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Easy Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders

These Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders are a delicious appetizer! Perfect for tailgating, parties, or just to snack on while watching football. These buffalo tenders will leave your guests wanting more! Made in just 20 minutes!

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders air fryer buffalo chicken tenders on a blue plate with ranch dressing
Our easy air fryer buffalo chicken tenders recipe adds more flavor to a fan-favorite dish that even picky eaters will enjoy without breaking a sweat.

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Football season is coming to an end, and the big game is near! That means finger foods are a must on the horizon.

Wings, tenders, and chicken strips galore! We normally have everything under the sun at these parties. The air fryer makes cooking appetizers a breeze!

Plus, if you need to reheat appetizers, the air fryer is the best and easiest way to do so!

Since having my air fryer, I’ve been experimenting a lot and making a ton of different types of chicken tenders like these Honey BBQ Chicken Tenders, Chicken Tenders With Flour, Keto Chicken Tenders, and Blackened Chicken Tenders.

And don’t forget about these Teriyaki Chicken Tenders, Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders, or Ranch Chicken Tenders.

I used Sweet Baby Ray’s mild buffalo sauce because I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy them. You’ll get the delicious buffalo sauce taste without all of the heat.

These pair well with blue cheese, or you could make your own ranch dressing using my Homemade Ranch Seasoning.

Another one of my favorite go-to chicken appetizers is these Chicken Garlic Pizza Wedges. Super easy to make; everyone will love them!

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders a buffalo chicken tender being dipped into ranch dressing on a blue plate

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • Quick and Easy Recipe – Make these chicken tenders don’t have any fancy ingredients. You can get everything you need at your local grocery store. Bonus: it only takes 20 minutes start to finish!
  • Customizable – Since these chicken tenders are basted with buffalo sauce after they’re cooked, you can make half buffalo-flavored and half BBQ or plain!
  • Meal Prep – I like to make these for meal prep. Give you a good kick of flavor!

Ingredients

  • Chicken tenders
  • Egg
  • Milk
  • Italian breadcrumbs
  • Seasonings: salt and black pepper
  • Buffalo sauce (I used mild buffalo sauce from Sweet Baby Ray’s)
Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders Gray background with 2 clear bowls one with Italian bread crumbs the other with buffalo chicken. 3 square dishes with milk, salt, and black pepper. white bowl with one egg. white plate with chicken tenders on them

Tips & Tricks

To keep these chicken tenders moist, check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. Once they reach 165F, remove them from the air fryer. Don’t overcook the tenders or they can become tough.

This recipe serves 2 (8 tenders total) and cooks in 2 batches. That way, you can easily make half a batch buffalo-flavored and the other half another flavor. Sweet BBQ and Teriyaki are great options, too!

Tools to make this Buffalo Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer

  • Cosori Air Fryer – this is my favorite air fryer. The large air fryer basket makes it so easy to cook your favorite recipes
  • Tongs – Tongs are easiest to remove and flip the chicken drumsticks
  • Meat thermometer – You always want to make sure the internal temperature of ANY chicken is 165°F.
  • Basting Brush – A basting brush will help you apply the buffalo sauce and not make a mess.

How to make Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders

  1. In one mixing bowl, add your egg and milk. Whisk them together to make the egg wash.
  2. In another bowl, add your breadcrumbs, salt, and black pepper. Mix them together.
  3. Using a fork, grab the chicken tenders and dip them into the egg wash, soaking both sides.
  4. Remove from the egg wash and place chicken tenders into breadcrumb seasoning. Make sure you coat both sides of the chicken tender.
  5. Preheat the Air Fryer to 390F for five minutes.
  6. Once the timer goes off, remove the Air Fryer Basket and spray the Air Fryer Basket with a nonstick spray.
  7. Transfer the chicken tenders to the Air Fryer Basket. Cook the chicken tenders for 10 minutes. Flip them halfway through. 
  8. Once the timer goes off, remove the Air Fryer Basket and check that the internal temperature of the chicken is at 165F.
  9. While the chicken tenders are still in the Air Fryer basket, grab the bowl of buffalo sauce and brush buffalo sauce onto the chicken tenders. Make sure you do both sides of the chicken tenders. 
  10. Place the basket back into the Air Fryer and cook at 390F for another minute. 
  11. Transfer buffalo chicken tenders to a plate and serve with your favorite dipping sauce. 

Oven Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
  2. Spray the pan with a nonstick spray. Add in your chicken.
  3. Add in your seasoning. Then add in your buffalo sauce.
  4. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
  5. Remove aluminum foil and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Making sure the internal temperature is 165F.
  6. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before cutting into it.
  7. Serve and enjoy!

Substitutions

  • If you don’t like buffalo sauce, you can use any BBQ sauce.
  • If you don’t have chicken tenders, you can slice a large chicken breast into strips to mimic chicken tenders. Like I did here with my Air Fryer Chicken Breast Strips
  • You can use Panko if you don’t have Italian breadcrumbs.

What to serve with Buffalo Chicken Tenders

You can eat buffalo chicken tenders by themselves, or you can serve them with sliced celery and carrots. Dip them into your favorite sauces like our Homemade Ranch Seasoning or blue cheese.

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders on a Blue Plate with a Small White Ramekin of Ranch Dressing

How to store

  • Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
  • For meal prep, you can freeze these for up to 3 months.

How to reheat

Remove the lid from the container and microwave on high for 1 to 1.5 minutes or until chicken is warm. Alternatively, you can transfer to a microwave-safe plate to warm up.

If you want to warm this up in your air fryer, cook it for 2-3 minutes at 400F.

FAQs

How long do you should you cook chicken tenders in the Air Fryer for?

Depending on what temperature you have your air fryer set to, they can take anywhere from 7-15 minutes to become fully cooked.

Can you put frozen chicken tenders in the Air Fryer?

Yes, you can cook frozen chicken tenders in the air fryer. They will take a little bit longer to cook. Try adding 2 minutes to the cook time and checking the internal temperature. They are cooked when they reach 165F.

More Air Fryer Chicken Tender Recipes

If you loved these buffalo chicken tenders in the air fryer recipe, check out these other delicious air fryer chicken tender recipes.

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders air fryer buffalo chicken tenders on a blue plate with ranch dressing
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Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders air fryer buffalo chicken tenders on a blue plate with ranch dressing

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Our easy air fryer buffalo chicken tenders recipe adds more flavor to a fan-favorite dish that even picky eaters will enjoy without breaking a sweat.
4.94 from 29 votes
Prep Time 9 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 2
Calories 526 kcal

Equipment

  • Air Fryer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Chicken tenders
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Tablespoon milk
  • 1 Cup italian bread crumbs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ Cup buffalo sauce

Instructions
 

  • In one mixing bowl add in your egg and milk. Mixing them together until its smooth.
  • In another bowl add your breadcrumbs, salt, and black pepper. Mix them together.
  • Using a fork grab the chicken tenders dip it into the egg wash, soaking both sides.
  • Remove from egg wash and place chicken tenders into bread crumb seasoning. Make sure you coat both sides of chicken tender.
  • Preheat the Air Fryer to 390F for five minutes.
  • Once the timer goes off remove the Air Fryer Basket and spray the Air Fryer basket with a nonstick spray.
  • Transfer the chicken tenders to the Air Fryer Basket. Cooking the chicken tenders for 10 minutes. Flipping them halfway through.
  • Once the timer goes off remove the Air Fryer basket and check the internal temperature of the chicken is at 165.
  • While the chicken tenders are still in the Air Fryer basket grab the bowl of buffalo sauce and brush buffalo sauce onto chicken tenders. Make sure you do both sides of the chicken tenders.
  • Place basket back into the Air Fryer and cook at 390F for another minute.
  • Transfer buffalo chicken tenders to a plate and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Notes

check the internal temperature of the chicken is at 165

Nutrition

Calories: 526kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 60gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 228mgSodium: 4101mgPotassium: 1026mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 318IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 145mgIron: 4mg
Keyword air fryer buffalo chicken strips, air fryer buffalo chicken tenders, buffalo chicken recipe air fryer, buffalo chicken strips in the air fryer, Buffalo chicken tenders in air fryer, buffalo chicken tenders in the air fryer, how to make buffalo chicken tenders
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Our easy air fryer buffalo chicken tenders recipe adds more flavor to a fan-favorite dish that even picky eaters will enjoy without breaking a sweat.

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