The Crispiest Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer (or Oven or Stove)
I never quite got my membership card for the cult of the air fryer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against them at all, but I just don’t use mine nearly as often as some people do. But there are absolutely some recipes where an air fryer is a no brainer gadget—and these super crispy chicken tenders definitely qualify!
[Update from the future a.k.a. 2025, LOL…I literally use my air fryer at least once a day now]
I’d been playing around with some easy paleo/keto-friendly healthy chicken tenders in the air fryer several months ago, based on some dietary restrictions I had. They used mostly almond flour as the coating, which definitely didn’t crisp up.
So I really wanted to try getting a TRULY crispy chicken tender in the air fryer. I used this technique and *rough* recipe from The Kitchn, and played around with the amounts of panko and spices, and only used about half of the buttermilk and one egg (felt wasteful otherwise).
As I’ve made it subsequent times, I’ve adjusted the spices specifically, for a more flavorful punch…the recipe below reflects those changes. And I think it’s great!
This is my view while cutting up chicken 100% of the time…
In a shallow dish or on a large plate, pour the panko and all the spices (garlic powder, onion powder, salt, mustard powder, paprika, and black pepper). Gently stir together (I just use my fingers).
Place the buttermilk and egg in a medium bowl and whisk to combine (I add a pinch of salt).
Put the cornstarch in a large plastic bag. Pat your chicken tenders dry and put them in with the cornstarch. Seal the bag and shake around until fully coated. Shake each piece to remove excess cornstarch.
Working in batches, dip the chicken in the buttermilk mixture, then dredge (and cover) in the panko mixture until fully coated.
Place on a plate or baking sheet in a single layer, with a little space between. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes…this is critical, as it gives the coating time to adhere to the chicken.
Preheat your air fryer at 400ºF for a few minutes. Working in batches as needed, spray both sides of the chicken with a little olive oil. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the air fryer basket, leaving a little space between.
Cook in the air fryer until cooked through and crispy, flipping halfway through. It will probably take 9-10 minutes, maybe a bit more. The fattest part of the chicken tenders should register at least 145 F inside.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauces. For me that’s either a mayo-ketchup combo, or something like a garlic aioli…mmmmm!
You can also oven bake or pan fry these chicken tenders too. I haven’t tried it on the stove, but in the oven they still get good and crispy though definitely not as golden. You can see below the one that was done in the oven, not nearly as dark.
You can refrigerate leftover chicken strips in an airtight container for a few days and reheat in the air fryer for 5 minutes to “re-crisp” (and it does a decent job), though these are definitely better fresh if possible.
These awesome crispy chicken tenders with panko are definitely going into my regular “healthy dinner” rotation…so easy and fast!
Other easy, healthy chicken dinner options you’ll love:
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
- Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken Thighs
- Amazing & Easy Chicken Shawarma
- Maple-Glazed Chicken with Sweet Potato Hash
- How to Brine Chicken Breasts: A Secret to Amazing Chicken
- Apricot Balsamic Rosemary Chicken
- Pinterest’s Famous “Man-Pleasing Chicken”
- The Easiest, Juiciest Poached Chicken (& How to Shred Chicken in 10 Seconds)
The Crispiest Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
This is an awesome weeknight dinner option, super fast and easy, and rewarding you with the crispiest air fryer chicken tenders possible (using panko breadcrumbs).
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk or half-and-half
- 1 large egg
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of panko breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 1 (scant) teaspoon of paprika
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenders or chicken breasts (cut into thin, long tenders)
- 1/8 cup of cornstarch
- Spray olive oil (ideally not aerosolized for health, but whatever works)
Instructions
- Place the buttermilk and egg in a medium bowl and whisk to combine (I add a pinch of salt).
- In a shallow dish or on a large plate, pour the panko and all the spices (garlic powder, onion powder, salt, mustard powder, paprika, and black pepper). Gently stir together (I just use my fingers).
- Put the cornstarch in a large plastic bag. Pat your chicken tenders dry and put them in with the cornstarch. Seal the bag and shake around until fully coated. Shake each piece to remove excess cornstarch.
- Working in batches, dip the chicken in the buttermilk mixture, then dredge (and cover) in the panko mixture until fully coated. Place on a plate or baking sheet in a single layer, with a little space between.
- Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes...this is critical, as it gives the coating time to adhere to the chicken.
- Preheat your air fryer at 400ºF for a few minutes. Working in batches as needed, spray both sides of the chicken with a little olive oil.
- Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the air fryer basket, leaving a little space between. Cook in the air fryer until cooked through and crispy, flipping halfway through. It will probably take 9-10 minutes, maybe a bit more. The fattest part of the chicken tenders should register at least 145 F inside.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauces. You can refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for a few days and reheat in the air fryer for 5 minutes, though these are definitely better fresh if possible.
Notes
This is a perfect recipe for 1-2 people, but you can easily scale this up. The panko and buttermilk/egg mixture below can support at least 1 1/2 pounds of chicken, so scale from there to support waste.
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Isn’t USDA minimum chicken internal temperature suppose to be 165?
Hi Luke! Yes, that’s the USDA recommendation. Personally I’ve found that chicken breasts where the thickest point is over 165 are dry and awful, so I look for more in the 150-ish range (knowing the chicken keeps cooking a bit after I take it off the heat). If you’re at all nervous about it then I recommend going with the USDA’s just in case.