Tony Jackman’s chilli-hot chicken thighs with bacon and tomatoes. (Photo: Tony Jackman)
It’s no secret by now that chicken thighs cook brilliantly in an air fryer. They turn golden, keep all of their inherent succulence, and cook all the way through. And it takes only about 40 minutes, turning once.
But they don’t have to be alone in there — you don’t need to just season them and shove them in.
I often add bacon to a chicken dish, as you’ll know by now if you follow this air fryer adventure, but this time I also added baby Roma tomatoes, and I gave them some fire in two ways — by coating the thighs in Banhoek garlic chilli oil and chopping two red chillies to add to the mix.
There was also some Rozendal green tea vinegar, an intriguing variation. I visited Rozendal last week and will be writing about that excellent business soon. Its ingredients include green tea, carob, lavender, bay leaf and kelp, and it adds up to a zing of interesting flavour.
The bacon rashers are rolled up, and I added thinly sliced garlic as well. For seasoning, I used garlic salt and black pepper.
(Serves 4, or 2 with seconds/leftover chicken)
Ingredients
8 chicken thighs
8 rashers of back bacon
16 baby Roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2 (or 3) red chillies, thinly sliced, seeds and all
3 Tbsp Banhoek garlic chilli oil
3 Tbsp Rozendal green tea vinegar, or similar
For the courgettes:
8 small courgettes, tops sliced off
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Method
Mix the chilli oil with the Rozendal green tea vinegar in a bowl big enough to hold 8 chicken thighs, and douse the chicken portions in this on all sides.
Roll up the bacon rashers, halve the tomatoes, slice the garlic and chop the chillies.
Season the chicken thighs on the underside with salt and back pepper.
Preheat an air fryer to 180°C. Place the thighs — skin-side down at first — in the air fryer basket, or in a suitable larger dish to go on a rack if your machine is the grill type with a drop-down door. (I’m buying a 25-litre Kenwood air fryer with a drop-down door soon but I haven’t told the Foodie’s Wife yet, shhhhh.)
Push the rolled-up bacon between the thighs, then the tomatoes and slivers of garlic.
Cook at 180°C for 20 minutes, skin-side down. You’ll see that the exposed parts of the bacon have turned crispy.
Turn the thighs and the bacon. Season the skin sides of the thighs with salt and back pepper.
Cook for another 20 minutes, by which time the chicken should be cooked all the way to the bone and the skin will have turned beautifully golden, as in the photograph above.
I served them with small courgettes which I dipped in 3 Tbsp of olive oil, seasoned with garlic salt and black pepper, and cooked in a drawer of my Kenwood twin-drawer fryer (soon to be called the old one) for just 10 minutes at 200°C, tossing now and then. DM
Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award, in 2021 and 2023.
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.
This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.