Recipe This | Air Fryer Pheasant (2024)

How to cook the most delicious air fryer pheasant. The air fryer is the perfect size to fit two pheasants in at the same time and toss in your favourite seasonings for a quick roasted game dinner.

This pheasant recipe is seasoned with thyme, parsley, bouquet garni, garlic and onion, for the ultimate flavour and is made wonderfully crispy thanks to the magic of the air fryer.

Pheasant Recipe

I mentioned recently on Recipe This that my favourite air fryer recipes that I go to time and time again are the accidental recipes. The recipes that were last minute and not really planned and I thought, I wonder how that will work out in the air fryer?

Well, that is exactly what happened with air fryer pheasant. Just like with air fryer pull apart bread rolls and our boxing day soup, pheasant happened on a whim.

I was at my favourite butchers, grabbing my favourite sausages and they had loads of pheasants and partridges in the butchers’ window. I have to say that I have never cooked any game before and certainly not cooked it in the air fryer.

I have eaten game many, many times especially living in Portugal and travelling around Europe as much as I have done.

But it just fascinated me, the idea of cooking pheasant in the air fryer and to see how it compared to air fryer duck and if it could be cooked in a similar way, to how we cook an air fryer whole chicken.

In today’s pheasant recipe you get the chance to watch over my shoulder as I cook 2 whole pheasants together in the air fryer basket and then serve them as a quick roast dinner.

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Can You Cook Pheasant In An Air Fryer?

YES, YES, YES, you can cook pheasant and other game meat in the air fryer. The traditional way to cook game meat is often roasted in the oven and your usual meat that you roast in the oven can all be air fried, so why not with game?

Just think any of your roasting meats in the oven into the air fryer and you have a lot of choice.

For example, here are a few samples of what we have done:

• Air Fryer Lamb Shoulder
• Air Fryer Leg Of Lamb
• Air Fryer Gammon Joint
• Air Fryer Whole Duck
• Air Fryer Duck Breast
• Air Fryer Cornish Hens

Which Cooking Method Is Best For Pheasant?

To cook a whole pheasant just like other birds (I am talking about you duck and you turkey) its very easy for you to go dry and not be very pleasant.

That is why its important that you go for a cooking method that is not too hot. For example, slow cooking, air frying at a lower temperature, cooking in the instant pot or another pressure cooker, all work very well.

But whatever you do, DO NOT cook a whole pheasant or a similar bird for the duration at a high heat such as 200c/400f.

What Is The Best Way To Air Fry Pheasant?

The best way to air fry pheasant is the exact way you would air fry chicken but taking the same method to a pheasant.

That is to air fry pheasant low and then give it a cook on each side for an even cooking and to stop one side from being dry or it drying out.

Your main goal with cooking a pheasant is to make it flavoursome and moist and thanks to the air fryer that is easy to do.

How To Cook A Pheasant Breast?

If you just want to cook a pheasant breast, then I recommend instead that you follow our air fryer duck breast recipe instead. That way you can use the same seasonings as well as time and temp.

Plus, if you do, don’t forget to follow our air fryer duck fat roast potatoes, because they really do turn it into something special.

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Pheasant Air Fryer Ingredients

Pheasant – We used two pheasants that we had placed side by side in the air fryer and cooked them together. Try and get pheasants that are close in weight to one another as you don’t want one cooked way before the other. One of ours weighed 705g and the 2^nd 590g.

Oil – I highly recommend using some extra virgin olive oil as it is the best oil for the air fryer. You don’t need a lot and will stop the pheasant from getting dry as well as giving you a crispy skin.

Seasonings – Then alongside extra virgin olive oil to cook pheasant you will need some good seasonings. I recommend salt, pepper, bouquet garni, thyme, and parsley. I’m also using some of my air fryer dried onions and air fryer dried garlic.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this recipe for pheasant it has just been our Cosori Air Fryer. We have this one and its wonderful for many types of air fryer recipes.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our air fryer recipes category as we have more than 500 tried and tested air fryer recipes and have been air frying for 10 years.

How To Cook Pheasant In An Air Fryer?

• Mix. Start by adding your dried seasonings into a little ramekin or similar and then mixing with a fork.
• Prep. Place the whole pheasants onto a clean chopping board and then use your hand to rub extra virgin olive oil onto all visible skin. Rub the seasonings over the oil.
• Cook. Then load into the air fryer and air fry for 15 minutes at 160c/320f breast side up. When the air fryer beeps turn over (breast side down) and cook for a final 15 minutes breast side down at a lower temperature of 150c/300f.
• Rest. Allow to rest for a few minutes before carving and then serving with your favourite sides.

And I am sure you can see now how easy this pheasant in air fryer is and why you should be doing it too!

How Long To Cook Pheasant In Air Fryer?

I recommend cooking a whole pheasant in the air fryer for 30 minutes. This same cook time applies to 2 pheasants in the air fryer, or by doing just one.

If you are doing just one pheasant, note that you then have half an air fryer free, and that you can be using it for making some roast potatoes, maybe some air fryer carrots, or you could even be using it for some air fryer parsnip fries.

What Temperature Do You Cook Pheasant?

The recommended cooking temp for pheasant is 160c/320f or lower. This is because it is very easy to dry out game and you don’t want to fall into that trap.

I also recommend when you turn the pheasant over and you are just finishing it off that you go even lower and take it down to 150c/300f.

Then for internal temp for pheasant you are looking for 75c/167f or higher.

More Air Fryer Roasts

• Air Fryer Pot Roast
• Air Fryer Roast Beef
• Air Fryer Rotisserie Chicken
• Air Fryer Roast Chicken Dinner
• Air Fryer Pork Roast

Your pheasant air fryer recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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