Looking for an interesting and healthy way to jazz up your chicken dish? Then you are going to love this Gourmia Air Fryer Jamaican Escovitch Chicken Recipe.
Escovitch Me Please!
When most people think of escovitch, they often associate it with fried fish. Escovitch Fish is a popular dish in Jamaica. This is my favorite way to prepare fish.
I always have jars of escovitch dressing/sauce at home. I add it to almost everything: salads. chicken, red meats, egg.
In addition, eating a few pieces of the pickled escovitch vegetables in the morning will give you a burst of instant energy from the heat of the peppers that permeated throughout the vegetables.
Here is my Jamaican Escovitch Spicy Pickled Vegetables recipe that you will need for this air fryer chicken dish.
Gourmia Air Fryer “Spatchcock” Chicken Drumsticks.
In this recipe, butterflying the chicken drumsticks is somewhat similar to how a whole chicken is Spatchcock. I got the idea for butterfly these chicken drumsticks from one of Jackie Hartlaub’s many cooking TikTok Videos.
I find her newfound way of preparing her drumsticks before seasoning them for air frying very interesting.
Butterflying the chicken legs allows the seasoning to penetrate more surface area, faster cooking, and for them to become crispier in texture. My inspiration for this recipe came from watching Jackie’s TikTok video.
However, the star of this recipe is not so much the chicken, but the layer of spicy and tangy escovitch dressing.
My Gourmia Air Fryer has become my go-to kitchen gadget. It transforms soul foods such as fish and chicken that are usually fried in oil into a much healthier version.
An Air fryer allows you to enjoy these foods without the extra calories from frying in oil. Furthermore, cooking drumsticks whole in the air fryer and then basting them with a spicy BBQ sauce is one of my favorite ways to enjoy them.
Gourmia Air Fryer Recipes
You will also love and enjoy these Food Explora’s Gourmia Air Fryer recipes below.
10 Easy Gourmia Air Fryer Recipes.
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If you do not own a Gourmia Air Fryer, here are my links for your shopping convenience. They are easy to use and clean.
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Air Fryer Butterfly Chicken Drunsticks
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Gourmia Air Fryer Butterfly Chicken Drumsticks with Jamaican Escovitch Sauce.
Equipment
- Air Fryer
- Sauce Pan
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Metal Spoon
Ingredients
See Recipe Link Below For Ingredients And How To Make Escovitch Dressing/Sauce.
Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Drumbsticks
- 2 lbs Chicken Drumbsticks with Skin
- 4 tbsp Badia Complete Seasoning
- 2 tsp Badia Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 3 tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
Prepare The Jamaican Escovitch Sauce The Day Before.
- See the link below for how to make this delicious escovitch sauce. It is very simple to prepare. The pickled vegetables are composed of: vinegar, water, pimento seeds, onion, carrot, sweet pepper, scotch bonnet peppers, salt, and sugar.
Let's Make Gourmia Air fryer Butterfly Chicken Drumsticks
- This step is optional. You may wash chicken drumsticks in lemon water or vinegar water before adding the seasonings. This is said to help cut some of the raw smell of the chicken; it's a Jamaican thing.
- In a small bowl combine the complete seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper and mix well together. You don't need to overseason the chicken because they will be infused with the escovitch sauce.
- On a clean cutting board, use a knife to cut along the bone of the drumsticks ensuring that the bone is exposed and the meat with skin is butterfly open.
- Drizzle both sides of chicken drumsticks with pre-mix seasoning. Store in the refrigerator for 2 hours. I prefer to marinate for 24 hrs. In the Gourmia Air Fryer basket, lay each drumstick skin down onto the greased air fryer crisper tray.
- Air fry for 20-25 minutes at 400 °F.
- Remove drumsticks from the air fryer and serve on a plate. Use a spoon to pour the escovitch sauce over the chicken. Serve warm.


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I would love to know what you think. Please leave a comment and star rating. What is your favorite pickled vegetable?
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Looks delicious! I’m always on the lookout for new ways to prepare chicken. I don’t think I’ve actually ever made drumsticks of any kind before so I definitely need to try these!
This recipe sounds amazing. I have never heard of escovitch before but it sounds delicious. Thank you for your comment.
DELICIOUS!!!!
printing recipe now!
This looks delicious, I will try it. Thanks!
Wow, this sounds so delicious! What a treat full of flavour!
Great recipe. The sauce sounds mind-blowing!!!
I’ll probably try it without the meat. Thanks for the recipe! Love me some bell peppers.
It’s perfect with meat alternatives. Let me know how it turns out. thanks for dropping by.
This sounds amazing! I haven’t had esovitch sauce before, but it sounds like something my husband and I would enjoy. He loves to make chicken in new ways and we always like to try new recipes in the air fryer. Thank you for this!
You and your husband will love Jamaican Escovitch Chicken. Try adding the escovitch sauce to fish as well.
You have done it again! I can’t possibly look at your recipes without my mouth watering and desperately wanting to make it myself. Wow, this looks and sounds absolutely delicious. The picture sells it to me. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us, I’ll be making asap! Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Thank you Elle. Appreciate the kind words.
This reminds me of my grandmother who is from Jamaica. She used to make meals like this all the time. I would love to try out this recipe.