Despite being first introduced over a decade ago, the air fryer became one of the must-have items for your kitchen last year, with sales soaring by a whopping 3,000 per cent between November 2021 and November 2022 as people looked for ways to save energy while cooking. Figures from Utilita suggested that the average running cost of an electric cooker was £335.57 a year while an air fryer was six times less, at an average cost of £55.71 a year.
Having bought one as a Christmas present, I have loved learning how to cook different recipes in it that I would normally cook in the oven. For inspiration I normally do what every Gen Z person does and head to TikTok or Instagram, and this is where I found the recipe for Pringles chicken - that's chicken fried in a coating made of Pringles crisp crumbs.
The recipe was relatively straightforward and you only need four ingredients: egg, flour, chicken and Pringles. I decided that I would try two different flavours (sour cream and onion and Texas BBQ) and see how they tasted. The video I followed didn’t have any measurements so I kind of winged it and went by eye.
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To start off with you need to crush up your Pringles - I would suggest doing this in a bag as I didn’t and they flew everywhere. Next, crack your eggs and beat them in a bowl, the number of eggs you need will depend on the amount of chicken you will be using. Then put some flour on a plate before cutting your chicken into strips.
The process of coating your chicken in the different ingredients will be messy, so give yourself as much room as you possibly can. Dip the chicken into the flour first, then the egg before coating in your crushed Pringles, re-dip in the egg and coat again with the Pringles. Repeat this process with the rest of your chicken before putting in your air fryer with a little oil for 10 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.
While the recipe was easy to follow, I found that it became quite messy and gunky with the double egg dipping, although I did have a lot of fun making the chicken. Once the chicken was ready, I took it out of the air fryer, put them in a bowl with some garlic mayo on the side and tucked in.
I had high expectations for this dish but was disappointed once I had taken a bite. For starters they definitely didn’t look as golden or crispy as those on the TikTok video I followed.
Even more disappointingly, I couldn’t actually taste the Pringles flavour. So overall, while it was a fun thing to make, the lack of taste and crunch just didn't make the messy process worth it for me.
I've had more success with other viral recipes including 'Viking toast' and vegan lemon cake, but I won't be trying this one again. If you have a recipe idea to share for air fryer fans, let us know in the comments below.
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