Chicken Cracklings

If your favorite part of Ollie’s Cracklin’ Chicken is the crispy skin, you should make these light and crunchy chicken cracklings in an air fryer or oven!

A woman holding a piece of crispy chicken skins cooked in an air fryer.

These two-ingredient crispy chicken skin chips are the perfect paleo, low carb, keto, and Whole30-friendly snack. I bet you can’t eat just one chicken crackling!

An overhead shot of a tray of crispy chicken skins cooling on a wire rack.

Where do you buy chicken skins?

Most butchers and grocery stores don’t sell chicken skins by themselves, but you can always buy bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. When you’re already removing the skins for a particular recipe (e.g. Super Easy Tandoori Chicken, Instant Pot Lemongrass + Coconut Chicken, or Doro Wat), save those skins so you can bake or air fry a batch of chicken cracklings. By cooking up the skins, you’ll cut down on food waste and make an amazing snack—win win! (Don’t like thighs? You can use the skins from chicken breasts.)

Can you fry up chicken cracklings on the stovetop?

Yes, you can fry them in a dry skillet on the stovetop on medium heat until they get crispy, but there can be a lot of splatter and the chicken cracklings can burn if you aren’t paying attention. Plus, the skins have a tendency to curl up in a pan, unless you’re vigilant about keeping them flat. That’s why the stovetop method’s not my favorite.

Is it better to cook chicken cracklings in an air fryer or an oven?

Hmmm…that’s a tough question! The crispy chicken skins are quicker to cook and have a more delicate crunch when they’re made in an air fryer, but you can only make four skins at a time due to the size constraints of the appliance. On the other hand, you can cook a whole tray of cracklings when you’re baking the chicken skins in the oven. The common denominator for both methods is that the chicken skins need to be elevated—in an air fryer basket or on a wire rack in the oven—so the chicken fat can render and the cracklings get super crispy!

How can you make clean-up easier?

You can line the bottom of the air fryer or rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper before adding the raw chicken skins on top of the air fryer basket or stainless steel wire rack. When you’re done cooking, just carefully lift up the foil or parchment paper and toss it!

Can you use different seasonings?

I don’t recommend seasoning the chicken skins with anything other than salt when you’re cooking them in the air fryer or oven because spices and herbs can burn. If you want, you can sprinkle on your favorite seasoning after the crispy chicken skins are out of the oven.

What do you serve with chicken cracklings?

These crispy cracklings taste delicious on their own, but they’re even more amazing dipped in Guacamole, Spicy Pineapple Salsa, or with a dash of Whole30 Sriracha. The chicken cracklings also taste great crumbled on top of salads as a low-carb crouton substitute.

How do you store leftovers?

Leftover cracklings can get rubbery the next day, so I recommend eating them all up on the day you cook them.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 chicken skins (I normally use skins from chicken thighs)
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Equipment:

Paper towel
Measuring spoons
Air fryer or
Rimmed baking sheet + stainless steel wire rack (oven method)
Tongs

Method:

Pat the chicken skins dry with a paper towel and sprinkle salt on both sides.

A hand is sprinkling salt on raw chicken skin.

Using an air fryer? Lay three or four chicken skins in a single layer, skin-side down, on the air fryer basket and program the air fryer to cook at 400°F for a total of 12 minutes.

A person is programming an air fryer to cook at 400°F for 12 minutes

At the halfway point (i.e. 6 minutes), flip the chicken skins over so they are skin-side up.

Flipping the chicken skins in an air fryer at the halfway point.

Air fry the chicken skins the remaining 6 minutes or until crispy. Add a minute or two to the cooking time if the skin is still a little flabby in parts.

An overhead shot of air fryer Chicken Cracklings that are golden brown and crispy

Remove the chicken cracklings from the air fryer and place on a wire rack to cool.

A pair of tongs are removing crispy chicken skins from an air fryer.

Dump out any chicken fat on the bottom of the air fryer before repeating the steps with the remaining chicken skins.

Baking crispy chicken cracklings in the oven instead? Heat the oven to 400°F convection or 425°F (non-convection) with the rack in the middle. Place the chicken skin in a single layer, skin-side down, on top of stainless steel wire rack on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

A hand placing raw chicken skins on a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet to make oven-baked crispy chicken skins.

Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Placing a tray of chicken skins into the oven to make a keto snack.

Then, flip the chicken skins skin-side up…

A person is using a pair of tongs to flip over chicken skins that are baking in the oven.

…and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden and crispy.

A tray of crispy chicken skin chips cooling on a wire rack.

Whether you choose to cook chicken cracklings in an air fryer or bake them in an oven, you can’t go wrong!

An overhead shot of golden brown chicken cracklings cooling on a wire rack, the perfect paleo, Whole30, keto, and low carb snack.

Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013) and Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017)!

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