Air Fryer chicken is pretty much a no-brainer, which is good for me. I’m not a chef, not even close. But that’s the great thing about an air fryer, because you don’t really have to be a culinary genius.
So, since I’m just a hungry old man, let’s get started. My stomach is already starting to growl so, the simplest recipe is the one I will give you first.
Preparation
You will need some chicken tenders. This is just chicken breasts cut up in long slices about 3/4 of an inch or so. NOTE* You should handle raw uncooked chicken very carefully, so wash your hands and everything else that comes into contact with raw chicken.
In the first of three bowls put in a cup of hand-milled Tibetan Yak flour. Just kidding, any plain old flour will do the trick. (Just not self-rising flour) I also added a little salt and pepper.
Preparing the second bowl, I beat an egg almost to death. Make sure it is thoroughly beaten and not separating.
In the third bowl I used a mixture of seasoned Italian bread crumbs and old potato chips. You can also use bread crumbs or panko or probably even crushed corn chips. I simply used what I had on hand. (I do want to try the corn chips sometime)
After washing the chicken strips I patted them dry. Then I dipped them, one at a time, in the flour to totally cover them in flour. This is important because it makes the covering stick.
Next, I dipped them in the egg bowl and totally wetted them in egg.
Then I put them into the bread crumb mix and made sure to completely cover them in the mixture.
Chill your chicken before putting it in the air fryer
The next step is to put them on a plate and put them in the refrigerator, uncovered for an hour. This will help to dry the chicken coating to the strips. Remember, at this point the chicken is still uncooked so, don’t get it in contact with anything.
Grease the air fryer slightly and put in enough air fryer chicken strips to cover the bottom with one layer. I had a little pump sprayer for grease that did the trick but you can also just use a paper towel with a little oil to coat the fryer.
Set the machine at 360 degrees and go for 6 minutes, then flip yor chicken and go for another 6 minutes. A little food thermometer comes in handy at this point. I like to get chicken to at least 175 degrees or more. My chicken strips were done in 10 minutes but I went another 2 minutes just to make sure.
Time to eat your air fried tenders
In 12 minutes you have delicious, simple air fryer chicken tenders.
But this is just the simple version. If you really want to take it up a few notches, try this idea.
I found a K-F-C copycat recipe. It tastes very close to the mouth-watering original recipe.
First, I mixed up the ingredients in a bowl. Amazingly, actually found all these ingredients in my wife’s cupboard.
2 tbsp. of garlic salt
1 tsp. of dried or crushed oregano
2 tsp. of dried basil
1-1/2 tsp. of dried thyme
4 tbsp. of paprika
2 tsp. of salt (table salt)
1 tbsp. of celery salt
1 tbsp. of fine black pepper
1 tbsp. of dried mustard powder
1 tbsp. of ground ginger
3 tbsp. of white pepper
I mixed all this up and put it in a container for future use. When you use it you mix it in with the flour. The recipe should coat about 6-8 pounds of chicken, so you might need to do a little math if you’re cooking less.
I tried this on one air fryer chicken strip and it was delicious. So, if you are looking to create your own special air fryer chicken flavor, this is a good recipe to start with. Everyone tastes things differently so, you might want to modify the recipe to your particular taste. Add some ground red pepper and make it Cajun style!
Making chicken tenders in an air fryer really is simple and quick, so you can get down to eating them sooner.
If you don’t have an air fryer yet, check out this article on some of the best ones, Air Fryers