Onion Dill Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer
Crispy chicken tenders flavored with onion and dill seasoning cooked in the air fryer. These chicken tenders are easy to make and the family loves them. Adjust the level of crispy crunchy crust by adding or subtracting bread crumbs to the dredge.
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Servings: 6
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!