Air Fryer Chicken Tenders No Breading

Our air fryer chicken tenders no breading recipe with barbecue sauce is an easy and healthy meal our family loves. Made with strips of chicken breasts they get tender in no time and homemade vs. our frozen chicken tenders in air fryer.

We made this chicken tenders no breading recipe to see if it was as delicious as the frozen ones we bought for years. OH MY were they so much better! If you too are looking for an easy air fryer recipe that’s egg free without breadcrumbs, this is it.

You may have already tried air fryer frozen chicken nuggets for your kids. I mean that is fine but homemade is so much better. You can get the same great flavors and a bit of crisp without all of the extra carbs on the outside and we will show you how right here. 😉

You’re probably looking for more flavor and healthier choices too huh? Well if you want an entire air fryer fried chicken breast you can, but finger foods are kinda’ fun and this one needs no flour!

Let’s talk about a few specifics, and the kitchen appliances we have at home. We have both the Ninja Foodi, AirWave and Cosori and with air fry they all work the same way. Only difference is the size of the basket and how many you can fit.

You only need a few items to make these homemade chicken strips cooked in hot air like this or for our Oven Baked Chicken Tenders No Breading too. Super quick and easy meal that is family friendly.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to want some extra virgin Olive oil cooking spray will help it not stick to your air fryer basket. It will keep them moist too. Avocado oil would be a good alternative to this.

As for the cut of meat you are going to want fresh chicken tenders. You can buy them already sliced into this size and shape or do so yourself with breasts. For chicken tenderloins you would want to decrease the cook time by about 1-2 minutes since they are thinner.

We will show you below how to make a batch of homemade barbecue sauce below, or use bottled. It is recommended that you do not use one labeled honey, with lots of sugar, as it will likely get too brown.

Can you make tenders with chicken breasts?

Yes! I mean technically it is not the same thing as the tender is from a different area but nobody would really know if you sliced a breast. This is How to Make Chicken Tenders yourself here.

Substitutions

As far as the sauce goes that is up to you though this is a simple combination you can mix together. Teriyaki works well too. Or you can use this teriyaki air fryer marinated chicken recipe instead of this bbq sauce.

If you just wanted to use a bottled sauce instead of making your own homemade we share below you could use that too. With just 6 ingredients I am sure you have in your cupboard already though, it’s kinda’ a no brainer.

Time and Temp

Yes we have breaded chicken similar to this and made bacon wrapped Ninja Foodi chicken tenders before. Those were good for the fry food taste we were looking for, this is a gluten free version though since we’re skipping the breadcrumbs. NO flour, Panko, or almond flour are used in these. That makes them really quick to throw together and are a much healthier air frying recipe to boot. All in just 10 – 12 minutes time too!!

I will tell you that my girls loved these maybe more than the laborious process of whisking an egg, dipping into several different shallow bowls to coat the outside, and then cooking. I would try them both and see which you prefer. Then you’ll be ready to air fry everything like us! My oven is crying now, I hardly use it anymore except for cakes!

How many chicken tenders can you fit in an air fryer?

8 is typical without overlapping, smaller tenderloins can be closer to 12 depending on how large your basket is. You can fit 2 chicken cutlets in air fryer too. Key is to give them just a bit of room in between each one so the hot air can rotate to get it crispy.

Do you flip chicken tenders in air fryer?

Almost always the answer is yes. The only time I wouldn’t is if there is a type of breading that may fall off if moved around too much. I have yet to encounter that yet though. The whole philosophy on why you do this is simple. This machine works to make food crunchy because of the hot air circulating around the food.

If you overlap each piece you’re impeding the air flow from hitting those areas, thus they won’t get crisp. For chicken tenders with no breading however you won’t get that real crunch anyway so it isn’t all that important.

How to save leftovers

You always want to wait for food to cool to room temperature first. I like using freezer bags and suck all the air out. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then the best way to warm again is I use a bit of sauce on top when reheating chicken in an air fryer.

Can I eat chicken tenders on keto?

This is not necessarily a Keto chicken tenders recipe but you could make it as such.  You would need to omit the sugar and maybe just use seasonings as we did with our when just cooking chicken breasts sliced thin with salt, pepper and other seasonings.

I bet you’re thinking “man The Typical Mom blog has a lot of Ninja Foodi chicken recipes!” You would be correct.