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This air fryer turkey thighs recipe is perfect if you don’t want to cook a full turkey. It’s similar to my turkey tenderloin and includes overnight marination. All you need is an air fryer and a handful of basic ingredients. Learn how to make a crispy and delicious air fryer turkey thigh using a homemade turkey thigh marinade.
Why Make These Juicy Air Fryer Turkey Thighs
Here are a few reasons why you should make these juicy and crispy turkey thighs, whether for Thanksgiving dinner or just a normal weeknight dinner:
- Easy and quick: Cooking a whole turkey is tedious and sometimes wasteful if people don’t eat some parts. My turkey thigh recipe is a simple 4-step process requiring few ingredients, minimal effort, and less cooking time. That said, add these delicious, easy turkey thighs to your list of turkey thigh recipes.
- Juicy and Crispy: This air fryer turkey thigh recipe is the best way to melt the fat in the dark meat and crisp the skin. This is helpful, especially if you love delicious crispy skin with a beautiful golden brown color when cooking turkey thighs.
Ingredients Needed
Making juicy turkey thighs doesn’t take much. Here’s what you’ll need to gather:
Turkey Thigh Marinade
- Garlic: Minced
- Herb sprinkle seasoning: This includes garlic powder, black pepper, and more.
- Olive Oil or Avocado Oil
- Lemon juice
- Sea salt
- Sweetener: I use a keto-friendly granular sweetener. But, you can use any one-to-one sugar replacement or regular sugar if you wish.
Air Fryer Turkey Thighs
- Turkey thighs: marinated. Depending on how large your meat comes and the size of your air fryer, you may be able to make one or two turkey thighs in the air fryer at a time.
- Herb sprinkle seasoning
Be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for full instructions and the exact ingredient amounts.
How To Make Turkey Thighs in the Ninja Foodi Air Fryer
- Pat dry your turkey with paper towels and remove any extra moisture.
- Add the ingredients for the marinade to a large bowl and whisk to incorporate.
- For best results, add the turkey thighs and marinade overnight-do a maximum of 48 hours to avoid over-marinating.
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, shake off excess marinade and sprinkle herb seasoning over the turkey thighs.
- Place turkey thighs in your preheated air fryer basket in a single layer, and start air frying the meat.
Recipe Tips & FAQs
- Marinate overnight & avoid over-marination: Marination intensifies flavors and moisture in the turkey thighs. On the other hand, extending the marination time will make the meat mushy.
- Preheat the air fryer: Preheating your air fryer will help crisp the turkey skin, give the outer meat a proper sear, and ensure the meat is evenly cooked.
- Air fry with the skin side down: This ensures the outer skin doesn’t become too toasty.
- Cook until the thickest part is at 165 degrees: Ensure the thickest part of the turkey thigh attains an internal temperature of 165 degrees so that the meat is well done.
How to Store Leftover Turkey Thighs
If you have any leftovers from this air fryer turkey thighs recipe, the best way to store them is in an airtight container for next time (up to 5 days). You can also wrap them tight in aluminum foil.
If you want to freeze the leftovers for another time, be sure to place them in a freezer-safe ziploc bag. You can thaw the fully cooked meat and use it in things like leftover turkey soup.
I cook my turkey thigh at 375 degrees F in an air fryer until the thickest part of the thigh reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. If needed, use an instant meat thermometer to confirm the internal temperature of your turkey. Of course, the cook time may vary based on the size of your air fryer.
Turkey thighs are low-carb and generally a healthier alternative to regular red meat. However, they have more calories and fat than the whiter parts of a turkey, like the breast.
In my turkey thigh recipe, I adequately marinade the meat before cooking. This helps you have juicy meat. You can also salt the thighs and let them rest for a while.
Using aluminum foil in the air fryer’s bowl is okay, but first, check the manual.
Recipes to Enjoy This With
- Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
- Crockpot Collard Greens
- Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Keto Cranberry Sauce
- Keto Green Bean Casserole
If you try this recipe, please stop back and leave it a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Stay connected & share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Air Fryer Turkey Thigh Recipe
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
Turkey Thigh Marinade
- 2 tbsp Garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp 24 Herbs Sprinkle Seasoning (Salt-free)
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt, use DRDAVINAHS to save
- 1 tbsp Granular Sweetener, or any one-to-one sugar replacement
Air Fryer Turkey Thighs
- 2 lbs Turkey Thigh, this was one large Turkey thigh for me, marinated overnight in marinade above
- 1 tsp 24 Herbs Sprinkle Seasoning (Salt-free)
Instructions
- Add the ingredients for the marinade to a large bowl. Whisk to incorporate.
- Add the Turkey Thighs. Marinate overnight (up to 48 hours)
- Preheat the air fryer (Ninja Foodi) to 375 degrees for 5 minutes (or use the preheat setting on your air fryer)
- Shake off access marinade, and sprinkle herb seasoning over the Turkey thighs.
- Add the Turkey thighs to the air fryer basket skin side down.
- Air fry for 25 minutes skin side down
- Flip the Turkey thigh and air fryer for 10-15 minutes more (the thickest part should be 165 degrees).
Recipe Notes
- Marinate overnight & avoid over-marination: Marination intensifies flavors and moisture in the turkey thighs. On the other hand, extending the marination time will make the meat mushy.
- Preheat the air fryer: Preheating your air fryer will help crisp the turkey skin, give the outer meat a proper sear, and ensure the meat is evenly cooked.
- Air fry with the skin side down: This ensures the outer skin doesn’t become too toasty.
- Cook until the thickest part is at 165 degrees: Ensure the thickest part of the turkey thigh attains an internal temperature of 165 degrees so that the meat is well done.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
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