Air Fryer Chicken Thighs (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

If the air fryer had to justify its counter space with a single dish, this is the one we'd point to. Bone-in, skin-on thighs are built for convection: enough fat to self-baste, enough collagen to shrug off a few extra minutes, and skin that turns to crackling when hot air keeps stripping moisture off its surface. A whole roast chicken forgives nothing; a thigh forgives almost everything. It's also, pound for pound, the best value in the meat case, which matters more than food media usually admits.

Two decisions do all the work here. First, dryness — pat the skin dry until the paper towel comes away clean, and if dinner can wait, park the thighs uncovered in the fridge for twenty minutes. Wet skin steams before it crisps, and the cook is over before it catches up. Second, start skin-side down. It feels backwards, but those first twelve minutes against the hot basket render the fat layer under the skin so the flip finishes it into something brittle and burnished rather than flabby and spotty.

And ignore the 165°F reflex you've been taught. That number is for breasts. Thigh meat is laced with connective tissue that only relents somewhere past 175°F, which is why a "perfectly cooked" 165°F thigh can still chew like a rubber band. Take it to 175°F, even 185°F — a decent instant-read settles the question in three seconds. This is the rare cut where overshooting is the correct technique, not a rescue.