These air fryer naked chicken tenders are SO easy to make and a family favorite at our house! I love to make these non breaded chicken tenders in my Ninja Foodie and dip them in Great Value Chicken Dipping Sauce, which tastes just like Chickfila sauce.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Delicious. The marinade makes the chicken very flavorful and tender.
- Not your typical processed chicken tender. I feed my kids more chicken nuggets than I probably should, but my kids actually have started preferring these air fryer naked chicken tenders. Because I make them, I know what’s in them and I know they are getting a good serving of protein (without all the breading and preservatives that are in the store bought chicken nuggets/strips).
- Easy to prepare. All you have to do is quickly make up the marinade and drop chicken tenderloins into a resealable bag. It takes just a couple of minutes to prepare several meals worth.
- A great freezer meal. I like to buy several bags of ice-glazed chicken tenders and prep several meals worth all at once. After you add the marinade and meat to the bag, simply lay the bag on a baking sheet. When you want to use them, thaw the bag in the fridge, as the bag thaws, it will marinade the chicken. Then cook in your air fryer (or oven) and enjoy!
Ingredient Notes:
- Chicken Tenders. I use Great Value ice glazed chicken tenderloins because it makes prep so easy. You can easily add as many chicken tenders as you want to each bag, without worrying about splattering chicken juice everywhere. I will say, one downfall to using frozen tenders is that it is harder to fit them in a resealable freezer bag. (More on this later)
- Lemon Juice. I found that fresh lemon juice provided better flavor to the chicken and made it more tender. Only have a bottle of lemon juice? Just go for it. It will still be great.
- Soy Sauce. I used reduced-sodium soy sauce, but this recipe will work with regular too.
How to make Air Fryer Chicken Tenders:
- To a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag, add lemon juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vegetable oil, and brown sugar. (Photo 1)
- Seal the bag and shake it for 10-15 seconds.
- Add chicken tenders to the contents of the resealable bag. (Photo 2)
- Freeze chicken tenders or store them in the refrigerator for 24-72 hours.
- Cook chicken tenders in the air fryer by arranging a single layer of them on the air fryer grate. (Photo 3).
- Cook at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. (Photo 4). Use a meat thermometer to confirm that they reach at least 165 degrees. After they are done cooking, allow them to rest for 2-3 minutes.
- If desired, garnish with parsley. Serve chicken tenders plain or with your favorite dipping sauce. (Photo 5)
Tips for Serving Naked Chicken Tenders:
- These air fryer chicken strips have plenty of flavor to be served alone, but I think they are simply divine dipped in Great Value Chicken Dipping Sauce (knock off Chickfila sauce!)
- These chicken strips go well with lots of things; from Arby’s french fries, to garlic toast, brocolli, or a salad kit.
Tips for freezing Air Fryer Naked Chicken Tenders:
- Serving size – I would suggest freezing the chicken tenders in bags based on how many you’ll serve at a time. For us, a serving size is roughly 3-4 chicken tenders. If you would like to freeze in these chicken tenders in multiples of 10 or less then you can use a quart-sized resealable freezer bag. If you intend to freeze 10+, you’ll need to use a gallon-sized resealable freezer bag.
- Storage – After prepping these marinated chicken tenders, I’d suggest placing them in the freezer on a large baking sheet, so the contents of the bags freeze flat (like a book). After 24 hours, you can stack them in your freezer however you’d like.
Air Fryer Naked Chicken Tenders
These air fryer naked chicken tenders are so flavorful and tender. They are a guilt-free, family favorite at my house! The marinade for these non-breaded chicken tenders is super easy; just lemon juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire, vegetable oil and brown sugar.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 lbs chicken tenders
Instructions
1. To a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag, add lemon juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vegetable oil, and brown sugar. Seal bag and shake for 10-15 seconds. Add chicken tenders to the contents of the resealable bag (12-13 tenders in total).
2. If not freezing, place bag containing the chicken tenders in the refrigerator. Allow chicken tenders to marinate for at least 24 hours, but no longer than 72 hours.
3. Cook chicken tenders in the air fryer by arranging a single layer of them on the air fryer grate. Cook at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to confirm that they reach at least 165 degrees. After they are done cooking, allow them to rest for 2-3 minutes.
4. If desired, garnish with parsley. Serve chicken tenders plain or with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Instructions for Freezing Air Fryer Naked Chicken Tenders:
1. To a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag, add lemon juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vegetable oil, and brown sugar. Seal bag and shake for 10-15 seconds. Add 2 lbs of chicken tenders to the contents of the resealable bag (typically 12-13 tenders in total).
2. Lay freezer bag(s) containing chicken tenders on baking sheet. Place in freezer. When contents of freezer bag have frozen solid, remove from baking sheet and store as desired.
3. To thaw, remove chicken tenders from the freezer and allow contents to thaw in the refrigerator (typically 24 hours). Allow chicken tenders to marinade in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
4. Cook chicken tenders in the air fryer according to the instructions above.
