How to Make Ninja Foodi Chicken Tenders

How to Make Ninja Foodi chicken tenders wrapped in bacon and homemade are here for you to enjoy tonight! Easy 20 minute air fryer dinner idea even the kids will love. If you have only cooked Frozen Chicken Tenders in Air Fryer, these are from scratch and much better.

Homemade Ninja Foodi Chicken Tenders

Have you gotten on the air fryer bandwagon yet?? We cook tons of easy air fryer recipes all the time now that we have this baby. Directions explain specific to this model but you could easily use the same timing and temperature for an AirWave or Cosori too.

We have this pressure cooker and air fryer but there are many models out there. Both big and small. It doesn’t really matter what brand you have. I have 3 different ones and they all work very similarly. Of course we love the Foodi because you can do all the things in it.

How Long do You Cook Chicken Tenders in Ninja Foodi?

That depends. If they are frozen it is about 5 minutes but left in for another 8 to warm all the way thru. Made from scratch is about 12 minutes. If you made bacon wrapped like seen here you need 14 minutes. All of these vary slightly depending on how large and/or thick yours are but until the middle reaches 165F.

It’s one of our favorite Ninja Foodi chicken recipes. You can add a bit of heat if you like with some chili powder or keep them lightly breaded as you see here. There are no unusual hard to find ingredients used and I wrapped many in bacon which took them from good to over the top deliciousness. You chose which you like better. 😉

Step by Step

This is how you’ll want to set up your workspace so you can make these homemade air fryer chicken tenders like an assembly line. I cut 8 pieces in half and wrapped 2 halves around each chicken tender once it was breaded. If you need an egg free version, follow our our Cheese It chicken tenders instead.

You could use avocado oil if you’d rather, I use what I have on hand. The only Ninja Foodi accessory you will need is either the air fryer basket or a wire trivet. I used the basket that came with my machine.

Most of my Ninja air fryer recipes use this unless it’s a tall piece of meat, then the trivet is better. I used a different coating when making our air fryer fried chicken recipe the other night.

How to Make Chicken Tenders in Ninja Foodi Air Fryer

There are tons of possibilities really when it comes to this. If you cannot use eggs then a coating of olive oil and a dry packaged rub or even Shake n Bake will work. As for bacon I wouldn’t choose a thick style. Regular slices will get a bit crispier, that is our preference anyway.

• Preheat your air fryer first to 350 degrees.
• Spray basket with cooking spray.
• You’ll want one bowl to whisk an egg into.
• Another bowl will have bread crumbs and some olive oil.
  • this will be your breading
• On a cutting board you’ll lay out your bacon strips if you’re using them.

This is what our assembly line of sorts looked like. 1 slice cut in half and wrapped around works perfectly. Typically tenders aren’t very big. Or you could use one strip and start at the bottom wrapping it all the way up. I just thought it would be easier to secure the ends with toothpicks this way.

• I made a few without as well to taste the difference and everyone enjoyed them. With and without the added meat. 

If you just had chicken breasts handy you could use those too. I would cut them into strips similar to this size. You want them relatively thin and all of them to be the same size so they’ll cook evenly in the air fryer.

Ingredients

1. Chicken strips
   1. or breasts cut into small strips similar to chicken fingers
2. Egg to coat or olive oil as directed below
3. Bread crumbs – I used this, I think it’s easier than panko breadcrumbs
4. Bacon are optional if you want to wrap them
5. Dipping sauces if desired
   1. I keep leftovers from Chick Fil A and use those
   2. Ranch, BBQ, and fry sauce are good too
6. Oil spray if you want them really really crispy

Serve these with our Ninja Foodi macaroni and cheese for the perfect family friendly meal. Or if you have leftovers I will dice those up and throw them right into the pasta which is fun.

How to Make Ninja Foodi Chicken Tenders with Panko

Yes you can but you will want a whisked egg to get those to stick well. Grab your power air fryer, or any other brand and give these a whirl tonight!

• Dip in whisked egg, bread the chicken with Panko or regular crumbs
• Cook chicken at 350 degrees for 12 minutes total
• After 6 minutes flipping over is necessary to get crispy on both sides
• If using bacon cook for 14 minutes
• We have directions for frozen chicken nuggets and air fryer frozen chicken strips here too if you’re in a rush

Homemade is always way better though right??

How to Make Ninja Foodi Grill Chicken Tenders

This model has the air crisp function as well so if that is your model, go for it. You can make all the air fryer recipes you want to in any brand.

• First you will whip your egg in a bowl. In another bowl combine bread crumbs with your olive oil. Preheat your air fryer to 350 for 10 minutes while you’re preparing your chicken.
• Dip each tender into the egg on both sides letting excess egg drip off before putting it into the bread crumb bowl. Flip over so whole piece of chicken is covered in wet bread crumb mixture.
• If not adding bacon, place these coated pieces into your air fryer basket.
  • When wrapping with bacon, cut 8 slices of bacon in half and lay 2 of your half pieces down next to one another horizontally. 
• Place your coated chicken tender in the middle. Use 2 toothpicks to secure ends of bacon pieces on to chicken. Insert at an angle so they are somewhat flat so when you put them into the basket they lay relatively flat.
• Place chicken wrapped pieces into air fryer basket with toothpick sides down.
• Once all pieces are in basket and aren’t overlapping (we did 2 batches so they didn’t) close lid and select air crisp for 12 minutes if there’s no bacon, or 14 minutes if you wrapped with bacon.
• Flip chicken pieces halfway through your cook cycle. If you want them really crisp spray oil on them for the last 2 minutes. 

This whole process should take 30 minutes including time to prep and preheat your machine. For a lower carb way, you can make air fryer chicken tenders no breading.

You can print recipe below and find more easy air fryer dinners here. Air fryer chicken tenders recipe with fry sauce and our tater tots make the perfect crispy meal!