Air Fried Frozen Chicken Nuggets
Buy our air fryer e-cookbooks today 
You’ll love air frying chicken nuggets, we guarantee that! Kids love these! These air fried frozen chicken nuggets come out so crispy and quick when they’re air fried. It’s hard not to cook these air fryer frozen chicken nuggets in any other way.
Can you cook frozen chicken nuggets straight from the freezer?
Yes you definitely can and you don’t need to thaw these. They’re super simple to air fry because these frozen nuggets are already pre-cooked. So you’re essentially just heating them up to be crispy.
How to Cook Air Fried Frozen Chicken Nuggets in Air Fryer
- We tested several different brands including tyson chicken nuggets, Target brand, foster farms and great value brand.
- The frozen air fried chicken nuggets can easily be cooked when taken straight from the freezer. Remember, no need to thaw. But if you did thaw them, then it will take about half the air frying time that we have listed below.
- Depending on the size and thickness of the nuggets, they’ll cook between about 10-12 minutes.
- Do you need to oil spray? Since these frozen chicken nuggets are already pre-fried, we don’t feel you need to add extra oil. You’ll see all the oil release at the bottom of the air fryer. It’s less greasy if you DON’T add extra oil spray.
- Lay them in a single layer and leave a little space between the nuggets. You want the hot circulating air to crisp all sides and edges of the nuggets. If they’re too close or stacked onto of each other, they won’t cook evenly.
- Our timing and details are below in the recipe box.
- Pro-Tip: here’s our favorite tools to help make air frying easier:
We LOVE Evo Oil Sprayers. Not the prettiest, but they’re functional and spritz oil great! They don’t clog up like many others we’ve bought. There’s different styles, but all seem to have the same great spray head. Works great for grilling!
There are Square Mats & Round Mats. These perforated non-stick silicone mats are used to cook food in your air fryer or steamer to minimize sticking. Holes allow hot circulating air to cook the food & keeps the food from sticking.
Parchment sheets are great for your air fryer or bamboo steamer (food tends to stick most on wire basket or tray). Choose from different sizes, shapes, white and brown (unbleached). Holes allow air to cook food evenly.
Video: Frozen Chicken Nuggets in the Air Fryer
Best Brand of Frozen Chicken Nuggets for Air Fryer?
There’s so many different brands with different sizes and thicknesses of the chicken nuggets. Do a test batch first for a small handful. After cooking your first few nuggets, you’ll know more of how long and temp is best for your brand. Also, the more you cook, the longer it will take to get crispy. So you should be flexible and check to make sure the nuggets are cooked though. Organic brands of frozen chicken nuggets are perfect for cooking in the fryer too. You can eat more chicken nuggets and eat consciously with organic brands!
Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Nuggets
All air fryers are different and some cook much hotter than others. Once you cook your first batch of chicken nuggets, you’ll know more of what works for your model of air fryer and size of food. These were tested on basket style air fryers. Read more recipe notes below the recipe. Nutrition will vary from brand to brand and will depend on the type of coating.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (170 g) Frozen Chicken Nuggets
- optional dipping sauce (ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, hot sauce, ranch, malt vinegar, etc.)
Equipment
Instructions
- Place the frozen chicken nuggets in the air fryer basket and spread out into a single even layer. No oil spray is needed.
- Air Fry at 400°F/205°C for 8 minutes. Flip the nuggets over.
- Continue to Air Fry at 400°F/205°C for another 2-4 minutes or until heated through and crispy.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- No Oil Necessary. Cook Frozen – Do not thaw first.
- Shake or turn if needed. Don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket.
- Recipe timing is based on a non-preheated air fryer. If cooking in multiple batches of chicken nuggets back to back, the following batches may cook a little quicker.
- Recipes were tested in 3.7 to 6 qt. air fryers. If using a larger air fryer, the chicken nuggets might cook quicker so adjust cooking time.
- Remember to set a timer to shake/flip/toss as directed in recipe.
If your air fryer is preheated or if you are cooking multiple batches, you may need to reduce timing by a few minutes (unless preheating is called for in the recipe).
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Dipping Ideas to Serve
Ketchup is the go-to dip of choice and we all love ketchup! But if you want to taste something different, here’s some dip ideas for these air fryer chicken nuggets
- Guacamole
- Ranch dressing
- Cheese dips
- Hot Sauce
- Sriracha Mayo
- Honey mustard sauce
- BBQ sauce
More Easy Chicken Recipes in the Air Fryer
If you love air frying chicken, we have these delicious recipe ideas for you:
- Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Strips using fresh homemade breading and fresh chicken. We love these tenders because they’re so juicy on the inside!
- Doritos crusted chicken strips are amazing! The salty crunchy texture of the crushed chips make these one of our most popular air fried chicken recipes.
- For convenience, try Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Wings. They’re sold completely cooked and frozen so cooking times are quicker for a meal in minutes.
- Air Fryer Frozen Breaded Chicken Breast is another way to have lunch or dinner ready in minutes. The frozen chicken breasts are usually sold as fully cooked.
- Here’s our complete collection of air fryer chicken recipes.
- Tater tots and corn dogs are easy to cook frozen too.
You Might Also Love these Air Fryer Recipes
- Trader Joe’s Frozen Mandarin Orange Chicken
- Air Fried Frozen Chicken Tenders or Strips
- More–> Air Fried Frozen Foods and All French Fries Recipes
This recipe was originally published in 2020 and re-published in 2021 with updated photos. Here’s a great recipe for oven homemade chicken nuggets.
12 Comments on “Air Fried Frozen Chicken Nuggets”
This recipe is the best. Perfect for a snack for the kids during the summer.
Recipe is great. Keep sharing!
Timing perfection.
Thanks Lori!
It’s so cool that you don’t even need to thaw these nuggets before putting them in the air fryer. They come out so perfect.
I’m glad you can just take these out from the freezer and pop them into the air fryer basket. This is great.
i love these
Loved how crispy these came out. I can’t believe I used to microwave these nuggets!
The chicken nuggets came out crispy. This is so much better than microwaving.
Tried it for the first time and it’s the best thing ever…. way better than frying with oil…. “Once you air fry…. your meal will never be bone dry!”
Hi Jason! That’s awesome your first try worked great. And love the quote!
My kids dipped these in ketchup and mustard and said it’s WAY better than restaurants! LOL, i’ll be air frying forever.