TheWildWaynes
a family of four cooking & creating our way through tiny living
Onion Dill Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer
What in the Heck is a Chicken Tender?
One of the most important part of the onion dill chicken tenders of course is the chicken tenders themselves. Have you ever noticed a piece of chicken breast that is almost separate but still attached? That is the chicken tender we all love to fry or grill. If the chicken happened to be a pig, it would be the pork tenderloin. If you are a gym rat, medical professional, or human anatomy expert, the chicken tender is the pectoralis minor of the chicken.
Chicken tenders are most commonly breaded in a chicken fry dredge. I do enjoy some good old fashioned fried chicken flavor. The chicken tenders are washed in egg and tossed in a flour or bread crumb dredge, then deep fried in oil.
What about Onion and Dill?
I have always been a huge fan of onions and onion flavor. There is no mistaking that crisp spicy bite. Onion powder is often a key ingredient in many fried chicken recipes. I like to use granulated onion because there is no other ingredient but onion.
Dill has been shoved into the pickle corner but should not be overlooked because of it. Dill weed is another unmistakable flavor and smell. Take a whiff from the dill weed bottle and HOLY MOLY is it powerful. Take a bit of dill weed mixed with some onion powder and you have something completely different. I prefer granulated onion because there is no other ingredients but onion.
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
The air fryer works like a convection oven because of the powerful fan that blows hot air around the oven to cook the food. To get the breading or dredge to brown in the air fryer, the breading has to be wet. We have a layer of cream and then a layer of egg wash between each layer of dredge. This helps to wet the dredge but olive oil is needed to finish the job.
We use the EVO Olive Oil Sprayer. I love this thing. I have had two of the pump olive oil sprayers and broke them both quickly. The EVO Olive Oil Sprayer is a spray bottle with a directional fan sprayer. I put different oils in depending on what I’m air frying, some times peanut oil, sesame oil or olive oil.
How to make Onion Dill Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer
Marinade
Lets start the chicken tenders off right by giving them time to marinate. Pour 1/2 cup of cream and 1/4 cup of your favorite hot sauce into a one gallon zip lock bag. I like to use La Victoria’s Salsa Brava. Add 2 pounds of chicken tenders to the marinade bag, zip it closed, and shake it up good. Release all of the air from the bag and zip the bag closed. Make sure to let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hour. I start ours in the morning so they can marinate until dinner time.
Onion Dill Chicken Tenders Dredge
When dinner time rolls around, pull the chicken tenders out of the fridge to sit on the counter. Mix 1 cup of plain bread crumbs, 1/2 cup flour, 1 Tbsp granulated onion, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp dill weed, 1/2 tsp granulated garlic, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper on a serving plate or shallow bowl.
Egg Wash
The egg wash is what is normally used to get the dredge or breading to stick to the chicken tenders. Crack 3 eggs onto a serving plate with 1/4 cup of cream. Whip the eggs with the cream well and that’s your egg wash.
Breading the Chicken Tenders
Take one chicken tender from the zip lock bag of cream and hot sauce. Roll around the chicken tender in the dredge ingredients to cover the chicken tender completely in the dredge.
Give the cream a chance to absorb the flour. Use one hand for your dry ingredients and the other hand for the wet ingredients. Shake off any extra dredge and place the chicken tender into the egg wash.
With the your we hand, wash the chicken tender well with the egg wash. You do not want there to be a dry spot on the chicken tender. Flip the chicken tender back and forth making sure it is well covered.
Pick the chicken tender up and let all of the extra egg wash run back onto the egg wash plate.
Place the egg washed chicken tender back into the dredge and then with your dry hand, cover the chicken tender in the dredge. Push down hard to get plenty of dredge to stick to the egg wash. Shake the extra dredge back onto the dredge plate and set the breaded chicken tender on an empty plate.
Air Frying your Onion Dill Chicken Tenders
Preheat your air fryer to 400°F for 5 minutes.
While the air fryer is heating up, spray the top side of the chicken tenders with olive oil to wet the dredge. Spray the hot air fryer basket with olive oil.
Place as many chicken tender that fit into your air fryer basket with room for air to move around each one oiled side down. Spray the unoiled tops with olive oil and air fry at 370°F for 7 minutes.
Lightly spray the chicken tenders with oil, flip the chicken tenders over and then again spray the tenders with olive oil.
Air fry at 370°F for 5. I have learned air fryers all work a little differently; so, time may be different for every one. Keep an eye on the chicken tenders toward the end. If you see them burning you can turn the temperature down to 350°F or lower to finish cooking.
Use a cookie spatula to make sure there is no part of the chicken tenders stuck to the air fryer basket and move them to a warm plate to rest. Repeat to finish the rest of the chicken tenders. Enjoy your onion dill chicken tenders.
Other Air Fryer Recipes by TheWildWaynes
CRISPY BUTTER CHEDDAR CHICKEN CUTLETS IN THE AIR FRYER
CHEX MIX IN THE AIR FRYER – EASY AND DELICIOUS
CHICKEN SHAWARMA IN YOUR INSTANT POT OR AIR FRYER
HOW TO MAKE GYROS IN THE AIR FRYER
TZATZIKI SAUCE FOR AIR FRYER GYROS
AMAZING & FLAVORFUL AIR FRYER ORANGE CHICKEN
BREADED CAULIFLOWER – KID APPROVED!
Air Fryer Recipe Videos by TheWildWaynes with me, Instant Pot Dave
Tools we use in our 32 foot 5th wheel trailer kitchen to make cooking easy and fun
Cookie Spatula that works the Best in the Air Fryer
Wooden Spatula I use for Scraping and Stirring
End Grain Wood Cutting Board on Etsy
Boo’s Mystery Oil for the Wood Cutting Board
Boo’s Board Cream for Wood Cutting Boards
Hard Boiled Egg Holder for the Instant Pot
Egg Bite Mold for the Instant Pot
Steamer Basket for the Instant Pot
Basket Replacement for Cosori 5.7 quart Air Fryer
Let’s Make Onion Dill Chicken Tenders
Onion Dill Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken Tenders or chicken breast cut into strips
Marinade
- 1/2 cup Cream
- 1/4 cup Hot Sauce I often use La Victoria HOT Salsa Brava
Dredge
- 1 cup Plain Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Onion or onion powder
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Dill Weed
- 1/2 tsp Granulated Garlic or garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
Egg Wash
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup Cream
Instructions
Marinade (if opting out of marinating in the fridge, let the chicken sit in cream and hot sauce on the counter while you make the egg wash and dredge)
- Pour 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup of your favorite hot sauce into a 1 gallon zip lock bag or medium mixing bowl
- Add the chicken tenders or chicken breast slices to the bag of cream and hot sauce
- Zip the bag closed and shake the chicken, cream and hot sauce well to get chicken covered evenly with well the marinade
- Push all the air out of the zip lock bag and zip the bag closed
- Let the chicken tenders sit in the cream for a 1/2 hour to 24 hours in the refrigerator
Washing and Dredging the Chicken Tenders
- Pull the chicken tenders out of the refrigerator to sit on the counter first thing when you begin to cook
- Make the egg wash by cracking 3 eggs into a medium bowl or plate
- Add 1/4 cup of cream to the eggs, use a fork to pop the yokes and beat the eggs with the cream well
- Add all of the dredge ingredients to a medium bowl or plate starting with the bread crumbs and flour, mix ingredients very well
- Pull a chicken tender out of the cream hot sauce marinade
- *Use one hand for the wet ingredients and the other hand for the dry ingredients to keep your fingers from breading build up
- Coat the chicken in the dredge, shake off extra flour dredge and dip the chicken tender into the egg wash
- Use your wet hand fingers to help push the egg wash completely over the surface
- Pull the chicken tender out of the egg wash allowing the extra egg to run off the chicken
- If you see a spot of chicken that is not covered in egg, dip back into the egg wash until it is well covered and allow the extra to run off back into the egg wash plate
- Cover the egg washed chicken tender in dredge and push the tender hard into the dredge to get a good coat of dredge stuck to the egg
- Shake off extra dredge and place the coated chicken tender on a plate or piece of wax paper
- Repeat with the remaining chicken tenders
Air Frying
- Preheat the air fryer to 400° for 5 minutes
- Spray hot air fryer basket with olive oil (I use the EVO olive oil sprayer, it works the best and I have not broken it yet)
- Spray the top side of the chicken tenders with olive oil to make sure there is zero dry dredge
- Place the chicken tenders oiled side down in the air fryer basket leaving room for air to travel around the tenders
- Spray the unoiled top side with olive oil again making sure there is no dry dredge
- Air fry at 370°F for 7 minutes
- Use a cookie spatula to make sure the chicken is not stuck to the basket and carefully flip the chicken tenders over
- Air fry at 370° for 5 minutes, peek at the chicken every minute or so toward the end to make sure there is no burning
- If you notice burning, turn the temperature down to 350°F for the remaining time
- Make sure the chicken is at 160°F, every air fryer works a little differently and may need more or less time for desired level of crisp and doneness
- Use a cookie spatula to move the chicken tenders to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken tenders
- Let the chicken tenders sit for 5 minutes and dig in!
Pingback: Flavorful Gyros in the Air Fryer - TheWildWaynes
Pingback: Gyros in the Air Fryer - TheWildWaynes
Pingback: Ranch Pork Chops with Gravy in the Instant Pot - TheWildWaynes
Pingback: Southwest Pork Chops and Gravy in the Instant Pot - TheWildWaynes
Pingback: Chicken Shawarma in your Instant pot or Air Fryer - TheWildWaynes
Pingback: Air Fryer Pollo Asado - TheWildWaynes
Pingback: Jalapeno Garlic Chicken Jerky in the Air Fryer - TheWildWaynes