Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Tenders (No Breading)

Cook easy and juicy air fryer frozen chicken tenders in less than 15 minutes. We even give you 4 different seasoning options! There's no need to defrost the chicken first, you can just oil and season frozen chicken tenderloins and pop them in your air fryer for a quick healthy meal.

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Frozen chicken tenderloins in an air fryer are so easy!

Dinner seriously can't get much easier than cooking chicken tenderloins, not only are they cheaper than many other chicken cuts, they cook faster than most proteins, plus they're lean and healthy.

We always try to have a bag of individually frozen raw chicken tenderloins in the freezer for weekly meal prep or for creating last minute dinner emergencies.

What's awesome about uncooked chicken tenders is that you literally just season them from frozen and air fry them.

For the days you're extra organized and remember to defrost the chicken, our readers love this air fryer chicken tenderloin recipe. And if you're actually looking for something like breaded frozen chicken tenders, we have those too!

Ingredients you'll need

• frozen chicken tenderloins (raw) - you can cook up to 6 at a time, depending on your air fryer size
• olive oil or another type of high heat oil
• chicken rub - use our homemade recipe below or your favorite store-bought brand

Chicken rub

mix 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder, 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 ½ teaspoon 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 sweetener (brown sugar, coconut sugar or golden monk fruit), ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Set aside.

More seasoning ideas

All of these rub options make more than you'll need for this one recipe. You can cut quantities back even more or save them for other chicken (or pork) recipes.

• Italian garlic rub - 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix, and sprinkle 2 teaspoons (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+ teaspoons on the chicken.
• Store-bought rub- McCormick's makes great rubs, use your favorite brand. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons on the chicken.

Kitchen tools

• 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, any brand you have will work, some models cook a little faster or slower than others.
• Using kitchen tongs is helpful!

How to cook air fryer chicken breast tenderloins

1. Preheat the air fryer to 400 F for 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, brush the frozen chicken with olive oil. With clean fingers, coat both sides of the chicken with seasoning (either one of our homemade rubs or your favorite brand). We used about 2 teaspoons of rub in total, which means you'll have leftover rub mix.
3. Air fry the chicken tenderloins for 10-11 minutes at 400F (until the internal temp reaches 165F), flipping halfway through cooking.
4. Serve with your favorite sauce on the side such as BBQ, Ranch, ketchup, etc. Enjoy!

Recipe notes

• We used Trader Joe's individually frozen chicken tenders, we were able to fit 6 chicken tenders in a Cosori air fryer.
• We highly recommend using a digital meat thermometer, cooking times can vary depending on the air fryer model and size of the tenders you're using.
• You can use this exact same method to cook raw chicken tenders too. Just oil and season the chicken, then air fry in a preheated air fryer for 8-9 minutes at 400 F.
• How much seasoning you want to add to the chicken is entirely up to you! 2 teaspoons is a good amount, add more for an even spicier kick.
• Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in the fridge.

How do you reheat leftovers?

If you have leftover chicken tenders and want to reheat them, preheat the air fryer to 400 F for minutes. Add the leftover chicken and air fry 2-3 minutes until they're heated through.

More air fryer chicken tenderloin recipes

• Air fryer chicken tenders (no breading)
• Air fryer keto chicken tenders
• Air fryer BBQ chicken tenders
• Air fryer Chicken strips from frozen

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