Let’s first say that these chicken tenders are really baked and not fried, but you wouldn’t know it, except there is no oil dripping off the chicken when you go to take a bite. And you will feel better after eating them too.
I’m excited to be teaming with Breville to help keep your kitchen cool this summer with their amazing countertop ovens. I will be bringing you some recipes that are perfect for summer while we slip into the start of the school year. It’s August and still hot, it’s actually the hottest month of the year here in San Diego. I wouldn’t normally even think of turning the oven on this time of year.
I’ve had the chance to try out the Breville Smart Air Fryer Oven, and it’s pretty unbelievable what you can create without turning your big oven on. In fact, since starting to use the Breville Smart Oven Air, I’m thinking I will never need to use our main oven again.
You could even have an early Thanksgiving and cook a 14-pound Turkey in the Smart Air Oven without breaking a sweat.
How the Breville Air Fryer works
The air fryer works by combining a super high speed convection fan with high eat to promote even cooking.
One of the smart things it does is pause the timer when you open the door. Now that’s pretty darn cool!
The first thing I made with the Smart Air Oven was a last-minute meal. We were hungry, didn’t have time to make anything fancy, and didn’t want to make a trip to the store. Oh, and we wanted something crispy and satisfying while still being healthy. Is that too much to ask?
Well, it turns out that it wasn’t too much to ask. I had some chicken breasts in the fridge and a few other ingredients to throw together a quick and satisfying dinner. Chicken tenders sounded good and I wanted to put my new Breville Air Fryer oven to the test.
After quickly breading the chicken with panko breadrumbs, they went into the air fry basket and were on their way to being golden and crispy.
Fifteen minutes later, yes just fifteen minutes later; we had golden brown chicken tenders that never hit a pan of oil. They were perfectly cooked through and juicy on the inside, while being crispy on the outside.
The main reason why I haven’t liked breaded and baked chicken in the past is that the chicken has to be in the oven so long, that it overcooks by the time it gets crispy enough. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.
You can cut the chicken tenders into small little pieces to make bite-size chicken nuggets, which are great for a party appetizer.
Serve them up with your favorite dipping sauces (mine are ranch and BBQ), on top of a salad, or even to make a crispy chicken sandwich. These are even great with a simple squeeze of lemon.
Breville supplied me with oven for this post. All opinions and thoughts are always my own.
5 Ingredient Crispy Air fryer Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts , sliced into tenders
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (plus more if needed)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup flour
- non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- In 3 separate bowls, add the flour, panko and egg.
- In the bowl with the egg, add 1 tablespoon of water and whisk with a fork to make an egg wash.
- Season the flour with salt and pepper.
- Bread the chicken tenders one at a time by first dredging them in the flour, then the egg wash and then coat them with breadrumbs.
- Place the breaded tenders in the airfry basket and spray both sides of the chicken with a light coating of cooking spray.
- Pre-heat your oven on the air fryer mode set to 415 degrees.
- Place the chicken tenders in the oven set for 15 minutes.
- Turn the tenders over halfway through the cooking time.
- Remove when cooked through (check with a thermometer) and immediately sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce like ranch, bbq, or even just a squeeze of fresh lemon.
The instructions say not to let anything drip on the heat coils. Wouldn’t the chicken do that while cooking?
The chicken and the breadcrumbs won’t drip if you have the sheet pan below the air frying pan. This is specific to the Breville Smart Oven Air, so it depends on which air fryer you are using.
Justin,
Instead of buying a 3rd party tray, couldn’t you just put the baking tray that came with the Breville Smart Oven Air, on the bottom shelf to catch the crumbs? Wouldn’t that essentially be the same effect? I have the Copper Chef baking sheets to help keep it cleaner. Wouldn’t that baking tray, put on the bottom, work for anything you air fry to catch things? Air would still circulate, in fact even better since there’d be more space between the air frying rack and the baking tray on the bottom, as opposed to the 3rd party set.
Hi Margie,
The baking tray that comes with the Breville oven is smaller than the air fry basket and has a wide lip, so the crumbs and other things can drip off the side. That’s the issue with it. If you are just air frying something small, the tray that comes with it could still work.
I also am not a fan of the air fry basket that Breville supplies with the oven. It is really difficult to clean and has sharp edges, which cut the sponge when trying to scrub. That’s the reason I included the other option. 🙂
I absolutely love everything else about the oven. Happy air frying!
I absolutely love this simple recipe! I have to tweak it due to my wicked food allergies, but our whole house lives them
We put some garlic & ginger in the flour with the s/p & I used tapioca flour for my wheat allergy. Turned out AMAZING!
So great to hear Ronda! Great tip to use tapioca flour and I’m glad it still turned out amazing. Reminds me that I need to make these for my picky eater kiddo. 🙂
There are open weave Teflon mats sold on Amazon that make baskets non-stick. 4 to a package, and you can use them on a grill, too. Just toss in the dishwasher when cool. Look crispy crunchy mats, but a different brand for more than one in a pack. I have 4 baskets for convenience. Singles are more expensive.
Santa brought me the Breville smart oven air this year. Do you know if I can cover the crumb tray with foil in order to keep it clean? I cooked breaded chicken in the air fryer basket and it was great but the crumbs were all over.
Santa sure brought you a great gift. 🙂
The crumbs definitely can get everywhere. Definitely do line the bottom crumb tray with foil. Also, there are some 3rd party fry baskets that have a proper size tray below it so the crumbs won’t fall off. You can see an example of one at this amazon link: https://amzn.to/2RmoFS2
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Justin
It is far better to use a silicone mat like a Silpat. Crumbs and drips wipe right off, or put the main the dishwasher. If foil tears, it can blow around when using the conviction fan.
Love these! So great to make for kiddos too. Quick and easy to make after a long day of work. Yum…just pick your favorite dipping sauce or gonwithout 🙂
So true. I think our little guy just might love these now.
Try using potatoe starch without the panko I do my chicken wings and they rock
Great tip! I will definitely give it a try. Do they still get really crispy? Could be good for fish too.