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
- 1.5 – 2 lbs. chicken tenderloins (about 12-16 pieces)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- one 1–ounce packet ranch seasoning (optional, see notes)
- 1 egg
- 1–2 teaspoons hot sauce (optional)
- 3/4 cup milk + 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons seasoning mix (I use the McCormick rotisserie chicken seasoning)
- avocado oil spray
Instructions
- Prep your dipping stations:
Bowl 1: Combine the flour, salt, and ranch seasoning.
Bowl 2: Mix the milk and vinegar; let it sit for 5 minutes (you’re making a “buttermilk”). Add eggs and hot sauce; whisk to combine.
Bowl 3: Stir the breadcrumbs with the seasoning mix.
- 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.
- Batter Up: Time to coat! 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.
- 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 moistened with oil – this helps them get that evenly golden brown, fried look.
- Cook and Serve: Air fry at 400 degrees for 7-9 minutes. You want them to be golden brown on the outside, and somewhere between about 165-180 degrees on the inside. Serve with your favorite sauce! SO yummy!
Notes
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 or Progresso plain breadcrumbs for this. The Trader Joe’s breadcrumbs are a bit chunkier than the Progresso ones, but they both work great. In the photos I was actually using half of each because I ran out of my TJ’s ones! So I had to go half and half with it, and it ended up turning out 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