Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
These Air Fryer Chicken Tenders yield a crispy, flavorful, and healthy version that rivals any deep-fried tender. Plus, you can prep, freeze, and air fry the frozen chicken tenders any time. We'll show you how!
Servings: 4 servings (3 tenders per person)
Calories: 292kcal
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs sub: plain or gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika sub: paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 large egg
- 12 raw chicken breast tenders approximately 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 pounds
- Salt and pepper
- Cooking spray recommend: avocado cooking spray
- Optional for serving: Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce, Homemade Ranch Dip, or Homemade BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Set Up Stations: Add the Panko, Parmesan, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne to a blender or food processor and pulse several times until breadcrumbs are a finer texture and everything is well combined. Pour this mixture into a shallow dish. Add the egg and a splash of water to a second small bowl or shallow dish. Whisk with a fork until very smooth.
- Trim & Season Tenders: Trim off any tendon that is sticking out. Season both sides of the tenders evenly with salt and pepper.
- Bread Tenders: Dredge each tender in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing it in on both sides. Set aside on a plate, pan, or piece of parchment.
- Air Fry: Preheat air fryer to 400°F. Place tenders in the basket (leave a little space between them) and spray the tops with cooking spray. Cook for 5 minutes, flip, and spray the tops with cooking spray. Cook another 5 minutes.
- Serve: Season with a little more salt right out of the air fryer, if desired. Let cool slightly and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- If You Don't Have a Food Processor/Blender: In all my tests, the blending step yielded the most perfectly golden and crispy tenders. However, if you don’t have a blender or food processor, use plain breadcrumbs instead of Panko and be sure to stir the mixture very well until combined.
- Gluten-Free Version: Use gluten-free bread crumbs instead of Panko.
- Dairy-Free Version: Replace the Parmesan cheese with more bread crumbs (and a pinch of salt) or try using nutritional yeast in place of it.
- Be sure to season the tenders generously with salt and pepper to infuse flavor.
- Kitchen shears are very helpful with the task of trimming off the excess tendons.
- It’s safest to only use one hand to touch the chicken in a recipe like this, leaving the other one clean to season the chicken, open the oven, etc.
- To cut your own with chicken tenders: Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create two cutlets. Then, cut those in half vertically to create chicken tenders.
- I created this recipe with picky kids in mind. These are not very spicy at all. Feel free to kick up the paprika and cayenne some.
- My favorite way to enjoy these is with our Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce. (Sooo good!)
- Variations:
- Use 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning or Old Bay seasoning in place of paprika for more heat and complexity. Omit cayenne pepper.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed in hand, to the breading mixture.
Nutrition
Serving: 3tenders | Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 157mg | Sodium: 442mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g