Crispy Chicken Skin Chips (Air Fryer or Oven)

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

These two-ingredient crispy chicken skin chips are the perfect paleo, low carb, gluten free, keto friendly and Whole30-compatible snack. Although homemade chicken skins have the crunchy texture of potato chips, they’re actually a high protein snack (similar to jerky)! If you like Flock Chicken Chips, my recipe is so easy to make and there’s no icky soybean oil.

Ingredients

You only need two simple ingredients to make crispy chicken chips:

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

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 chicken skin 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 skin 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 crisp 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 (e.g. nutritional yeast, tomato powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, or freshly cracked black pepper) 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, Whole30 Sriracha, or your favorite hot sauce. 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. If you insist on keeping leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container on the counter with a desiccant packet for up to 2 days.

How to make crispy chicken skin chips!

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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.

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

Then, flip the chicken skins skin-side up…

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

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

[Originally posted on August 10, 2020. Updated with new information and photos on April 16, 2022.]

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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), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).

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