Rice Krispie Chicken–Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside! This air fryer or oven baked chicken is going to be your family’s new favorite dinner!

Rice Krispie Chicken
You’ve probably had chicken rolled in crushed cornflakes but what about crushed Rice Krispies? Yes! It’s a thing and you’re going to love it. The Rice Krispies create a crunchy texture on the outside, while the chicken is beautifully moist on the inside.
This chicken can be baked in the oven or in your air fryer. I tried both methods and I do think the air fryer was better because it made the outside more browned and crispy…but both ways tasted awesome! The drawback with the air fryer is you have to cook in batches. With the oven you can throw the chicken on a baking sheet and cook all pieces in one fell swoop.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken tenderloins or chicken cutlets–you can also slice chicken breasts in half so they are the same thickness as cutlets/tenderloins
- Egg
- Milk
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Garlic powder–or granulated garlic
- Pepper
- Poultry seasoning
- Rice Krispies–you can also use rice chex or special K cereal…I wanted to use up all three cereals so I used a combination of the three.
- Paprika
- Smoked paprika
- Melted butter–used for the oven version. Non-stick spray is used for the air fryer version.
Steps
You can make this recipe in the oven or the air fryer. If you’re using the oven then preheat it to 375 degrees F and line a baking pan with foil.
In a medium bowl whisk together the egg and milk.

Then add in the flour, salt, garlic powder, pepper and poultry seasoning and whisk until smooth.

Add the Rice Krispies into a ziplock back and use a rolling pin to crush them a bit. You don’t want them to be powder so just lightly crush. Place the crushed cereal into a medium bowl and stir in the paprikas.

Dip each piece of chicken into the batter to cover.

Then dip the battered chicken into the crushed cereal.

Place the chicken pieces on the foil-lined pan or in the air fryer.

For oven, drizzle the melted butter over the chicken pieces and bake for 28 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees.

For the air fryer, spray the pieces of chicken with non-stick cooking spray. Air fry at 400 degrees for 4 minutes, flip over and spray and cook for 4 more minutes on the other side. You’ll need to work in batches to cook in the air fryer. The air fryer achieves the crispy browned chicken better than the oven but both taste great!
Serve chicken with your favorite dipping sauce (bbq, ranch, fry sauce, ketchup, etc).

Notes/Tips
- This chicken is a great entree for your dinner. You can serve it with any type of starch and vegetable that you like. For example, we served our chicken with baked potatoes and spinach salad. It would also be great with mashed potatoes, homemade rice a roni, broccoli salad, potato salad, etc.
- This recipe can be gluten free if you use a gluten-free cereal like Rice Chex.
- I used my Instant vortex air fryer*.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Use your air fryer to reheat the chicken to keep it crispy.
- Other recipes you can make with rice krispies are Instant Pot Rice Krispy Treats and Instant Pot Chocolate Billionaires.
- Recipe adapted from Amish Heritage.

More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes…
Air Fryer Heavenly Chicken
Sour cream coated chicken rolled in Ritz cracker crumbs and then cooked and crisped in an air fryer.
Keep a Man Chicken (Air Fryer or Oven)
Juicy, flavorful and tender chicken. Make this for your man or your woman and win their hearts forever!
Air Fryer Almost Chick Fil-A Chicken
Homemade chicken nuggets made in your air fryer. They are juicy and tender and really simple to make! They taste just as good as the restaurant.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.


Rice Krispie Chicken
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside air fryer or oven baked chicken that your family is going to love for dinner tonight!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken tenderloins or chicken cutlets
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- 4 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 Tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- You can make this recipe in the oven or the air fryer. If you’re using the oven then preheat it to 375 degrees F and line a baking pan with foil.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the egg and milk. Then add in the flour, salt, garlic powder, pepper and poultry seasoning and whisk until smooth.
- Add the Rice Krispies into a ziplock back and use a rolling pin to crush them a bit. You don’t want them to be powder so just lightly crush. Place the crushed cereal into a medium bowl and stir in the paprikas.
- Dip each piece of chicken into the batter to cover. Then dip the battered chicken into the crushed cereal.
- Place the chicken pieces on the foil-lined pan or in the air fryer.
- For oven, drizzle the melted butter over the chicken pieces and bake for 28 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees. For the air fryer, spray the pieces of chicken with non-stick cooking spray. Air fry at 400 degrees for 4 minutes, flip over and spray and cook for 4 more minutes on the other side. You’ll need to work in batches to cook in the air fryer. The air fryer achieves the crispy browned chicken better than the oven but both taste great!
- Serve chicken with your favorite dipping sauce (bbq, ranch, fry sauce, ketchup, etc).
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Air Fryer or Oven

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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