Prepare your ingredients and equipment before you start cooking. As well as following the recipe closely, it’s important to make sure that you don’t try to cook more food in your air fryer than it can fit. Follow these tips when using your machine:
1. Don’t overcrowd the basket with food – only cook one portion at a time.
2. To ensure even cooking, you should always turn and shake the basket during cooking (as per the manufacturer’s instructions). When using your air fryer, you’ll need to remember this important step before you start cooking – otherwise you could end up with raw or overcooked food on one side of your dish.
If you’re cooking larger foods, you might need to turn them halfway through the cooking time.
3. Make sure your food is dry before placing it in the basket of your air fryer – damp or wet ingredients are more likely to splatter or spit when cooking. If you moisten chicken or fish with marinades or sauces, allow these to soak in for at least ten minutes before cooking.
4. If you’re adding cheese to the food you’re cooking, add it as late as possible so that it stays brown and crispy rather than getting greasy and soggy.
Here is the complete recipe to cook chicken tenders in air fryer:
Salt and ground black pepper (freshly ground) to taste.
8 chicken tenders, about 1.5 lb or 680 g
1 tsp paprika
2 tbsp flour of choice e.g cornstarch instead of flour for gluten-free/paleo option
1 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
2 tbsp milk of choice
4 tbsp oil, veg or melted butter
2 cups bread crumbs – for crunchier coating use crushed crisps/potato chips. Place them in a ziploc bag and crush with your rolling pin to get small bits and pieces. Almond flour/meal or coconut flour can also be used for coating if desired.
Prepare: Preheat your airfryer to 370°F/190°C using the preset button or set it to 380°F/200°C manual mode. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. Egg wash – combine egg and milk in a small bowl, whisk until combined. Combine flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika in a large bowl or ziploc bag and toss to combine.
Season chicken tenders with salt/pepper then dredge in seasoned flour mixture until evenly coated on all sides. Shake off excess flour then dip into egg wash and dunk again into the floue mix for double-coating. Set aside ready for cooking. Arrange breadcrumbs onto a plate or shallow bowl – set aside for coating later. Toss to coat chicken tenders in bread crumbs before placing them on the tray as per photo above… If you want an even thicker crunchy coating, simply repeat this process one more time (I did two layers of breading).
Cook: Place a wire rack/cake cooling rack on top of the baking tray and place chicken tenders onto it, evenly spaced apart. Close fryer basket then set timer to 10 mins depending on the size and thickness of the chicken tenders (should be fully cooked by now). Shake and turn halfway through cooking time using oven mitts or kitchen towel to avoid getting burned from hot steam. Remove tray from fryer then transfer breaded tenders onto paper towels for draining excess oil. Allow 5 mins to cool slightly before devouring! Best enjoyed fresh out of the oven while crispy… You can enjoy this with a side salad or vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans or sweet potato.
Servings: This makes 8 chicken tenders, perfect for serving 2 adults with smaller appetites or 1 adult along with a side dish.
I made a double breading as per photo above. The end result was heavenly! I couldn’t stop eating these. They were even better than the fried version… Not sure if that’s possible but it definitely hit the spot and satisfied my craving . Best of all, they’re super easy to make due to only needing a handful of ingredients and minimal effort
This recipe is gluten-free friendly when using cornstarch or flour alternatives such as almond/coconut flour instead of regular flours. You can also use gluten-free bread crumbs instead of regular ones for an even crunchier coating.
Note: Large chicken breasts, a whole chicken or wings can also be cooked this way but due to their higher fat content they will take slightly longer to cook so keep an eye on them and adjust cooking time accordingly.
How long to cook frozen chicken tenders in air fryer?
Frozen chicken tenders that take 20 minutes to cook in the oven could be ready in as little as 10 minutes when cooked using an air fryer. It’s true! Cooked in a 400-degree Fahrenheit (about 200 degrees Celsius) oven, a 1-inch thick piece of chicken takes about 30 minutes to get crispy skin and cooked all the way through. In an air fryer, it takes about 10 minutes to get crispy skin and cooked all the way through.
If you have any questions about this recipe or want to get in touch, please post in the comment section below and I’ll respond asap!
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