For Christmas this year my husband got me an air fryer and I’m still navigating how to use it correctly. Today I want to share with you a delicious Air Fryer Buttermilk Chicken Tenders recipe using just a few ingredients including fresh buttermilk, flour, salt and pepper, chicken, and pickle juice (yes, pickle juice!). If you want to know the benefits of an air fryer – click here.
We enjoyed this recipe by taking our fresh chicken tenders, slicing them up, and then tossing them in spicy garlic sauce and putting into a chicken wrap. It was delicious and this will definitely be a staple dinner idea again! Let’s walk through this air fryer chicken tender recipe now and how to make Spicy Garlic Wraps afterwards!
How to make Air Fryer Buttermilk Chicken Tenders
This recipe is super simple, all you need is:
- boneless chicken breast tenders
- salt
- black pepper
- pickle juice
- flour
- eggs
- buttermilk
- olive oil
- hot sauce of choice
Buttermilk Chicken Tender Breading and Marinade
To start, you’ll want to combine the chicken tenders with salt, pepper, and pickle juice, make sure all of the tenders are coated, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. If you want, you can add a tablespoon of hot sauce to the marinade for a little kick.
After refrigerated, mix together your eggs and buttermilk in a bowl and place the 3 cups of flour in separate bowl. To coat the chicken, take the chicken tender and place it in the flour, then dip it back in the buttermilk mixture, and finally dip it in the flour again. So it goes, flour, buttermilk, flour. Do this for all of your tenders and allow to air dry on a foil lined pan. Let air dry for 15 minutes.
Next, get your air fryer preheated. I like to use a marinade brush to wipe down the inside of the fryer with olive oil and then I pre-heat it to the chicken setting or 380 degrees. I place the tenders in the air fryer, trying not to overlap them too much, and then allow to cook for 15-18 minutes. I’d stop it around the 12 minute mark, check them, brush them with a little olive oil, and and then adjust your time if needed. Mine ended up needing around 18-20 minutes total, but it can be different for different thicknesses of the breading and chicken too.
You can tell when they’re done by noticing that all the breading is cooked and has a beautiful golden brown color to it. Pull out gently, so as not to pull the chicken from the breading that may have stuck to the bottom, let cool, and then slice!
We sliced ours up and then tossed them in our favorite Buffalo Wild Wings sauce, Spicy Garlic, and made wraps out of them! They were amazing!
Air Fryer Questions
So far my air fryer experience has been great. I’m learning this though:
Not all air fryer cooker times are created equal. Some recipes I follow the time to the tee and they are either overcooked or undercooked, so check your recipe regularly and don’t be afraid to adjust the temperature or time you’re cooking at.
Do you use aluminum foil in your air fryer?
I do not. I’ve never been instructed to before, so that’s not something I’m too familiar with.
Can you use PAM in your air fryer?
I have, but I usually just brush it down liberally with olive oil and it does great that way.
Which air fryer do you own?
This is the air fryer my husband got me for Christmas and I like it.
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Air Fryer Buttermilk Chicken Tenders
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 lbs boneless chicken breast tenders
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp pickle juice
- 1 tbsp hot sauce of choice (optional)
Buttermilk Coating
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 3 cups flour
- olive oil for pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine chicken, salt and pepper, and pickle juice until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
- Put flour in a bowl, set aside. Mix eggs and buttermilk in a separate bowl. To coat the chicken, place it in the flour toss each piece to evenly coat, then dip in buttermilk mixture, and then dip in flour again (so flour bowl, buttermilk bowl, then flour bowl).
- Place tenders on a baking sheet and let air dry for 15 minutes.
- Set your air fryer to the chicken setting or preheat to 380 degrees.
- Cook for 10-12 minutes and then check the status of the tenders, if golden brown, remove from air fryer. If not, very lightly coat with olive oil and place back in and air fry for another 5 minute increment, checking them again. Continue to cook all of the tenders until golden brown.
- Let cool for a minute or two and then (optional) slice them up and toss them in your favorite wing sauce.
This recipe is a great recipe to start with when using a new air fryer and you have so many fun recipes you can make once you get the hang of a simple Air Fried Chicken recipe! I hope you enjoyed this recipe and be sure to….
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Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
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