Air Fryer Chicken Tenders No Breading

These Air Fryer Chicken tenders without Breading are lightly seasoned with onion, garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and are a great low carb savoury appetiser with your favourite healthy dipping sauce, or add them to tacos, burritos, salads, wrap or sandwich. 

These chicken tenders are light, perfectly moist, savoury, and a little bit smokey, with the spices creating a gentle crust on the outside for that delicious moreish mouthfeel. Also check out these Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets that are as delicious for adults as they are for kids, and these Honey Soy Air Fryer Chicken Wings - so good you won't believe they aren't lathered in oil.

Ingredients

There’s no need to worry about setting up an egg wash or flouring the chicken, and especially no breading which makes this a super simple recipe that’s ready in 20 minutes.  There’s also practically no oil used in this recipe, just a quick hit of spray oil to ensure the chicken cooks evenly and perfectly all the way through.

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken:  I buy chicken tenderloins pre cut from the supermarket, however you can also cut a chicken breast into small pieces (½ inch thick, 1 ½  inches wide 3 or so inches long)

• Onion Powder and Garlic Powder:  This adds a lovely garlic and onion flavour and is the basis of the seasoning.  It also the base of this savoury spice mix.  Note that onion salt and garlic salt should not be substituted for the onion and garlic powder as this will make the chicken extremely salty. 
• Smoked paprika:  this gives a  smokey earthy flavour to the chicken and the deep golden red colour of the crispy outside coating.  If you don’t have smoked paprika, you can use regular or ground paprika but it won’t have the same flavour.  I would avoid using sweet paprika as for me at least it tends to lack that same earthiness as the smoked paprika.
• Salt and pepper:  I love to use sea salt and ground black pepper, however this is where you could substitute the sea salt for either garlic salt or onion salt in the same quantities if you want either a stronger garlic or onion flavour.  Alternatively you could also try substituting sea salt with celery salt however you may need a little extra as its not as potent as regular sea salt.

Recipe Highlights

• The spice mix is a tried and tested combination of flavours that together bring the chicken to life, infusing it with savoury, salty, peppery, garlicy and smokey undertones that make this chicken disappear off the plate
• There’s very minimal oil, no egg, flour or breadcrumbs used yet there is still a deep golden red crust that coats the chicken thanks to the unique way the air fryer cooks the chicken, making it a moist and juicy on the inside with a textured coating on the outside.
• This is a quick and mess free version of low carb crusty chicken that is very versatile and great for weekday lunches popped on top of a quick salad, or inside a low carb wrap with a little red onion, grated cheese and lettuce.

How To Make

1. Preheat air fryer to 180 degrees C / 360 degrees F for 3 to 5 minutes
2. Prepare seasoning:  Add onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to a small bowl and mix together.

3. Season Chicken:  Add chicken tenders to a large bowl and add the seasoning.  Use fingers to rub seasoning onto the chicken, pressing into the meat to make sure the rub stays on

4. Arrange and Cook:  Lay chicken pieces into air fryer flat side down, making sure not to overcrowd basket (this may mean you’ll need to do two cooks if basket is not big enough to take all chicken at once)
5. Spray:  Lightly spray tenders with oil and cook for 15 minutes at 180 degrees F / 360 degrees F. 
6. Serve:  Serve chicken tenders with your favourite dipping sauce such as healthy homemade smoky BBQ, homemade healthy ketchup, or sugar free sweet chilli.

Recipe Tips

• Spice Shortcut:  if you don’t tend to keep many spices in your cupboard, you can always buy a pre packaged spice mix, making the prep time even quicker.
• Other spices to add in:  for a little heat, add in ¼ a teaspoon of red chilli flakes to the spice mix, or ½ a teaspoon of hot paprika
• Alternatives to Onion and Garlic Powder:  whilst in my opinion its hard to beat these two spices for making the foundation of just about any spice mix, if you don’t have them on hand, you could use 1 teaspoon dried rosemary and 1 teaspoon dried oregano with a ½ a teaspoon of onion or garlic salt

Things That Might Affect Cook Time

• Whether the chicken is fresh or frozen:  Chicken that is fresh will cook quicker and is what I used for this recipe.  You could use frozen chicken tenders however the spice mix may not stick very well and might fall off during the cooking process.  I would defrost the tenders in the microwave first, add the spice coating then cook in the air fryer.  You’ll get a better outcome this way as the spice mix will stay intact on the chicken.
• Thickness of the chicken:  Chicken tenders are pretty thin – much thinner than a chick breast or chicken thigh, however thickness of store bought chicken tenders will vary.  If concerned about whether or not the chicken is cooked, cut one in half to check.
• Whether you preheat the Air Fryer:  if you preheat the air fryer for a few minutes before putting the chicken in, it will cook quicker and the chicken tends to get a crispier outside as well.
• Whether the Air Fryer is over crowded:  make sure not to overcrowd the basket as you want the air to evenly circulate around the chicken so it cooks all the way through.  I have a Tefal XL Round Basket Air Fryer and I cooked 500 grams/1 pound of chicken in two batches)

Common Questions

Healthy Sauces that Go Well With Chicken Tenders

5 Ways to Use These Chicken Tenders

• Wrap:  Grab your favourite wrap, (low carb tortilla or even lettuce wrap) add you favourite fillings (mine are red onion, grated cheese and cos lettuce), and add a little mayo or yoghurt dressing.
• Rice paper Rolls:  Add some vermacilli noodles, grated carrot, a slice of cucumber, shredded mint and corriander/cilantro leaves and make a bunch of rolls to have in the fridge for weekday lunches
• Salad:  make you own or grab a back of storebought salad mix, add some microwave/minute rice, chicken, healthy sweet sweet chilli sauce and you’ ve got lunch or an easy dinner
• Taco:  Shred the chicken, add to a taco with some slaw and creamy dressing and that’s dinner
• Bowl:  take some microwave/minute rice, steamed (or also microwaved) broccoli, chopped chicken tenders and you have a well balanced dinner.

More Air Fryer Recipes

These Air Fryer Chicken Tenders are a great way to get a head start on Make Ahead Meal Prep for the week as they provide the perfect starting point for naked burrito bowls, rice bowls, or even noodle bowls with a few veges on the side.

Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (No Breading)

Kim

These chicken tenders are light, perfectly moist, savoury, and a little bit smokey,with the spices creating a gentle crust on the outside for that delicious moreish mouthfeel.

4.84 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 3 mins

Cook Time 17 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine Australian

Servings 4 people

Calories 130 kcal

Equipment

• Air Fryer

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 500 grams Chicken Tenderloins
• 1 teaspoon Onion powder
• 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon Smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons Sea salt
• 1 teaspoon Black pepper
• Oil Spray

Instructions

 

• Preheat air fryer to 180 degrees C / 360 degrees F for 3 to 5 minutes
• Prepare seasoning: Add onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to a small bowl and mix together.
• Season Chicken: Add chicken tenders to a large bowl and add the seasoning, stirring through to coat.
• Arrange and Cook: Lay chicken pieces into air fryer flat side down, making sure not to overcrowd basket (this may mean you’ll need to do two cooks if basket is not big enough to take all chicken at once)
• Spray: Lightly spray tenders with oil and cook for 15 minutes at 180 degrees F / 360 degrees F.
• Serve: Serve chicken tenders with your favourite dipping sauce such as healthy homemade smoky BBQ, homemade healthy ketchup, or sugar free sweet chilli.
• Storage: Store chicken tenders in air tight containers for 2 days in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 130kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 29gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gFiber: 1g

Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners.

Keyword air fryer chicken tenders

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