Whats For Dinner: Air Fryer Chicken Sandwich

We love a good chicken sandwich in this house, but unpopular opinion, Chick-fil-a is mediocre and doesn't really hit the spot like it used to for me. The other day I was at Aldi and found these brioche buns that just looked so good, so I took that as a sign to try out my own chicken sandwich. This isn't a house where you will see things fried in oil though. And if I'm going to be honest with you, that's 90% because I can't stand cleaning up oil and 10% for health reasons. My goal, a chicken sandwich with some crunch that is cooked in the air fryer. While it doesn't have the golden color from a oil fried sandwich, it was so good. As usual, make adjustments to your taste buds, I used what I had when it came to the sliced cheese but as my husband so kindly noted, any other cheese would have tasted better lol.

What you will need:

• Chicken breast

• Eggs or egg whites, or both.

• Hot sauce (I used franks buffalo)

• Pickle juice

• Flour

• Bread or Panko crumbs

• Seasoning of your choice (I used my usual: Slap ya Mama, paprika, onion & Garlic powder, pepper)

• Milk

• Lemon Juice

1. In a bowl combine milk and lemon juice (or buttermilk if you have it), pickle juice, hot sauce and your seasoning. Set aside.

2. Put a chicken breast in a ziplock bag or cover with Saran Wrap and pound the chicken breast flat, cut in half. A way to make this easier, first cut it in half vertically, pound each side flat, then cut that piece horizontal. Repeat the process with all of the chicken you are using.

3. Place the chicken and milk mixture into a ziplock bag, release as much air as possible while making sure every piece of chicken is fully coated and put in the fridge for 2 hours.

4. Grab 3 bowls. In the 1st, put about 2 eggs. I did 2 eggs and about 1/4 cup egg white. In the egg mixture add your seasoning and hot sauce. In the 2nd bowl, put flour, season it to your liking. In the third bowl, put your bread or panko crumbs, season.

5. When you are ready to cook, Put one chicken in the egg, fully coat. Toss in the flour, then back into the egg. From there, put it in the crumbs and fully coat. Repeat until all chicken is coated.

6. I cooked mine in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flipping the chicken breast halfway through the time. Remember to keep an eye on it because all air fryers are different.

What I learned:

-Once you put the chicken in your air fryer, spray the top with some oil.

-They got crispy, but to take it to the next level, I would take cornflakes and crush them up for the final coating. If you want to add extra protein to it, crush up your favorite protein chips instead.

+I also mixed together mayo, ketchup and pickle juice, with garlic powder sprinkled in as the sauce on the sandwiches and they were so good.

+Buns were toasted via stovetop in bacon grease. (We save all of our bacon grease for moments like this)

Enjoy!