Keto Air Fryer Chicken Legs Recipe

This easy keto air fryer chicken legs recipe will soon become a regular low carb dinner for you. With a spicy rub you can have these flavorful and crispy chicken drumsticks in about 20 minutes of cooking. Each leg has only 1.3g net carbs!

You might also like this keto air fryer rotisserie chicken!

I’ve never been much a chicken leg fan but my family loves them. So I thought I’d try cooking some in the air fryer. Once again that air fryer succeeds in making friend food a bit healthier. It cooked the legs beautifully giving them a nice crispy skin.

So today I give you my easy keto air fryer chicken legs. You just mix the spices, rub it all over the chicken and air fry them. Air frying creates nice crispy chicken skin, juicy meat and it’s super easy to do.

This is such an easy and inexpensive keto dinner.  I will definitely be keeping some drumsticks in the freezer to make this easy weeknight dinner whenever I’m in a pinch.

Making a tasty spice rub for chicken.

IThis is the blend of seasoning that I used for my air fryer ribs and it has such delicious flavor. The simple ingredients I used were garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, black pepper and Swerve brown sugar sweetener.

This recipe makes a good bit of rub so try using half of the recipe and save the rest of the spice mixture for the next time. Or you can use as much as you want and throw the rest away.

NOTE: You don’t want to touch the raw chicken and then touch the spices over and over again for contamination reasons.

Let’s make some air fryer
chicken legs!

1. Preheat air fryer while you make the spice rub. Turn it to 400°F for 5 minutes to preheat.
2. Mix the spices and set aside. Get some paper towels and dab the chicken drumsticks dry. Then place them into a large baggie and add olive oil. Mix the legs around in the bag to get the olive oil on them.
3. Pour in half of the seasoning mixture and try to coat all of the legs.
4. Stop the air fryer and spray the basket with cooking spray.
5. Place the legs on in the air fryer basket in a single layer and cook at 400°F for 10 minutes then flip them and cook for another 8-10 minutes until nice and crispy. You can use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature is 165°F.
6. Let the crispy chicken legs sit for 5 minutes before eating. (Note cook time may vary a bit depending on the size of your drumsticks. You can always put them back in for an extra minute or two.)

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Keto recipes to serve with
this main dish.

Assuming you are making these air fryer drumsticks because you want a quick and yummy keto dinner, I would suggest making some cheesy cauliflower broccoli rice which only takes 15 minutes.

Or you can try either some slow cooker creamed spinach or loaded broccoli salad. These are all rich and tasty vegetable side dishes. If you don’t care about carbs you can try these tasty diced potatoes. We eat these often!

Well I hope you give these air fryer chicken legs a try. It’s an inexpensive but very tasty keto dinner that is family friendly as well. And note that you can easily use chicken thighs for this recipe too!

Check out all of my air fryer recipes. Air frying has become one of my favorite methods for cooking friend food. 

The nutrition information for 1 leg is 240 calories
14.1g fat / 1.7g carbs / 0.4g fiber / 24.8g protein = 1.3g net carbohydrates

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Keto Chicken Legs in the Air Fryer

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

This keto air fryer chicken drumsticks recipe is so easy to make. Perfect for a tasty and quick low carb dinner on busy weeknights.

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Ingredients

• 8 chicken legs with skin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Swerve brown sugar sweetener
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Instructions

1. Preheat the air fryer for a few minutes at 400°F.
2. While that's preheating, mix all of the spices together in a bowl.
3. Dab raw chicken legs dry with some paper towels that then add to a large ziplock bag. 
4. Pour in the oil and mix around the drumsticks within the bag. Then pour in half of the spices and try to get it all over the legs. You can keep the other half of the spices for another day or use a bit more if you want.
5. Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Lay the legs down but do not overlap. If your air fryer basket is on the smaller side you make have to make this in two batches. Sprinkle more of the spices over the legs if you want or save it for another time.
6. Set the air fryer temperature to 400°F and cook for 10 minutes. Then flip them over and cook for 10 more minutes until the internal temperature is 165°F using a kitchen thermometer and you have crispy skin.
7. Let sit for a few minutes before eating. Store leftovers in an air tight container. 

Note cooking time may vary a bit depending on the size of your drumsticks.

Notes

The nutrition information for 1 chicken leg is 240 calories
14.1g fat / 1.7g carbs / 0.4g fiber / 24.8g protein = 1.3g net carbohydratess

Recommended Products

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  Chefman 6.3 Quart Digital Air Fryer+ Rotisserie, Dehydrator, Convection Oven, 8 Touch Screen Presets Fry, Roast, Dehydrate & Bake, BPA-Free, Auto Shutoff, Accessories Included, XL Family Size, Black
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  GoWISE USA GW22731 1700-Watt 5.8-QT 8-in-1 Digital Air Fryer + Recipes, Black

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 240