Air Fryer Jerk-Inspired Chicken Drumsticks
These easy jerk-inspired chicken drumsticks are perfect for hot summer days. Pop the chicken into the marinade the night before for a super quick dinner.
From the book
The Ultimate Air-Fryer Cookbook
Over 80 easy-to-follow recipes for everyday air fryer cooking.
Quick and healthy midweek meal recipe for busy weeknights.
From snacks and starters, to lunches and mains, and even desserts.
Introduction
This is one of those dishes that is just begging for a sunny day and a cold beer (and ideally a Caribbean beach, but you can’t have everything!). The marinade can be made ahead and kept in a jar in the fridge for up to a week if you want to be organised. My top tip here is not to skimp on the marinating time, a few hours is ok, but for maximum flavour you really need to make these a day ahead and leave them overnight to soak up all that flavour. The recipe below is fiery without being volcanic, but feel free to add or lessen the chilli to suit your family’s tolerance level.
Ingredients
| 8 | chicken drumsticks |
| For the jerk sauce: | |
|---|---|
| 3 | small red chillies, roughly chopped |
| 1 | small red onion, roughly chopped |
| 4 | spring onions, roughly chopped |
| 4 | garlic cloves |
| 1 tbsp | white wine vinegar |
| 2 tbsp | soy sauce |
| thumb-sized piece | fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped |
| 2 tbsp | brown sugar |
| 1 tbsp | vegetable oil |
| juice of 1 | lime |
| ½ tsp | ground allspice |
| 1 tsp | runny honey |
| sea salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Essential kit
You will need: an air fryer.
Method
Make the jerk sauce by putting all of the ingredients in a blender or smoothie maker and blending to a smooth paste. If the mixture is too thick and doesn’t blend, add a little more oil to loosen slightly.
Lay the chicken drumsticks in the base of a lidded container, then pour over the sauce and rub into the chicken to ensure everything is well coated. Cover with a lid and transfer to the fridge to marinate, ideally overnight.
Once the chicken is marinated, lay it in the base of the air fryer in a single layer (you may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your fryer) and cook at 180°C for 20–25 minutes, turning the drumsticks halfway through cooking time, until the meat is tender and the juices and run clear.
Serve hot. These are wonderful to serve alongside salads and slaws, or with rice and peas for a true taste of the Caribbean sunshine.
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