Air fryer chicken tenders are crispy and flavorful with barely any oil required! Easy to prep and super quick to cook up.
Admit it- you have a bag of emergency chicken strips hiding somewhere in your freezer. I know I do!
Chicken tenders are a kid-favorite recipe, and turns out they are super easy to make from scratch!
Ever since buying our air fryer, we’ve been cooking almost everything in it…fries, sweet potato tots, salmon patties, anything that is normally fried turns out absolutely amazing in the air fryer.
We have been loving cooking chicken in our air fryer as well. It gets nice and crispy, and cooks in minutes! So much faster than using the oven.
Don’t forget to pin this post to save it for later!
The best breading for air fryer chicken tenders
As I mentioned in the air fryer chicken breast post, I tried this recipe with three different types of breading:
- all purpose flour ended up quite soggy
- panko didn’t mix well with the seasonings and ended up tasting bland
- regular breadcrumbs had the best compromise between crispy texture and taste
How to make air fryer chicken tenders
I skipped the flour/egg dredging and instead brushed these air fryer chicken tenders with olive oil.
Then I dredged them (a few times to get good coverage) in the breading mixture.
Finally, I air fried them…just 4-5 minutes total to cook these guys!
You can even make these chicken tenders ahead! They get soggy in the fridge, but just popping them back into the air fryer for a few minutes gets that nice, crispy texture back. I bet you could freeze them too, but I haven’t tried this yet.
If you are looking for air fryer chicken breast instructions, don’t forget to check out this post!
Tips for the tastiest air fryer chicken tenders
- This is the air fryer model I have
- to make this recipe even easier to prep, assemble the breading ahead and store in an air tight container in the pantry
- looking for more air fryer recipes? Check out these air fryer chicken breasts and these air fryer chicken wings!
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Breading
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat air fryer to 390°F / 200°C.
- Brush chicken tenders lightly with olive oil on both sides.
- Stir together the breading. Using tongs, dredge the chicken tenders in the breading, flipping over and repeating multiple times until chicken tenders are completely coated. Shake off excess breading and place in the air fryer right away.
- Cook in batches of 3-4 at a time, making sure the chicken tenders don't touch each other. Cook for 3 minutes, flip, and 2 minutes on other side before removing from the air fryer.
To prepare ahead
- These chicken tenders can be cooked 2-3 days ahead and stored in the fridge. To re-heat, place in the air fryer and heat for 2-3 minutes until they are crispy again.
steve shoemaker
Awesome recipe!!!! Came home found your recipe and wow was it good. I’m fairly new at cooking for myself.
Denise
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Steve!
Linda L Blodgett
What if the tenders are uncooked but breaded and frozen…how long should they be air fried?
Denise
Hi Linda! Good question, and I really can’t say for sure. I’d do 390°F and try 10 minutes? I’m totally guessing here. Could be more or could be less. Just keep an eye on them and they’ll be great!
Adrienne
These are so easy to make and my kids LOVE them! Thanks for a great recipe!
Denise
So happy you enjoyed! Thanks so much for your review!
gigglebutt
they were good but a bit too salty for me, next time i will cut the salt in half and add a touch bit more cayenne, but brushing the tenders with oil was fantastic and the batter was nice and crispy
Denise
LOL nice username! Thanks so much for your review 🙂
Andrina Mathew
Hey,
Its yummy. I love it to cook at my home when get time. I read your recipe its too good.
Denise
Thanks so much, Andrina!
Lynn Messner
I made these last night but they took over 10 minutes to cook. Maybe I put too many in the fryer at once. They weren’t touching though.
Denise
Hi Lynn! Thanks for reporting back! I suspect we probably had different sized chicken tenders? There also may be differences between air fryer brands, I’m not totally sure as I’ve only used the Phillips.
Annie
Same here. I used the Perdue pre-sliced fresh strips and they aren’t that big or very thick. My first batch has been cooking for going on 10 minutes now. I keep checking them and flipping them every 3 minutes.
Denise
Hi Ladies, I’m wondering if it can just come down to differences in air fryer models. I use a Philips air fryer, not sure which ones you are using but I would definitely guess there could be differences in cook times between brands.