Air Fryer Pretzel Chicken Cordon Bleu

In under 45 minutes, you can whip up the best air fryer chicken dinner you will ever try. This pretzel chicken cordon bleu has it all - from a crunchy crust to juicy chicken, and melty cheese on the inside.

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• What You'll Learn In This Recipe
• 5 Days to Instantly Becoming a Better Home Cook
• Ingredients You Need
• How To Make This Recipe
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• More Dinner Recipes
• Air Fryer Pretzel Chicken Cordon Bleu

What You'll Learn In This Recipe

• How to make juicy air-fryer chicken.
• How to make an easy pretzel crumb crust.
• The importance of trimming off excess fat from chicken. 

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Ingredients You Need

This pretzel chicken cordon bleu in an air fryer is super easy to make, requiring just a handful of key ingredients. 

• Chicken thighs: To ensure super juicy chicken, this recipe calls for thighs. Dark meat is much juicier than white meat and it's harder to overcook dark meat. Be sure to buy skinless, boneless chicken thighs, or remove the skin and bones yourself before cooking. 
• Sliced ham: I like to use thinly sliced deli-style honey ham for my cordon bleu. Feel free to use a different style, brand, or flavor of ham in your dish.
• Swiss cheese: Swiss cheese is another distinct characteristic of a cordon bleu. This cheese melts beautifully and the sharp and distinct flavor helps cut through the saltiness and meatiness of the rest of the dish. Just like the ham, be sure to get thinly sliced cheese.
• Pretzels: This is the secret trick to getting the crunchiest exterior on your chicken. If necessary, feel free to substitute for gluten-free pretzels. 
• Eggs: Eggs are the binding agent that will ensure the pretzels stick to the chicken. This will help you get a nice even coating of crunchiness surrounding the chicken. 
• Non-stick cooking oil spray: Give your air fryer basket a coating of non-stick cooking oil spray and you won’t have to worry about the chicken cordon bleu sticking. 

Check out the recipe card below for exact measurements.

How To Make This Recipe

You are going to be shocked by how easy this pretzel-crusted air fryer chicken is to make. 

1. To begin, set your air fryer to 375ºF (190 C). Any air fryer works for this recipe, I love using my Cuisinart air fryer + convection toaster oven. 

With the air fryer preheating, trim off the excess fat from the chicken thighs. Very rarely will the chicken thighs be perfectly cleaned, so be sure to clean off any excess fat to ensure all parts of the chicken thigh cook evenly.

If you leave the fat on, the fat will not have rendered in the amount of time it takes the meat to cook. This will result in a chewy consistency that we do not want.

When trimming meat, you want to use a sharp knife like a chef's knife or a boning knife. 

2. With the chicken cleaned, add the pretzels to the container of a high-powered blender or a food processor. Cover the container with the lid and blend for about 20 seconds.

You want the pretzels to have become a crumb-like powder. If you blend for too long the pretzels will become too powdery and your chicken will not be as crunchy. Dump this mixture onto a shallow plate.

3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the eggs. Whisk the eggs until scrambled. 

4. Now it’s time to assemble the chicken cordon bleu. Before starting, gather all of your ingredients in one place. To assemble, lay a chicken thigh flat on a plastic cutting board or a plate. Add two slices of ham and one slice of Swiss cheese to the chicken thigh.

5 and 6. Roll the thigh up so the chicken is on the outside and the cheese and ham are encompassed.

7. Use one or two toothpicks to secure the chicken roll-up. Then, repeat this process with the rest of the chicken thighs. 

8. With all the chicken rolled up, coat the thighs in the egg mixture. Make sure the outside is completely covered in egg before transferring the chicken to the plate with the pretzel powder.

9. Roll the chicken in the powder until there is an even and thin layer of pretzels all around the chicken. 

When breading anything using egg wash, the wet hand/dry hand method is the way to go. One hand is used for handling the wet ingredients (the egg), while the other is used for handling the dry ingredients (the pretzel crumbs). This method helps avoid clumps of eggy breadcrumbs on your hands and keeps the whole process much cleaner. 

10. Before placing the chicken in the air fryer, spray a thin layer of non-stick cooking oil in the fryer basket. With the basket coated, add the chicken thighs in a single layer. Be sure to leave some space in between each piece of chicken to ensure that all sides get crispy. 

11. Let the chicken cook for 24-28 minutes until the chicken is golden brown on the outside and the internal temperature reads 165º F (74º C) on an instant-read thermometer. 

If you know that the air fryer you use does not cook evenly, turn the chicken halfway through the cooking process to ensure that each thigh cooks in the same amount of time. 

With the chicken cooked, remove the toothpicks and serve immediately. This chicken is at its best when it’s right out of the air fryer since the coating will be at its crispiest and the cheese will be nice and melted.

Expert Tips

• If you are choosing to use frozen chicken for this recipe, there are a few safe ways to defrost raw meat:
  • 1. Place the chicken in a refrigerator for at least 8 hours before you plan on using it. Be sure the temperature in the fridge is at 41º F (5º C) or lower.
  • 2. Let the meat sit under running water. This will significantly speed up the defrosting process. Do not let the temperature of the water exceed 70º F (21º C).  
  • 3. Using the defrost setting on the microwave. Be sure to use the meat immediately after defrosting if you use this method.
• Storage: Store leftover cooked chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 
• You can switch up this recipe to use any other type of breading: panko crumbs, bread crumbs, crushed crackers, crushed potato chips, or crushed cornflakes. 

Recipe FAQs

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