Air fryer chicken tenders (no breading) are the best way to enjoy healthy low carb and gluten-free tenderloins in a variety of ways. We show you 5 different seasoning ideas!
Whether you are topping a salad, adding them to a veggie wrap, or simply snacking on these air fryer chicken tenderloins, you are going to love how quickly and easily this whole recipe comes together. It's a Whole Lotta Yum in less than 15 minutes!
With no breading, no flour, and no eggs, these air fryer chicken tenders are super healthy but taste like they aren't!
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You'll love this Chicken Tenders Air Fryer recipe!
We're ditching the breading option to make a light yet a super flavorful dinner idea. Often we are eating them right out of the air fryer, but when we can restrain ourselves, you will find us chopping them up for a salad, adding them to a wrap, and even serving them alongside our favorite appetizers.
Serve these on the side with air fryer tater tots and our healthy coleslaw recipe to make a complete meal in less than 30 minutes.
We know you'll lose these air fryer tenderloin recipes too: BBQ chicken tenders, chicken tenders with flour, keto chicken tenders with parmesan, and frozen chicken tenders.
- These healthy naked tenderloins are low carb, macro friendly, gluten-free, dairy-free, and keto-friendly too.
- With a cook time of just 9 minutes, these will be ready faster than you can order take out and much faster than cooking in the oven.
- The whole recipe needs just 3 ingredients!
Ingredients list
- uncooked chicken tenders - they usually come 7-8 in a 1 lb package
- olive oil or avocado oil
- homemade dry rub or store-bought chicken rub
- We've included 5 easy rubs in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post!
Rub seasoning
Using your favorite store-bought seasoning is totally fine! Our favorite is McCormick's Garlic and Herb. We're including our homemade rub since so many readers ask about it. It's the same recipe used on our air fryer chicken wings dry rub recipe.
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 Tablespoon fine sea salt (not table salt)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground pepper (not fine)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar (or coconut sugar or golden monk fruit)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
What you'll need
An Air Fryer- We have a Cosori XL basket style air fryer, an Omni Plus oven style air fryer, and a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker air fryer combo. The Cosori was used in this recipe.
How to make Air Fryer Chicken Tenderloins
Preheat the air fryer to 400F for 5 minutes.
Blot the chicken dry with paper towels. Coat the fresh chicken tenders with olive oil then sprinkle the chicken rub on the chicken.
Press the rub into the chicken meat (This is important! It makes sure more of the rub stays on your tenders and less on your air fryer).
Place the raw tenderloins in an air fryer oven or air fryer basket. Air fry for 8-9 mins, flipping after 5 minutes. Technically, chicken tenders are so thin it's ok to skip the flip, but I seem to do it out of habit.
*** Things that could affect your cook time:
If you didn't preheat your air fryer your cooking time will be extended to 12-14 mins to cook through. Or could take longer than 8-9 if they're larger chicken tenderloins than we used. Our 1 lb package of raw tenders had 8 pieces.
Cook them until the internal temperature is 160F-165 degrees. They'll continue to cook a bit once pulled out of the air fryer.
Recipe notes
- Cooking healthy naked tenders are great for meal prep too! Just double or triple the recipe and use them throughout the week or freeze them for later.
- Depending on your model type, the recipe could take less time, or longer, to cook. If you skip the preheat the recipes will take about 12 minutes to cook. We do always suggest you preheat the air fryer before cooking for even cooking.
- You can use this same process to cook air fryer chicken breasts, just cut the chicken breasts into strips and proceed with the recipe.
- You can make a spicier chicken by using our Cajun chicken tenderloins recipe.
How do these get reheated?
You can air fry them at 400 F for 2-3 minutes until heated through.
Serving ideas
With dipping sauce: Ranch, BBQ, or honey mustard.
Chicken Tenders with Dipping Sauces: Serve chicken tenders with your favorite dipping sauces, such as BBQ, honey mustard, or ranch.
Chicken tenders salad: Add sliced cooked chicken tenders to a bed or mixed greens along with other veggies.
Chicken tenders wrap: Wrap them in a tortilla with lettuce, tomatoes, and your favorite sauce.
Add sliced tenders to pasta and sauce.
Stir fry: Add cooked chicken tender strips to sauteed Asian dishes like rice and cooked veggies or with noodles.
Reader FAQs
The short answer is yes, you can use frozen chicken in this recipe too, However, they will take 2-3 minutes longer to cook. Just coat them with oil and seasoning and cook like the recipe states. Be sure you reach an internal temperature of 162F-165 degrees.
Healthy coleslaw
German potato salad
Alfredo noodles or zoodles
Corn on the cob
Air fryer broccoli
Unlike store-bought pre-cooked chicken tenders, this recipe is keto-friendly!
However, watch any sauces you may choose to use as they do tend to have hidden sugars and carbs in them.
More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings from Frozen
- Keto Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Breaded Chicken Breast
No Breading Chicken Tenders (Air Fryer Recipe)
Seasoned air fryer chicken tenders without breading are a quick and easy way to make healthy chicken tenderloins for dinner. Use them as a main dish or add them to your favorite recipe. They're great as a weekly meal-prep item too!
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw chicken tenders (7-8)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 2 teaspoon chicken rub (homemade or store-bought)
- CHICKEN TENDERS RUB MIX
- 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt (not table salt)
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground pepper (not fine)
- 1 teaspoon sweetener (brown sugar, coconut sugar or golden monk fruit)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- If you're making our homemade chicken rub recipe, add the onion powder, garlic powder, cumin powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper to a bowl. You can also use your favorite store-bought brand too like McCormick's. Set the seasoning aside. This makes more than you need for this one recipe, feel free to cut it in half.
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400 F.
- Pat the chicken tenders dry with paper towels to remove extra moisture. Place the chicken tenders in a medium size bowl, add the oil, and toss the chicken to coat.
- Sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the chicken tenderloins, making sure to rub the mix into the chicken meat so it'll stick.
- Air fry for a total of 8-9 mins at 400 F, flipping after 5 minutes. We recommend cooking the chicken tenders until the internal temperature reaches 160 F-162 F. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving, the chicken will continue to cook and will be at 165 F by that point, with the USDA recommended guideline for chicken tenders.
Notes
Additional Rub Options
- Curry Rub -1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoon ground onion powder, 1 tablespoon mild curry powder (McCormick's is a good brand), 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon brown sugar. Mix and sprinkle 2+ teaspoon per lb of chicken. Fantastic with tzatziki sauce. (or use an Indian yogurt-cucumber sauce).
- Store-bought rub- McCormick's makes great rubs, use your favorite brand. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoon on the chicken.
- Italian garlic rub - 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix, and sprinkle 2 teaspoon (or to taste) on the chicken.
- Cajun blackened seasoning - 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Mix, and sprinkle 2-3 teaspoon (for very spicy) on the chicken.
Recipe Tips
- If you didn't preheat your air fryer the cooking time will be extended to 12-14 mins to cook through. Or they could take longer than 8-9 if they're larger chicken tenderloins than we used. Our 1 lb package of raw tenders had 8 pieces.
- Our rub recipes makes more than you need for just this recipe. They're also fantastic on chicken wings, chicken breasts, pork chops, and ribs.
- 1 minute before the chicken tenderloins are cooked through, you can also add BBQ sauce like we did with our air fryer BBQ chicken tenders or you can coat the chicken with Frank's buffalo sauce to make buffalo chicken tenders.
- Serve the chicken with your favorite dipping sauces such as BBQ, ketchup, honey mustard, Ranch, or tzatziki sauce.
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Jane says
These are delicious! Made for a couple of lunches Refrigerate and pull out for sandwiches, entrée and salads. Thank you so much.
WholeLottaYum says
Your welcome, Jane! I'm glad you loved them. Agreed, they're super to have on hand for spontaneous meals! Jen
Rehoboth says
Nice recipe
Thanks
Rehoboth says
Great post!
Thanks
Alison says
Totally worth the scroll- thanks for a great recipe! I am cutting my tenders up and putting them in my salad! Yummy!
imsen says
My family and I love it. I will definitely make again. Super easy and great flavor!
Quick and Easy Family Recipes
Katherine says
Amazing straightforward recipe. Second time using the air fryer and it came out perfect!! I used my own rub, too! lol! thank you!
Winter says
COOK IT ALL THE WAY TO 165!!!!!!
to safely cook chicken, you HAVE to cook it to 165 w/ an instant read of the number and it has to hold at that temp for 15 seconds !!!!
Learned this becoming a certified servsafe manager. Please don’t undercook your chicken 🤦🏼♀️
Erin says
Chicken continues cooking while it's resting, so cooking chicken to 160-162 F will end up at 165 F after a few minutes of rest time before serving.
Lacy says
Tbspeachy, what a rude way to speak to someone.
I can't wait to make these tenders with my store bought chicken rub this week!
Yvette says
So simple and so easy. Just the kind of recipe I was looking for.
Melanie says
Thanks for this RECIPE. Maybe it wasn't many ingredients, but I forget how to make these (temp, duration). It's really helped. Thanks. When I find a recipe that I like with good instructions but less than desirable ingredients, I usually just substitute and go on, I made my own rub for this, looked up a BBQ rub and do that. Thanks a million.
Brenda Faircloth says
I meant after preheat to 400 and cook chicken tenders do I cook them at 400 or do I lower the temperature to cook chicken tenders 8-9 minutes
WholeLottaYum says
They get preheated to 400 F and cooked at 400 F 🙂
Airica says
Thank you for a SIMPLE recipe that explains the whole process of tenders in the air fryer. Some people really need to go back and watch Bambi, there’s some really good life advice in there. Namely when Thumper says - “If you don’t have anything nice to say, never talk/type again.” Or something like that. Way to handle yourself with the people who have no time to read a recipe but plenty time to leave an ugly review 😁
Tbspeachy says
Just saying “Store bought chicken rub” is a very lazy way to write a recipe! What spices are in the rub? Garlic powder, chili powder, lemon pepper? I understand the ease of it, but come on. This is hardly even a recipe.
WholeLottaYum says
Most people buy store-bought rubs instead of making their own. I did go ahead and link our homemade chicken rub recipe as well if you prefer homemade rub. The recipe is more about teaching people how to cook chicken tenders in their air fryer, any rub of choice can be used!
Bryan Potts says
They put the recipe out there if you don’t like don’t use it! Pretty simple
Scott says
Oh My God. I had to scroll 5 minutes to finally find out its 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Come on man!
WholeLottaYum says
There's a "jump to recipe" button at the top of the page that takes you directly to the recipe card. The post instructions and tips are written for beginning air fryer users or for people who might have a dietary concern or are interested in variations.
Sharon says
Print button doesn't work 😕
WholeLottaYum says
I'm not sure why the print button isn't working, hopefully you were able to get it to work! Sometimes I'll just screet shot the instructions instead of printing.
Ven says
The recipe should be updated, I was looking for the air frying temperature too. It says preheat at 400 but nowhere does it mention actual the frying temp. These are not necessarily the same.
WholeLottaYum says
The recipe has been updated to further clarify! The majority of air fryer recipes (like probably 99%+) have the preheat and cooking temp the same...just like oven cooking. If a recipe just gives the preheat temperature, assume that's also the cooking temperature unless the recipe states to change it. After owning 5 air fryers, I did notice one of the brand cookbooks preheated all recipes at 400 and then changed the temp to something else...but this had been the first time I'd come across that it 4 years. That was for my Cosori..maybe that's the brand of air fryer you have too?
Leanna says
Excellent chicken tenders!! I never thought to pre-heat the air fryer.
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you! I'm glad you loved the air fryer chicken tenders! Yes, pre-heating the air fryer is actually super important and is key to making sure recipes turn out and that the food cooks evenly. If you have an air fryer that doesn't automatically do it for you, preheat for 3-5 minutes before starting to cook.