How to Make Chicken Cutlets in the Air Fryer (and How They Compare to Pan-Fried Cutlets)

Sinking your teeth into a crispy fried chicken cutlet is an unparalleled joy. In fact, it’s so wonderful that reaching for each subsequent cutlet is easier and easier—at least it is for me. It’s a cruel joke that I can’t eat fried food as much as I want to. Too much oily food can lead to a rather unfortunate GI upset for me. (TMI? We’re all family here, right?) While this doesn’t put oil off the menu for me completely, I do have to get creative with using less oil. That’s where the air fryer has helped me win. I can still make crispy, crunchy chicken cutlets without the puddle of oil.

I use a basket air fryer to make these chicken cutlets—specifically, the Instant Vortex, which is one of my top air fryer picks for 2025. It’s easy to use and heats food quickly and evenly; you can read more details about the Instant Vortex here in my review. Here’s how I make air fryer chicken cutlets with less oil than pan frying. 

How to make air fryer chicken cutlets

Regardless of if you’re shallow frying or air-frying, the preparation method is the same. You want to build a coating that sticks first. 

1. Dredge the chicken cutlets

If you bought thinly sliced cutlets, you’re ready to dredge. If you bought whole breasts, then you’ll want to slice them in half or in thirds equatorially to get wide flat cutlets. 

Set up your dredging station with a bowl of one or two scrambled up raw eggs, a bowl of seasoned flour (I just salt and pepper the flour most of the time), and a plate of bread crumbs. I used seasoned panko breadcrumbs today. Have a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet nearby. Knocking off the excess each time, cover each cutlet in flour first, then dip them in egg, then press the chicken into the panko breading. Lay the coated chicken flat on the wire rack and repeat with the rest of the cutlets. Allow the chicken to dry for about 15 minutes. This drying time helps the breading to stay put. 

2. Pre-heat the air fryer

Unlike a pool of oil in a frying pan, air fryers generally take fewer than three minutes to preheat. So you don’t really have to do this much in advance, just snap it on when you’re ready to cook. I used my Instant Vortex air fryer today and set it for 400°F. Since the cutlets are thin, my priority is to brown and crisp the breading because I know the higher temperature will cook the chicken quickly.  

3. Coat the chicken with oil

Air frying isn’t oil-free. At least, I don’t recommend skipping it. The idea is to get similar results to shallow frying in a pan, but without submerging it in oil. Without any oil at all, you’ll end up with dry chicken and the breading won’t brown or develop much flavor. However, just a thin coating of oil will change everything, leading to more even browning and crisping.

I use a non-aerosol oil sprayer and spritz in a zig-zag to cover most areas on one side of each cutlet. I’ll place the chicken oil-side down in the air fryer and then spritz the top side with oil. If you don’t have an oil sprayer, you can use a pastry brush and just daub some oil over the chicken. It’s okay if you miss some areas—the oil will work its way around a bit when it heats up. 

4. Air fry the cutlets

I air fry the chicken for a total of 10 to 12 minutes at 400°F depending on the thickness of the chicken. Keep in mind that air fryers only heat from the fan-side down, so you’ll probably have to flip the chicken halfway through the cooking time to brown the other side. 

5. Cool

Cooling is crucial for most meats, but especially crispy food. The last thing you want to do is leave the air-fried cutlets in the machine when the fan turns off. The fan throws hot air around but it also ejects the moisture from the cooking container. Once the engine turns off, all of the humidity will build up in the basket or oven and soften the crispy breading.

Take the chicken out immediately once it’s finished and let it cool on a wire cooling rack for at least five minutes. This will help the cutlets stay crispy on the outside.

Air frying really can reduce oil

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

When you’re coating the cutlets with a spritz of oil you might have a moment where you think, Isn’t this the same as pan frying? It’s not. I prepared chicken cutlets using the air fryer method above, and the pan frying method using a half-inch of cooking oil so I could see and taste the results side by side. I used over a cup of cooking oil in the pan, and about half of it was absorbed by the chicken breading by the end. My air-fried cutlets used about two tablespoons of oil and I found some of it at the bottom of the air fryer basket at the end. 

Keep in mind that just because you put something in the air fryer doesn’t automatically make it “healthier.” Healthy looks different from person to person, but if your intention is to reduce oil use and still have a tasty, crispy cutlet, this is one way to do it for sure.

The downsides to air-fried chicken cutlets

Left: Shallow-fried chicken cutlet. Right: Air-fried chicken cutlet.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Were both results the same in taste and presentation? No. Shallow fried chicken cutlets are undoubtedly the superior treat. They’re juicier, more flavorful, and the color is more even. 

However, air-fried chicken cutlets are equally as crispy—especially if you listen to my cooling instructions. For a better air-fried chicken cutlet experience, consider using chicken thighs. I know the point of a cutlet is that it’s thin and flat, but the risk of drying out is higher in an air fryer thanks to those convection winds. Starting with a juicier piece of chicken will help you achieve juicier results and you’ll still be avoiding excess oil.

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