How to Make Homemade Chicken Strips in the Air Fryer

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This step-by-step guide for how to make homemade chicken strips in the air fryer yields perfectly crunchy and crispy chicken strips, without the mess and mayhem of traditional frying methods!

This step-by-step guide for how to make homemade chicken strips in the air fryer yields perfectly crunchy and crispy chicken strips, without the mess and mayhem of traditional frying methods!

Homemade Chicken Strips in the Air Fryer

Can I just express my love of air fryers for a hot second? I LOVE THEM. Sure, good old-fashioned deep-fried food will always have a place in my heart. French fries will never taste better than their originally fried version, and I’m committed to that opinion. But as delicious as fried food is, we all know we can’t be eating it all day, every day.

That’s where the air fryer comes in clutch. It produces a similar effect as deep frying, but uses 70 to 80 percent LESS oil than deep-fried foods. For someone who loves me some rich, greasy comfort food every once in a while, the air fryer allows me to splurge without feeling like I splurged too much the next day. And if you’re not on board yet, I think this easy chicken strips recipe might just convince you.

I think chicken strips are a universally adored food. You may have eaten them every time you went to a restaurant as a kid, like I did, or maybe it’s your own kids’ meals who you’ve snuck a bite from and learned how incredible these nuggets of gold are (pun intended). Embrace your inner child and give these healthified chicken strips a try next time you’re in the mood for a little more indulgence. I promise, you won’t be disappointed. And neither will your kiddos.

This step-by-step guide for how to make homemade chicken strips in the air fryer yields perfectly crunchy and crispy chicken strips, without the mess and mayhem of traditional frying methods!

How to make homemade chicken strips in the air fryer:

  • Add: two cups of cold water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a large bowl, and stir to dissolve.
  • Submerge: raw chicken strips in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Remove: the chicken from the brine, and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Place: your “crumbs” of choice into a shallow dish.
  • Combine: the flour, onion powder, and granulated garlic in a shallow dish.
  • Beat: the eggs in a third shallow dish.
  • Toss: one piece of chicken at a time in the flour, dip it in the eggs, and then coat with the crumbs.
  • Set: the coated chicken strips on the wire rack in the bottom of your air fryer basket. Fill the basket so that the chicken pieces aren’t overlapping.
  • Air fry: the chicken at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 15 minutes.
  • Remove: the chicken from the air fryer, and repeat with remaining ingredients if needed. Serve chicken hot.

Can you stack chicken in an air fryer?

Try not to stack or overlap your chicken strips when you place them in the air fryer. These machines work by circulating hot air and spraying oil lightly over the surfaces of the foods being cooked. If the surfaces are covered by more chicken, they won’t get crispy and appear fried over the full surface area.

How do you reheat chicken tenders?

If you have leftovers, reheat them in an oven heated to 350 degrees F. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, and reheat them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until fully heated through.

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This step-by-step guide for how to make homemade chicken strips in the air fryer yields perfectly crunchy and crispy chicken strips, without the mess and mayhem of traditional frying methods!

How to Make Homemade Chicken Strips in the Air Fryer


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5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: Serves 6

Description

This step-by-step guide for how to make homemade chicken strips in the air fryer yields perfectly crunchy and crispy chicken strips, without the mess and mayhem of traditional frying methods!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken strips (or breasts cut into 1.5-inch wide strips)
  • 2 cups “crumbs” (bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, Panko bread crumb, or smashed potato chips)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 3 large eggs

Instructions

  1. Add 2 cups of cold water to a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of salt, and stir to dissolve. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. Remove the chicken from the brine, and pat dry with paper towels.
  3. Add your “crumbs” of choice to a shallow dish.
  4. Combine the flour, onion powder, and granulated garlic in a shallow dish.
  5. Beat the eggs in a third shallow dish.
  6. Working with a piece at a time, toss the chicken in the flour, dip it in the eggs, and then coat with the crumbs.
  7. Place the coated chicken strips on the wire rack in the bottom of your air fryer basket. Fill the basket so that the chicken pieces aren’t overlapping (it will take a few batches of air frying if you have a smaller air fryer).
  8. Air fry the chicken at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a an instant read thermometer registers the center of the chicken at 165 degrees F.
  9. Remove the chicken from the air fryer, and repeat with remaining ingredients if needed. Serve chicken hot. (If working in batches keep the cooked chicken in a 200 degree F. oven until ready to serve.)

Notes

  • You can use so many different “crumbs” for this recipes! I have tried it all, and we love smashed crackers of all kinds, Panko bread crumbs, and even random things like smashed potato chips for this recipe. You can change it up easily by using flavored “crumbs,” too. The sky is the limit!
  • This recipe is really easy to make gluten free. Just use gluten free flour, and make sure your crumbs are gluten free (gluten free bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, or even GF pretzels work great!).
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Air Fry
  • Cuisine: American

Complete this meal with some of these yummy sides:

This step-by-step guide for air fryer chicken fingers recipe yields perfectly crunchy and crispy chicken strips, without the mess and mayhem of traditional frying methods!

About Melissa

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9 Comments

  1. I tried this recipe with Italian bread crumbs and it was disappointing to say the least. What exact crumb do you use to get it nice and crispy like the photo?

    1. I used crushed crackers in the pictures. That’s odd they didn’t crisp up, maybe yours needs to run a little hotter? Maybe add another 25 degrees to the temperature?

  2. Made the gluten free version of these with gf Panko last week. The whole family loved them. I am making them again for lunch. Thanks for such an easy and delicious recipe! I love the added brine step. I think it really takes the chicken tenders to the next level.






    1. Flavor was good but how do you make it brown as in the picture in an air fryer? I have never been able to get breaded foods to brown like they would in grease.

    2. Really? That surprises me, maybe it’s the model that you have? Mine gets things almost too dark too easily, lol, like frozen french fries, I have to watch or they are too dark too fast.

  3. Man do I miss our air fryer (it didn’t make it in the last move). Especially after seeing these beauties!