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These Air Fryer Chicken Strips come out super crispy, tender and golden. Easy to make, with a delectably seasoned breadcrumb coating, perfect for game day or as weeknight meal with your favorite sides. Plus there’s a homemade special sauce for dipping!

Chicken strips on a plate with sauce.
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Simple to make and loaded with flavor, these Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Strips are super addictive. Made with an easy coating, these little lovelies are juicy on the inside and delightfully crunchy on the exterior – plus there’s a delicious homemade sauce too – win, win!

If you’re looking for other air fryer recipes, why not also try my Crispy Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries and my Air Fryer Chicken Wing Recipe!

Why you’ll love these Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Strips

  • Super crispy. These golden strips come out ultra crunchy and not greasy!
  • A delicious breadcrumb coating. Made with panko breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder and parmesan cheese – loaded with flavor!
  • Easy to make. A simple list of ingredients, these come out in 30 mins.
  • A homemade special sauce! Tangy and delicious, perfect with chicken!

Ingredients you’ll need

  • Chicken Tenders
  • Egg
  • Olive Oil Spray
  • Bread Coating: bread crumbs, paprika, black pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, parmesan cheese.
Ingredients for crispy air fryer chicken strips.

Chicken Strips Sauce

Special Sauce Dip: Light Mayo, ketchup, sweet relish, black pepper, onion powder

How to make these Air Fryer Chicken Tenders /or Strips

  • Dredge the chicken: Coat the tenders with the egg batter and breading mixture.
  • Cook: Line the air fryer with the strips and cook for a total of 10 mins.
  • Allow to cool slightly, serve and enjoy!
Crispy chicken in an air fryer.

Recipe notes and tips

  • Be sure to use a preheated air fryer.
  • Remove any film from the tenders.
  • Spray the tenders generously with olive oil.
  • Make sure the tenders don’t overlap in the air fryer, so they cook evenly.
  • Allow to cool slightly before serving.
  • Sprinkle with some fresh parsley.
chicken strip being dipped into the sauce

FAQ’s

What to serve with these Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Strips

These crispy chicken tenders are great on their own as a snack, with dip but you ca totally pair them up with all kinds of sides for a meal. Here’s some ideas:

How to store leftovers

Store leftover crispy chicken strips in an airtight container or large resealable bag in the fridge for 3-4 days.

To reheat the strips, and keep them crispy, you can use your air fryer. Preheat the air fryer to 350F then cook the tenders for 5-10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they’re hot.

Can you freeze these Crispy Chicken Strips?

This is an awesome recipe to prep aehad of time and pop in the freezer. You can freeze these either cooked or uncooked. Place the tenders on a baking sheet, freeze for 2 hours, then transfer them to a large freezer bag or container.

To reheat uncooked tenders from frozen, cook the tenders for 25-30 minutes in a preheated air fryer (375) or until golden brown.

To reheat cooked tenders from frozen, preheat the air fryer to 390F and cook 10-15 minutes or until hot, flipping halfway through.

Top down view of chicken tenders on a plate.

Other delicious chicken recipes

I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Strips recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!

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5 from 18 votes

Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Strips

These Air Fryer Chicken Strips come out super crispy, tender and golden. Easy to make, with a delectably seasoned breadcrumb coating.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12 strips

Ingredients 

  • 12 piece chicken tenders, film removed
  • 1 large egg
  • olive oil spray

Breading

  • ¾ cup panko crumbs
  • ½ cup bread crumbs
  • 1 tbsp. paprika
  • ½ tsp. black pepper
  • ¾ tsp. salt
  • ¾ tsp. onion powder
  • ¾ tsp. garlic powder
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Special Sauce Dip

  • cup light mayo
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 3 tbsp. sweet relish
  • ¼ tsp. black pepper
  • ¼ tsp. onion powder

Instructions 

  • Preheat the air fryer to 400 F.
  • In one bowl, whisk the egg. In another bow, mix the breading mixture.
  • Coat the tenders with the egg batter and then in the breading mixture, patting the tenders well with the breading mixture to coat them well.
  • Line the tenders in the air fryer without over lapping them and spray generously with the olive oil spray.
  • Cook the tenders on each side for for 5-6 minutes, total of 10-12 minutes, spraying the tenders again when you flip over.
  • Remove from the air fryer and let them cool for a minute and serve with your favorite dip.

Video

Notes

  • Be sure to use a preheated air fryer.
  • Remove any film from the tenders.
  • Spray the tenders generously with olive oil.
  • Make sure the tenders don’t overlap in the air fryer, so they cook evenly.
  • Allow to cool slightly before serving.
  • Sprinkle with some fresh parsley.

Nutrition

Calories: 142kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 446mg | Potassium: 290mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 915IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
5 from 18 votes (15 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




17 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This is only the 2nd recipe I’ve cooked in my new air fryer oven. The first was an awful flop. This worked, and I was thrilled. I made the sauce, too, and it was pretty good, although we prefer something a bit spicy. May add some “kick” next time. I used the bottom “catch” pan because I thought might stick to the other “open weave” inserts but will try next time and spray olive oil directly on those first. Kudos!
    Wish there were recipes for air fryer ovens.

    1. Glad you enjoyed it. I love spicy recipes too, but the kids don’t. You can always add some cayenne pepper to the recipe. I just got the instant pot vortex plus air fryer and it’s great. I love air fryer recipes. I have been using mine a lot for many things.

  2. 5 stars
    Crunchy and juicy! I didn’t have panko bread crumbs so I used a combination of crunched up potato chips and crispex cereal. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Yummy, finally chicken tenders in the Air fryer that I like. Thanks for the recipe.

  3. I tried this recipe today , it was good I did tweak it some.. I added extra relish and mayo to the sauce and it came out really good. I added all the seasonings to the egg mixture of garlic powder, adobo, black pepper and paprika but no salt..I mixed both panko and regular bread crumbs together for the crunch. I also made red beans and rice plus an avocado tomato salad.. My hubby was a happy man , loved the meal.. thank you for the recipe!! This is a keeper for my family..

    1. Hi,
      It’s just relish, you know the sweet mashed up looking pickles people add on hotdogs and certain salads?

  4. Hi, your recipe looks delicious! I would love to try it; I have tried to do chicken tenders in my air fryer before and it didnโ€™t go well due to the pan. I noticed you have something lining yours which is perfect! What did you use, so that I can make this???

    1. Hi Cassie!
      These are parchment paper made for the air fryer to keep your basket mess free. This wont get sticky and cleans out quicker. I got them from amazon just search air fryer parchment paper or something and you will find different kinds of them. Just make sure you preheat the air fryer before adding the paper to cook the chicken. If you can’t find them please email me I would be happy to help further

  5. You have paprika listed twice under the breading ingredients (two different amounts). Which is the correct amount? Thank you!

    1. I use the Nuwave brand at the moment. Skinnytaste has one as well and Ninja has one that has two drawers this way you can cook different thing at the same time, which I think is pretty neat.