Jamie's Filo Chicken Kiev in the Air Fryer

Name: Jamie Oliver's Filo Chicken Kiev
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: garlic, grated; fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely sliced; lemon zest; unsalted butter (room temperature); salt and black pepper; 4 chicken breasts (skinless, boneless), knife-pocket cut into the thick fat end; 4 filo pastry sheets, one sheet per breast; olive oil; white wine vinegar

Source video by Jamie Oliver on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Jamie's healthier take on the classic kiev. A garlic butter is mashed together with grated garlic, finely sliced parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Each chicken breast gets a knife-pocket cut into the thick fat-end and the butter pushed inside. A single sheet of filo pastry, rumpled, wraps the breast butter-side up. The tray is brushed with olive oil and a swig of vinegar for crisp and colour. Originally 25 min at 200°C in the bottom of the oven; adapted for the air fryer at 190°C for 20 min so the filo doesn't catch before the chicken cooks through.

Air fryer notes: Source roasts at 200°C in a conventional oven for 25 minutes. Adapted for the air fryer at 190°C for 20 minutes because the filo browns faster in direct circulating air. Same olive-oil-and-vinegar brush technique transfers cleanly; the vinegar still flavours the pastry as it cooks off.

Ingredients

Garlic butter

garlic, grated
fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely sliced
lemon zest
unsalted butter (room temperature)
salt and black pepper

Kievs

4chicken breasts (skinless, boneless), knife-pocket cut into the thick fat end
4filo pastry sheets, one sheet per breast

Brushing

olive oil
white wine vinegar

Method

Make the garlic butter: combine the grated garlic, finely sliced parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mash into the room-temperature butter until uniform.
~4 min
With the tip of a knife, cut a pocket into the thick fat-end of each chicken breast. Don't cut all the way through.
~3 min
Push garlic butter deep into each pocket. Rub any leftover butter over the surface of each breast.
~3 min
Lay one sheet of filo at a time on the work surface and ripple it with your hands. Place a buttered breast on the rumpled filo and roll it up so the butter pocket faces up. The waves of pastry will give the texture.
~5 min
Mix a small amount of olive oil with a splash of white wine vinegar. Brush each filo kiev all over with this mix.
~2 min
Preheat the air fryer to 190°C. Sit the kievs in the basket, butter-side up. Cook for 20 minutes.
~20 min
Check the kievs: filo deep golden, chicken 75°C internal. If the filo browns too quickly, drop to 180°C for the last 5 minutes.
~1 min
Rest for 2 minutes. Serve with mash, peas and broccoli, or any greens.
~2 min

Frequently asked

Why filo instead of breadcrumbs?

Jamie's whole pitch: it's lighter, faster, and the rippled filo gives a different texture, proper crackle rather than the dense crumb of a classic kiev. It's also less mess than the flour-egg-breadcrumb three-step.

Won't the butter just run out?

Yes, some will, which is part of the dish. The pocket holds most of it inside while the chicken cooks, and the filo soaks up the rest. That's why you wrap with the butter side up, gravity keeps the loss controlled.

Can I prep these ahead?

Yes. Make the kievs through the filo wrap, then fridge for up to 24 hours. Cook from cold; add 2-3 minutes to the time.

What sides go best?

Jamie serves with smashed potatoes, broccoli florets (roasted in the same oven for the last 10 min) and frozen peas dropped into boiling water for 2 minutes. In an air-fryer flow, do the smash and peas on the stove and the broccoli in the air fryer at the start before the kievs go in.

Extraction notes (transparency): Many ingredient quantities not stated on camera (Jamie cooks by eye): garlic clove count, parsley amount, lemon zest amount, butter amount, salt and pepper. Recorded as null. Servings inferred at 4 from the side-dish quantity Jamie makes alongside.