Reheat Fried Chicken. Easy to follow instructions and tips showing you the best way to reheat fried chicken leftovers. Whether you have KFC chicken to reheat, homemade or another brand, all will work well with this air fryer method.
Before we dive into this guide for reheating fried chicken in the air fryer, I have something even better for you to check out first.
It is our Learn Your Air Fryer online course and our free air fryer mini course. They are ideal for air fryer beginners. The free course runs for 5 days and is in the format of an email miniseries. While the learn your air fryer course runs every week with a new PDF and ecookbook for a whole year.
Or browse our site as we have 450+ air fryer recipes that are easy to recreate at home and we have been showing people how to use the air fryer since 2011.
Reheat Fried Chicken
Can I be honest now and say that my love affair with Kentucky Fried Chicken took a while to get started? In fact, until I was about 18, I HATED KFC and wanted to be as far away from the Southern Fried Chicken brand as possible.
You know how kids can be with their fussy eating habits and how as a child we hate something and then as an adult we love it.
Well, that was me with southern fried chicken.
I grew up in the 80’s/90’s in a small town when there was not much choice about fast food. You had McDonalds and that was it for the famous American chains.
There was plenty of fish and chip shops, a Chinese & an Indian restaurant and lots of kebab shops.
My dad would always complain about the lack of a KFC as he loved it. So, when we hit the city or were on the motorway stopping for dinner, it was always KFC.
BUT I hated meat, was a vegetarian at the time and was repulsed by the look of meat on the bone.
I would go next door and get some cauliflower cheese and complain that we should have gone to McDonalds.
I used to watch as my parents ate this horrible looking chicken and then feel even more tortured as they took the spare bit of the bucket home for later.
They were the first I knew of that would reheat fried chicken at home and after 20 years of adulthood and now loving KFC I would love to show you how to do the same.
Can You Freeze Kentucky Chicken?
This is one of the first questions I always get asked when I mention my parents’ leftover chicken. The answer is a big YES — you can freeze Kentucky chicken, and KFC chicken freezes really well.
Frozen KFC chicken can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months, making it a great way to save leftovers and enjoy them another day.
How To Freeze KFC Chicken
The easiest way to freeze KFC chicken is to place the leftover pieces into a large zip-lock freezer bag.
Once the chicken is safely sealed, simply place the bag in the freezer. Then, whenever you fancy some leftover KFC, you can take out one piece of chicken or several pieces depending on what you need.
It’s a simple freezer storage method that makes reheating leftover Kentucky chicken quick and convenient.
Just like we have done here:
Can You Reheat Fried Chicken In An Air Fryer?
Absolutely! You can reheat fried chicken in an air fryer, and it’s one of the best ways to bring leftover chicken back to life.
Today, we’re showing you not only how to reheat fried chicken in the air fryer, but also how to reheat frozen fried chicken. So, don’t worry if you forgot to thaw your KFC leftovers first — you can cook them straight from frozen.
The air fryer is perfect for restoring that crispy coating while keeping the chicken juicy and delicious inside.
Can You Reheat Fried Chicken The Next Day?
Yes, you can reheat fried chicken the next day.
Simply place your KFC leftovers in the fridge after your meal and warm them up the following day. You can keep the chicken in the original KFC bucket or transfer it into an airtight container.
As a general guide, leftover fried chicken is best eaten within a few days. However, because you don’t know exactly how long the chicken was stored before you bought it, we recommend reheating and enjoying your KFC leftovers within 2 days of purchase for the best quality.
Can You Reheat Fried Chicken Twice?
No, fried chicken should only be reheated once.
Repeatedly reheating cooked chicken can increase the risk of food safety issues. Instead, only reheat the amount of fried chicken you plan to eat, so you don’t need to warm up the same leftovers more than once.
How Do You Make Crispy Chicken Crispy Again?
The best way to make crispy chicken crispy again is by using an air fryer.
Whether you want to reheat fried chicken in a Ninja Foodi, use a toaster oven, or cook it in a traditional air fryer basket, the circulating hot air helps bring back that delicious crispy coating.
The air fryer is our favourite method because it reheats the chicken evenly, restores the crunch and gives you that freshly cooked texture again.
Best Way To Reheat Fried Chicken?
If you want to reheat fried chicken, the best way to reheat fried chicken is in the air fryer and you can do it like this:
- Load fried chicken leftovers into the air fryer basket.
- Spray the skin with extra virgin olive oil.
- Air fry + enjoy!
Listen To Reheat Fried chicken in The Air Fryer
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How Long To Reheat Fried Chicken In Air Fryer?
We reheat our fried chicken for 16 minutes in the air fryer. This may differ depending on how much chicken you are reheating and how thick the pieces of chicken are. But 16 minutes is an average and can be used as a guide.
But do check the sizes of your leftover KFC chicken as you might have some pieces bigger than others and this can course the cook time to vary.
I weighed our leftover KFC Chicken after I had reheated it and discovered out of 5 pieces that:
- 2 weighed 80g
- 1 weighed 140g
- 1 weighed 96g
- 1 weighed 62g
So when you check to see if your chicken is fully checked, check the biggest one at the fastest part.
Reheat In Air Fryer
As well as our reheat KFC chicken in the air fryer we have a full series of recipes showing you how to reheat in the air fryer. You can follow the rest of the series below:
- How To Reheat A Burger In Air Fryer
- How To Reheat Onion Rings In Air Fryer
- Reheat Fries In Air Fryer
- Reheat Fried Fish In Air Fryer
- How To Reheat Rice In Air Fryer
- Reheat Chicken Wings In Air Fryer
- How To Reheat Pizza In An Air Fryer
- How To Reheat McDonalds Chicken Nuggets In Air Fryer
- How To Reheat McDonalds Fries In Air Fryer
Reheat Fried Chicken In Air Fryer
Instructions
- Place the frozen pieces of KFC Chicken into the air fryer basket and reheat for 16 minutes at 160c/320f.
- When it beeps following my notes below, check to see if the chicken is fully reheated.
- Serve with your favourite sides.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!
I just bought an air fryer today and surprisingly, the booklet that came with it talks mostly about Cooking (not reheating). Yours is the first article that comes up when searching for How to Reheat KFC in an air fryer, so I wanted to thank you for your work.
I will write back with a recipe rating once I actually try this out.
Hi JE from Canada,
Really happy you found our article and are starting to use your new air fryer. Hope your chicken turns out good for you and we have loads of other re-heat recipes that you can follow 🙂
I have stuffed chicken breast before, with feta cheese and arugula or something like this. And my Family was indeed impressed ???? The Caprese combo sounds pretty amazing!
Harold Burton
What would the time/temp be if it wasn’t frozen? EDIT: Thanks it turned out great.
Hi Alisha,
If it was not frozen i would start with a 8 minute reheat depending on the size of your chicken and using 160c/320f, and this should be ok for most pieces 🙂
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome post. Was wondering about reheating my KFC in the air fryer.
I never thought about reheating KFC in the air fryer. Thanks for the heads up.