Air Fried Pizza Chicken
What’s a girl to do when she just wants to be face deep in a pizza, but she doesn’t want to consume 13,000 calories? It’s one of life’s important questions. Luckily, I have a delicious solution for you! All you need is an air fryer and a half hour to get a delicious dinner on the table to please your crowd.
Thursday nights seem to be pizza nights in my house. Mike asks if we can order a pizza nine Thursdays out of ten. We’re like Pavlov’s dogs at this point. Thursday at 3pm rolls around and we start salivating for pizza. It’s bad. A long time ago I realized I could easily recreate the less healthy foods I was craving and end up completely satisfied by identifying exactly what small part of that meal I was actually craving. When I want pizza or pasta, what I really want is the sauce. And by sauce I mean Rao’s. I have no idea how those people do it but they make the absolute best pasta sauce in a jar. I can literally eat it at room temperature right out of the jar. I don’t, usually, but I totally could. So when I’m craving pizza or pasta, I make something like Air Fried Pizza Chicken. Or Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats. Which reminds me. Now that it’s summer squash season I’ll definitely be making that recipe from last year again this year.
Have you seen those accounts on Instagram where people own adventure vans? They’re just vehicles that people pimp out and put all kids of cool stuff in like beds, tiny kitchens, and bathrooms. It’s a very tiny house on wheels that gets better gas mileage than an RV. I want an adventure van SO BAD, mostly for weekend hiking trips. There are so many awesome day hikes that are close to one another. I would love to drive up to the Whites on a Friday night, get to the trailhead around 11pm, pass out for a couple of hours, and wake up at 7am already on the trail, refreshed and ready to hike 10 or 12 miles. Then when we’re done, hop in the van, drive to the next one, and do it all over again. This would be such an awesome (albeit much more expensive) alternative to the cowboy camping we do now. I just can’t sleep when I’m on the ground outside. It’s always uncomfortable and uneven and I feel like my body takes on the shape of a rainbow. I’m paranoid that a snake is going to slither inside my bivvy and fall asleep between my legs. I have heard stories of this happening on more than one occasion. So I get up at the first light of dawn exhausted and ready to get up and get the show on the road. I’m getting older, and that part of hiking and camping is less fun. Last summer we seriously considered buying a minivan, and now I’m wishing to heck we did. The minivan life is my dream, and I’m saying that now even as I’m childless. No shame in my game. I think I need to start up the minivan searches again. I need one in my life!
Air Fried Pizza Chicken
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Lay the chicken thighs out on a flat surface, skin side up, and pat dry. Use your fingers to separate the skin from the thigh. Create a pocket and keep the skin connected to the thigh on one end.
- Combine all of the spices in a small bowl and stir with a spoon. When combined, distribute the spices evenly among the chicken thighs. Spoon the spices under the skin and use your fingers to push the spices around to fill the pocket evenly. Place the chicken thighs in a single layer in the basket of your air fryer, leaving space in between each one.
- Air fry at 380° F for 22 minutes, until browned all over and cooked through.
- While the chicken fries, heat up the pizza or marinara sauce in a small saucepan on the stove or in a medium microwave safe bowl.
- Serve the chicken thighs hot with the sauce spooned over the thighs, or on the side for dipping. Serve with zucchini noodles or roasted spaghetti squash on the side and enjoy!
