Air Fryer Chicken Tenders

Crispy air fryer chicken tenders that can be made suitable for any diet and ready in under 15 minutes. The choice of bread crumbs you can use to fry your chicken tenders are endless!

Chicken tenders are fabulous in the air fryer and a great dipping food. I love to dip my chicken tenders in Bolt House Farms Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing. I’m not sponsored by them that is just my favorite Ranch Dressing at the moment. The choice of breading you can use for these chicken tenders are endless! If you are Keto or Low carb, grind up some Chicharrones in your food processor until they are fine crumbs. I added some cajun seasoning to them for a little extra kick and they were delicious.

If you are on WW use either Panko, Shake and Bake, plain bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, or crushed up chips for the breading.

To get the bread crumbs to stick there are multiple ways you can do that. Dip the chicken tenders in an egg before dipping them into the bread crumbs. Spray your chicken tenders with nonstick cooking spray and then dip the chicken in the bread crumbs. Soak them in buttermilk, you get the idea.

How to make Air Fryer Chicken Tenders

• Preheat air fryer if your brand requires preheating. Warm the air fryer by setting it to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Allow it to run without any food in the basket.
• Season both sides of your chicken tenders with salt and pepper.
• Prepare 2 shallows dishes. Add the egg to one dish and whisk it well until it looks like scrambled eggs. In another dish add the breadcrumbs.
• Dip the chicken tenders into the egg wash and then press it into the bread crumbs. Turn to coat both sides.
•  Add the breaded chicken tenders into the air fryer basket.
• Fry the Chicken. Place the Fry Basket back into the air fryer and spray the bread chicken tenders with some Cooking Spray. Set the temperature to 400 degrees. Cook the chicken tenders for 5 minutes on one side, and then flip them. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

What type of Bread Crumbs can I use for Air Fryer Chicken Tenders?

When I made these air fryer chicken tenders, I used some chicharrones for the bread crumbs. Pork rinds are something I never thought I’d enjoy but I do like them. They are a great snack for when you’re trying to watch your carbs! I took a whole bag of them and crushed them in my food processor until they looked like bread crumbs. If pork rinds don’t fancy you then try these for breading.

• Almond Flour
• Crushed potato chips
• Panko bread crumbs
• Parmesan Cheese
• Shake and Bake
• Cracker Crumbs
• Crushed Corn Flakes
• Oats, you name it!

egg wash substitute for breading

For breading or dredging chicken or fish a lot of times an egg wash is used. What is an egg wash? To keep it simple it is just beaten eggs.

Cooking Spray – If you wish to keep these chicken tenders really low in fat spray them cooking spray first before dipping them in bread crumbs. Will keep the calories low at bay.

Milk – Milk has moisture, fat, and consistency to help your breading stick. Regular milk works just fine, but buttermilk will add more moisture and texture. If you don’t have buttermilk add a couple of drops of lemon juice to plain milk. Let it sit out for a while, and it will eventually become buttermilk. Avoid using flavored milk such as vanilla almond milk for dipping. (That’d be kind of gross)

Buffalo Wing Sauce – If you like your chicken tenders to be really spicy try dredging them in some buffalo wing sauce.

Ranch Dressing – What kid doesn’t love ranch dressing? I’m sure if you served them ranch chicken tenders they will love you forever!

Other Air Fryer Recipes

Air Fryer Chicken Breast

Air Fryer Fish and Chips

Air Fryer Salmon

Deep Fried Oreos made in the Air Fryer

Air Fryer Hot Dogs and Burgers

What is an Air Fryer? 

An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food using the convection mechanism. It is a downsized version of the convection oven. 

Is air fried food healthy? 

When you compare air fried food to deep-fried food it is much healthier because there is hardly any oil used at all. The only oil I use is from my Pam cooking spray. I spray only the food once or twice because most air fryer baskets are nonstick. If you are concerned about using aerosol sprays for the environment or your health buy a Misto Brushed Aluminum Oil Sprayer can from Amazon and fill that with your favorite oil. 

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I am not affiliated with WW formerly known as Weight Watchers in any way. I am just a member who likes to create WW recipes and share them with everyone. Freestyle is the name of the current program of WW and smart points are calculated for the recipes. Some blogs list them as freestyle smart points and some list them as smart points. There is no difference between the 2.