Chicken Kiev in an air fryer
From frozen — the short answer
190°C (374°F) for 16–18 min
- For
- 600g in total, 4 pieces, From frozen
- In
- Multicooker with air fry
- Published for
- Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Part way
- shake the food at about 8 min
- Check
- The coating is evenly golden and sounds dry when tapped
- Safety
- Food cooked from frozen must reach the same core temperature as the same food cooked fresh — the frozen centre is the last thing to get there. Full rule below.
Sixteen to eighteen minutes at 190°C from frozen, and the temperature is lower on purpose.
From frozen
Before anything else
From national food-safety authorities, not from us. These take precedence over any cooking time below.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Food cooked from frozen must reach the same core temperature as the same food cooked fresh — the frozen centre is the last thing to get there.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part.
How to tell, without a thermometer
- No ice or cold spot at the centre when the thickest piece is cut open
- Steaming hot throughout, tested in the middle rather than the edge
If it has not got there: Reduce the temperature by 10–20°C and give it longer. A lower set point lets the centre catch up before the surface passes the point of no return, and it is the single most useful adjustment for cooking from frozen.
Important: If the packaging says the product must be thawed before cooking, follow it. That instruction exists because the manufacturer has tested cooking it from frozen and it did not reach temperature reliably.
Requirement — Food safety (microbiological)
Poultry must reach 70°C in its thickest part and stay there for two minutes, or an equivalent pair from the FSA's published table.
Target: 70°C in the thickest part, or an equivalent from the table below.
How to tell, without a thermometer
- No pink meat anywhere, including next to the bone
- Juices run clear when the thickest part is pierced
- Steaming hot all the way through, not just on the outside
If it has not got there: Put it back in. Give it two to three minutes at the same temperature and check again in the thickest part. Do not judge by the outside: air frying browns the surface long before the centre is finished, and a well-coloured breast can be several degrees short.
Important: If poultry has been left at room temperature for more than two hours before cooking, cooking it thoroughly does not make it safe again — some bacterial toxins survive cooking. Discard it.
| Temperature | Held for | Measured at |
|---|---|---|
| 60°C | 45 min | the thickest part of the meat |
| 65°C | 10 min | the thickest part of the meat |
| 70°C | 2 min | the thickest part of the meat |
| 75°C | 30 sec | the thickest part of the meat |
| 80°C | 6 sec | the thickest part of the meat |
The quick answer
190°C (374°F) for 16–18 min
Published range for four Kievs weighing 600g between them, from the chart's frozen block.
- Assuming
- 600g in total, 4 pieces, From frozen
- In
- Multicooker with air fry
- Published for
- Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK
- Preheat
- Yes, before the food goes in
- Result
- Crisp outside, moist inside
Preparation
Frozen, with no oil and no preparation, as the row prints.
No oil needed.
While it cooks
At about 8–9 minutes: Shake the food
The chart tells the owner to shake or toss the food often and to check it frequently. It prints that beside the whole chart, not against this row, and gives no single point for it.
How to tell it is done
- The coating is evenly golden and sounds dry when tapped
- No pale, damp patches where pieces were touching
- No pink anywhere when the thickest part is cut into
- Juices run clear rather than pink or cloudy
Where these figures came from — from frozen
- Applies to
- Specific to this model
- Why this rating
- A published row from the manufacturer's own guide for this appliance, held as the chart prints it: its amount, its preparation and its oil where it gives them, and nothing where it does not. Quantity is what makes a chart row checkable against the food in front of a reader, and this chart states one for almost every row.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-13
What this does not cover
- Published by the manufacturer for this appliance. It is evidence about this machine and is not general advice.
- This is a lidded cooking pot rather than a shallow drawer. Depth affects how much fits in one layer, and the quantity in the chart assumes the crisper basket.
Sources (1)
Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer AG551UK — Inspiration Guide and cooking charts (PDF)
SharkNinja Europe Limited — Manufacturer cooking chart (United Kingdom)
Relied on for: The temperature, time and quantity for chicken kiev.
States this directly
Passage read and verified
Retrieved 2026-08-13 from argos-support.co.uk
Retrieved from Argos's manual library for Argos product 735/0124, published alongside the instruction booklet as a second document.
What usually goes wrong
A burst Kiev and an empty one. The butter liquefies before the crumb has set and finds any weakness in the seam, and rough handling part-way through is the commonest way to create that weakness. The manufacturer's chart on this page says to shake or toss the food during cooking. With a Kiev, do that gently: ease each one over with tongs or give the basket a light shake, and do not toss it.
Running the appliance safely
The rules for the machine are the same whatever is in it: plug it straight into a wall socket, leave clear space round it, do not overfill it, do not leave it running unattended, and unplug it at black smoke or an electrical smell. They are set out once, each with its source and what to do if it has already happened, and not repeated on every food. Every rule for running an air fryer safely.
Breaded poultry products in fast-moving hot air
The coating is pre-fried, so it already contains oil and browns readily without any being added. The interior is usually already cooked or partly cooked, which means the cooking question is about reaching a safe temperature through a frozen centre rather than about cooking raw meat. Crowding is the main failure: the coating needs dry air on all sides or it goes pale and soft.
Where to go from here
The pages that answer the questions this one tends to raise.
- Using a thermometer, and where to put itThe times above are for a piece that is not the one you are holding. A probe measures yours, which is what the safety rule on this page asks for.
- How food actually gets crispyWhy patting it dry, spacing it out and a little oil are all the same instruction — so you can apply it when a page runs out.
- Cooking from frozenUsually cooler and longer than the same food fresh, and never worked out from the fresh figure.
- Why published timings differIf another chart says something else, this is usually why — and which one to believe.
Easily confused with
- Breaded chicken breast — A different cooking problem with a different answer.