ve created to date. I’m talking no leftovers, my husband and I licked the plates clean level good. These Air Fried Chicken Sandwiches taste like the real deal – crispy chicken that’s super flavorful, creamy coleslaw made from scratch, a little aioli and some sweet pickles to tie it all together. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, creamy, tangy, and sure to hit the spot. The best part? It’s wayyy better for you than a regular fried chicken sandwich.

First off, the chicken is air fried so it requires very little oil (just a bit of cooking spray) to get the chicken nice and crispy but still juicy on the inside. Next, the cole slaw is made with very little sugar and light mayo, which makes it a lot lower in fat and calories and make it WW friendly (it was so good it warranted its own blog post here). Lastly, I swap in a low carb sandwich roll for a bun to make these a WW friendly, lower carb, max flavor delight.

Making Air Fried Chicken Sandwiches

There are two main components to make these, but luckily you can do them in tandem. First, you’ll get your chicken prepped and in the air fryer. While it’s frying, you’ll throw together your coleslaw. Then, once the chicken is done, toast your buns, and lastly assemble. These come together in around 30 minutes, making them perfect for a weeknight meal or a game day bite!

For the chicken, you’ll need:

Marinade (trust me on this one):

• 1/2 cup pickle juice mixed with 2 tbsp hot sauce.

Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to breading/cooking. This gives it awesome flavor, but you can skip this step and just coat/.bread/air fry the chicken.

Coating:

• 1 egg 
• 3 tbsp milk 
• 2 tbsp hot sauce 

Breading: 

• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup regular bread crumb 
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar 
• 1 Tsp chili powder 
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Paprika

Cut your chicken into pieces that will fit on your buns (I use about 2 lb of chicken and cut it into 8 pieces). Mix egg, milk, and hot sauce and coat chicken well. Then, mix up your breading and coat each piece in it. Spray well with cooking spray and air fry at 375 F for 12-15 min, until the chicken’s internal temp is 165F.

To make the cole slaw, you’ll need:

• 14 oz bag slaw
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion 

Dressing: 

• 2/3 cup light Mayo 
• 1/2 Tsp celery seed 
• 1 Tsp powdered sugar 
• Juice 1 lemon 
• 1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1 Tsp salt 

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over slaw + green onion mix. Mix together and let sit in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

To assemble the sandwiches, I put down a base of hot sauce mixed with a bit of light mayo to act as a buffalo aioli, but you can use any sauce you like (such as ranch dressing, etc). I used about 1 tsp of the mixture per sandwich, then put down the chicken, then some pickle slices, top with slaw, and top bun. Enjoy!

Air Fried Chicken Sandwiches

Jacklin Altman

Whether it's game day or just another Tuesday, you can't go wrong with these Air Fryer Chicken Sandwiches! Easy to make and sure to be a hit with anyone.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 419 kcal

Equipment

• Mixing Bowls
• Air Fryer

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 lb chicken breast boneless, skinless

Marinade

• 1/2 cup pickle juice
• 2 tbsp hot sauce

Coating

• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp hot sauce

Breading

• 1/4 cup Panko
• 1/4 cup regular bread crumb
• 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 Tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Paprika

Cole slaw

• 14 oz bag slaw
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion

Dressing:

• 2/3 cup light Mayo
• 1/2 Tsp celery seed
• 1 Tsp powdered sugar
• Juice 1 lemon
• 1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tsp salt

Spicy Aioli

• 4 tbsp light mayo
• 3 tbsp hot sauce

Other

• 8 buns of choice
• 1/4 cup pickle chips

Instructions

 

• Cut chicken into 8 patty sized pieces. Combine pickle juice and hot sauce and marinate chicken in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to cooking.
• Beat egg with milk and hot sauce in a small mixing bowl.
• In another mixing bowl, combine breading ingredients. Coat each piece of chicken in egg mixture then in breading mixture.
• Spray well with cooking spray and place chicken pieces on an air fryer tray or in a lined basket so no pieces are touching.
• Air fry at 375F for 12-15 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken pieces. Once chicken has reached an internal temp of 165F, it’s ready.
• While chicken is air frying, combine cole slaw dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth. Combine chopped green onion and slaw. Pour dressing over slaw and green onion mix and mix to coat. Let slaw chill in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
• Once chicken is done, toast your buns of choice (I use Schmidt 647 low carb buns). Mix up spicy aioli (or your sauce of choice – ranch or blue cheese dressing work great here), put 1/2 tbsp on each bottom bun, then layer on chicken patty, some pickles, and slaw. Add top bun and enjoy!

Notes

The WW points for these will depend on the buns, pickles, etc that you use, but you can click here to add the coleslaw recipe and click here to add the chicken patty recipe to your WW app!

Nutrition

Calories: 419kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 28gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 1709mgPotassium: 567mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 213IUVitamin C: 29mgCalcium: 71mgIron: 2mg

Keyword weight watchers, WW, air fryer, chicken, slaw, air fried, sandwich

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