The flavor of charcoal barbeque is one of my favorites, and I will grill all year round. I have added a little bit of liquid smoke to the marinade and cook the chicken in my air fryer to make for a great barbeque-tasting chicken that can be made any time of the year.
This is a fairly simple process, just mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, and liquid smoke together in a bowl, and rub the chicken thighs all around in it. Then mix together the dry seasoning and walk away for an hour or prepare any side dishes you are going to have with the chicken.
You can use whatever liquid smoke flavor you like. I happen to really like hickory, but mesquite or apple works great too.
When it’s been about an hour, you are ready to season the chicken. Remove the chicken from the bowl and leave whatever excess mayonnaise mixture there is in the bowl.
Sprinkle the seasoning mixture on both sides of the thighs. The mayonnaise will help it stick. Let this sit for about 15 – 30 minutes.
Now they are ready for the air fryer.
With a non-aerosol cooking spray, spray the bottom of the basket. Place the chicken in and spray the top of the chicken.
For some models of air fryers, aerosol spray will damage the coating of the basket and will cause it to flake off over time.
It takes about 20 minutes to cook at 350 degrees (15 minutes if using boneless chicken thighs). You will want to flip them over after 10 minutes.
Now you have a tender, slightly smoky tasting chicken thigh to enjoy! If you want an extra little kick, try them with some pepperoncinis.
BBQ Chicken Thighs (Air Fryer)
Equipment
- Air Fryer
- Large bowl
- Plate
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 each Chicken thighs bone-in, skinless
- ½ tsp black pepper
Marinade
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- ½ tsp liquid smoke
Dry Seasoning
- 1 tbsp brown sugar I prefer dark but it light is fine
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp oregano
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together mayonnaise, ketchup, and liquid smoke. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with pepper and add to mayonnaise mixture. Marinate for 1 hour.
- While marinating, mix together dry ingredients.
- After about an hour, remove chicken thighs from the bowl, shaking off excess mayo mixture and lay flat on a plate.
- Sprinkle dry ingredients on both sides of the thighs, using it all up. Let sit for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Spray bottom of air fryer basket with non-aerosol cooking spray and add thighs. Spray tops of thighs.
- Cook in air fryer at 350 degrees for 20 minutes turning over at 10 minutes. Internal temperature of chicken should reach 165 degrees, may need to cook another 3 – 5 minutes depending on size of the chicken thighs.
- Enjoy!