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Chicken tenders on a plate with sauce on the side.

Air Fryer Chicken Tenders


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4.7 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings (2-3 tenders per person) 1x

Description

These chicken tenders made in the air fryer are a favorite in our house! Golden, hot, and crispy with your favorite sauce on the side!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1.52 lbs. chicken tenderloins (about 12-16 pieces)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • one 1ounce packet ranch seasoning (optional, see notes)
  • 1 egg
  • 12 teaspoons hot sauce (optional)
  • 3/4 cup milk + 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
  • 2 1/2 cups plain breadcrumbs
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons seasoning mix (I use the McCormick rotisserie chicken seasoning)
  • avocado oil spray

Instructions

  1. Prep your dipping stations! 1: Combine the flour, salt, and ranch seasoning. 2: Let the milk and vinegar sit together for 5 minutes (you’re making a “buttermilk”). Add it to the eggs and hot sauce; whisk to combine. 3: Stir the breadcrumbs with the seasoning mix.

    Prepping ingredients in containers.

  2. Flatten Chicken Tenderloins. Smash each of the chicken tenderloins a few times on a cutting board using the flat side of a knife (see video). You want them to be slightly flattened or fanned out.

    Flattening chicken tenders with a knife.

  3. Batter Up! Dip each chicken tenderloin in flour; shake off excess. Dip in the buttermilk mixture; let excess drip off. Then coat in the breadcrumbs, flipping and gently pressing a few times until the whole surface is covered. Set aside and repeat with all the chicken tenderloins.

    Three containers filled with flour, egg wash, and breadcrumbs with chicken tenderloins.

  4. Place in Air Fryer. Place as many as you can fit into the air fryer, keeping them in one flat layer (mine can usually get 6 in at a time). Spray generously with avocado oil spray until the surface is lightly and evenly moistened with oil – this helps them get that evenly golden brown, fried look.

    Spraying chicken tenderloins with avocado spray.

  5. Cook and Serve: Air fry at 400 degrees for 7-9 minutes. You want them to be golden brown on the outside, and 165-175 degrees on the inside. Serve with your favorite sauce! SO yummy!

    Breaded chicken tenderloins cooked in an air fryer.

Equipment

Notes

Oven Directions: We tested these in the oven and it works great; 10 minutes at 400 degrees and broil for a minute or two if you’d like a little more browning. Baking them on a wire rack will help prevent sticking and get air flow all around. When not using a rack, only coat the top side of each tender with the oil spray so the bottom doesn’t get soggy.

Seasonings: If you don’t have the seasoning mixes or don’t want to use them, just add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a bit of freshly ground pepper into each of the flour and breadcrumb mixtures and it’ll taste great. But I LOVE max flavor, and I feel like using both the ranch seasoning and the rotisserie chicken seasoning was such a good flavor move, so that’s my preferred way to do it!

Hot Sauce: This is optional; it’s just there for flavor and a bit of zing, but it won’t taste spicy! Promise. My kids wouldn’t let me publish this if the chicken tenders were spicy. 😉 

Breadcrumbs: I have used all types of breadcrumbs, but I really like Trader Joe’s breadcrumbs best! They are a bit chunkier than standard plain breadcrumbs, but still finer than panko. In the photos here I was actually using half Trader Joe’s and half Progresso plain breadcrumbs because I ran out of my TJ’s ones – the mixed texture worked great!

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Air Fryer
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: air fryer chicken tenders, chicken tenders recipe, homemade chicken tenders, air fryer recipe