Yes, you can reheat cooked breaded chicken. Cooked breaded chicken is difficult to reheat because of the coating. Reheating leftover breaded chicken is safe if it was cooked through the first time and was well wrapped and refrigerated within a couple of hours of cooking.
When your breaded chicken mixes with liquid, it becomes a mushy mess. It’s coated with a crust of Parmesan cheese and flour or breadcrumbs. To avoid this, follow the steps below with each method. Consider availability, time, and size when choosing.
Reheat cooked breaded chicken in an Air fryer
The air fryer reheats chicken making it crispy, crunchy, and juicy in a short period. An air fryer is quick and healthy. It does not require the addition of oil. Hence the chicken is less greasy. If your chicken looks dry, spritz it with water before placing it in the air fryer.
Air Fryer temperatures vary depending on the cooking method and model. Cook time depends on the size of your chicken cuts; bigger pieces will need a little more time than smaller pieces. For better results, start with less cooking time, check the chicken for doneness, then add more time as needed.
Arrange the fried chicken in a single layer and flip it once to ensure even cooking. Do not pile fried chicken in the basket if you want to achieve crispy skin. Cook it in a single layer, meaning cooking one or two pieces at a time. This method requires patience.
Steps
- Preheat the air fryer to 375F.
- Place leftover cooked breaded chicken in a single layer into the air fryer basket.
- Cook for 4 minutes, shaking the basket after 2 minutes.
- Check the internal temperature of the chicken using a digital meat thermometer. Once at 165F / 74C, remove and serve warm.
Toaster oven
You can also reheat your breaded chicken using a toaster oven. Spray the chicken pieces lightly with cooking spray and place them on the toaster’s foil-lined tray. Flip the chicken halfway through cooking to prevent the breading from getting soggy. That way, your chicken will not get dry. It remains crispy.
A toaster oven preheats quickly and much faster than a full-size oven. It gives you crisp results where the microwave might turn things soggy (Washingtonpost.com).
Steps
- Line the baking sheet from your toaster oven with aluminum foil.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes. Place a handful of fried chicken on a plate, unlike the standard oven that requires a few pieces in a single layer.
- Cover the plate with a paper towel.
- Microwave the fried chicken for about one to two minutes. Remove the plate from the microwave and place the chicken on the baking sheet.
- Stick the baking sheet in the toaster oven for two to three minutes.
- Let the chicken stand until just about lukewarm to touch.
Best method
Oven
The oven is the best way to warm up cooked breaded chicken. It gives you a juicy, crispy, tender chicken. Reheat similar-sized pieces together for effective results. Chicken pieces heat differently. You have to make your chicken pieces similar. You would not want to take out some pieces and wait for others.
Check it before it dries out or under heat. The average cooking time is 4 minutes, but you may need more or less depending on the size of your chicken pieces. The bigger the chicken pieces, the longer it takes to reheat. Use lower heat on bigger chicken pieces so that the heat spreads evenly.
Make sure the pieces are not overlapping, and there is space between them in the basket. That allows air to circulate in the oven. Use paper towels if your pieces of chicken release oil after cooking. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate, sit, and let the paper towel soak up all the oil. That way, you will not have greasy chicken.
You can cover the chicken in foil to prevent it from drying out, but it ends up trapping steam as the chicken cooks. The steam makes the skin soggy. Skip the foil.
Steps
- Take leftover chicken out of the fridge and cool to room temperature so it comes out crispy and heated evenly.
- Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C.
- Place chicken on a baking tray, leaving space in between each piece. Fit a wire rack inside the baking sheet so that you get space to arrange the chicken in a single layer. A double layer gives you cold spots that accommodate bacteria. While the oven preheats, the chicken will come to room temperature. Allowing the chicken to come to room temperature ensures it cooks more evenly. The rack allows the oven’s hot air to reach and crisp up every piece and the chicken skin.
- Reheat in the oven for 15-20 minutes, while the temperature is 165F / 74C.
- Serve.
Storage
To increase the shelf life of fried chicken for safety and quality, refrigerate the chicken in shallow airtight containers or wrap it tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Avoid reheating the chicken multiple times and keep it in an airtight container inside the refrigerator. Do not keep your leftover cooked breaded chicken for more than days in the fridge.
Safe Temperatures
Set your heat to 375 degrees and reheat for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip your chicken halfway through the process for an even distribution of heat. Your chicken cannot stay in the temperature danger zone longer than four hours. That is from 41 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit. To prevent bacteria from growing to unsafe levels on your fried chicken, reheat it to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
FAQs
How many times can you reheat breaded chicken?
Chicken, just like other meat, can be reheated safely two or more times. When you reheat the chicken, heat it the whole way through. Pieces of chicken must be steaming in the middle. To avoid some mishaps, keep your breaded chicken in batches so that you only heat what is enough for the day. The more you reheat your chicken, the more it decreases its quality.
How to thaw cooked breaded chicken?
Thaw the frozen leftover fried chicken in the microwave until the temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. To be sure of your temperature, use a food thermometer. Follow directions for reheating fried chicken depending on the method you are using.