Perfectly cooked and seasoned, this roasted air fryer whole chicken is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. You’ll love how crispy the skin gets in the air fryer without drying out the chicken at all!
Make sure your whole chicken will fit into the air fryer you have. We use a 6-quart Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer and it fits a chicken around 5-6 lbs. Your air fryer may be different, so check the size of the basket and the size of the chicken first.
Make the seasoning rub by combining all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl or jar.
Make sure your chicken is completely thawed and everything is removed from the cavity. Pat the chicken down with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
Drizzle oil over the chicken and rub it all over the skin with your hands.
Rub the seasoning rub all over the chicken. Try to coat it as evenly as possible and get the seasoning over every piece of the chicken.
Preheat air fryer (if yours preheats) to 400° Fahrenheit and set it to cook for 20 minutes. (See notes below for cooking times for different chicken sizes)
Place the chicken in your air fryer basket breast side down and cook for 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes is up, carefully flip the chicken using tongs. Set the air fryer to 350° Fahrenheit.
Cook for another 30-40 minutes at 350°, until the internal temperature reaches 165° Fahrenheit. Every air fryer cooks differently and each chicken is a different size, so check the chicken 20 minutes after flipping it and continue cooking and checking it as needed until it is up to temperature.
Once the internal temperature reaches 165° Fahrenheit, remove the chicken and place it on a cutting board to rest. Allow the chicken to sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Approximate cooking times for chicken sizes:
4 lb chicken: 20 minutes at 400° + 25 minutes at 350° = 45 minutes total
5 lb chicken: 20 minutes at 400° + 35 minutes at 350° = 55 minutes total
6 lb chicken: 25 minutes at 400° + 35 minutes at 350° = 60 minutes total
Nutrition details are per serving and an estimate provided for those following a Ketogenic or low-carb diet. Nutrition details were calculated using a 5lb whole chicken for this recipe. See our full nutrition information disclosure here.