Many families are looking for tasty holiday entrees to add to their holiday meal planning. If you’ve been craving something different during this holiday season, then you are going to love this fried chicken recipe. Get your tastebuds ready, because your dining will never be the same.
What you need
Before you can start cooking this delicious meal, make sure you have the items listed below.
Cranberry Glazed Holiday Fried Chicken
Prep Time: 1 hour marinating, 20 minutes prep
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Vegetables
- 3 cups baby kale
- 1 ½ tsp fine kosher salt, divided
- 350g Brussels sprouts (approx. 4 cups)
- ½ tsp black pepper, divided
- 3 tsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Glaze
- ½ tsp fine kosher salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup jellied cranberry sauce
- ½ clementine, juice + zest
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Garnish
- 2 tbsp roasted, salted pistachios
- ¼ cup fresh cranberries
Marinade
- 2 chicken drumsticks, skin on
- 2 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp fine kosher salt
- 1 chicken breast, skin on, boneless, cut in half
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Coating
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp vegetable oil (for halfway through cooking)
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp fine kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper
Serves: 4
Start with the chicken pieces and…
Got everything together? Then start by taking the chicken pieces in a large bowl along with buttermilk, salt, and garlic powder. Toss the chicken until each piece is fully coated. Cover the pieces and let it marinate for an hour in the fridge. You should toss the chicken one more time halfway through.
While the chicken marinates, get a separate large bowl and whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder.
After the chicken marinates you’ll want to…
Take each piece of chicken and gently shake off the excess marinade. Coat the pieces in the flour mixture and transfer them to a large plate. Do this until every chicken piece is coated.
Next you’ll want to preheat your air fryer. We recommend the Easy Fry Prestige XL Digital air fryer, but any brand you trust will do. Once it’s ready, transfer the coated chicken to the air fryer bowl with the grid in place. Set the air fryer to Fry Mode (should be about 200°C) and set the timer to 10 minutes.
When the timer goes off…
After the timer goes off, brush off any visible raw flour on the chicken strips with 1 tsp of vegetable oil. After that, return the chicken to the air fryer on fry mode (200°C) another 7 minutes.
Flip the chicken when its done and fry it again for 7 minutes or until the pieces are a lovely golden color. It should be completely cooked through. Then move the chicken to a clean sheet pan.
Keep the chicken warm in a low oven and then…
While your chicken stays warm, clean out the air fryer bowl and grid. You’ll need the grid for the rest of the recipe starting with the vegetables.
Prepare your brussel sprouts by trimming the ends, cutting them in half, and make thin slices. Toss the pieces in a large bowl with 2 tsp of olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Place these into the air fryer and set it to Roast Mode (about 200°C) for 7 minutes, then stir.
While the brussel sprouts roast…
You’ll then want to toss baby kale in a separate bowl with all remaining oil, salt, and pepper. Add the mix to the air fryer on top of the sprouts for an additional 5 minutes on roast mode. You’ll know it’s done when the veggies are tender and crisp.
Then take the veggies and transfer them to a large serving platter. Drizzle over them with lemon juice for flavor.
And now for the glaze and garnish
Mix all the glaze ingredients into a small pot. Simmer the mix on medium for 5-7 minutes. You’ll want to stir as you go until there are no visible lumps and the sauce is nice sticky and runny.
For the garnish, thinly slice the cranberries horizontally. We recommend a serrated knife to make it easy. Add this to the air fryer cooking on Bake Mode (or 160°C) for 5 minutes.
Then finely chop the pistachios.
And now put it all together
Now that you’re done, add the chicken to the center of the platter on top of the bed of vegetables. Drizzle the sauce over the meal and sprinkle over baked cranberries and chopped nuts.
Now you’re ready to enjoy this delicious and mouth-watering holiday treat.
You can see the recipe for yourself in the video below.
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