Air-fryer spicy crispy chicken sandwich
44 min · 48 g protein · 405 cals / serving
The fast-food spicy chicken sandwich, made at home: a hot-sauce marinated chicken cutlet with a crunchy cornflake crust, air-fried instead of deep-fried, on a toasted bun with sriracha yogurt mayo, lettuce and pickles.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 large (1 1/2 lb) chicken breast, each halved horizontally into 2 cutlets
- 4 tbsp liquid egg white, or 2 egg whites
- 2 tbsp cayenne pepper hot sauce, Louisiana-style
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups corn flakes, crushed to coarse crumbs
- 2 tsp paprika, smoked if you have it
- 1 tsp chili powder, or 1/2 tsp cayenne for real heat
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- a light coat cooking spray
Spicy mayo
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 tbsp light mayonnaise
- 4 tsp sriracha hot sauce
To serve
- 4 light burger bun, or high-protein buns, toasted
- 2 1/2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 16 slices reduced sodium dill pickles
Steps
- Slice each breast in half horizontally into two even cutlets about 2/3 inch thick. Whisk the egg whites, hot sauce and salt in a shallow dish and turn the chicken in it. Fifteen minutes here, or up to a day in the fridge, seasons it all the way through.
- Mix the crushed cornflakes with the paprika, chili powder, garlic powder and pepper on a plate. Lift each cutlet out, let the excess drip off, and press it firmly into the crumbs on both sides.
- Heat the air fryer to 400°F. Spray the basket and both sides of the chicken lightly and cook in a single layer, in batches if needed, for 10–12 minutes, turning halfway, until deep golden and the thickest part reads 165°F.
- Stir the yogurt, mayonnaise and sriracha together for the spicy mayo.
- Spread both halves of each toasted bun with spicy mayo and build: lettuce, chicken, pickles, lid.
Good to know
Cornflakes, really?
They are already toasted and sweetened just slightly, so they brown deeply and stay crunchy in an air fryer, where breadcrumbs often come out pale. Crush them to the size of coarse breadcrumbs, not dust.
How do I keep the coating on?
Press the crumbs on hard, leave the cutlets alone for the first half of the cooking, and turn them once with tongs. Crowding the basket steams the crust, so cook in batches.
Per
- Calories
- 135
- Protein
- (49%)
- 16 g
- Fat
- (18%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (33%)
- 12 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 355 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1621 kcal goes into the pot and 1408 g of ingredients comes out as about 1200 g of food: 135 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.