Chicken tenders are loved by everyone because it is quick and easy. But, if you want to take them to a whole new level then you gotta try Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders and trust me it’s a hit recipe, especially for all the low carbs.
Chicken tenders are wrapped with tender and juicy bacon and get ready to eat in under 15 minutes in the air fryer.
This recipe of bacon-wrapped chicken tenders is best to serve as an appetizer or even a holiday get-together. Just serve them with any of your favorite sauces like Ranch Sauce or Zesty Dipping Sauce.
So, without wasting any time, let’s get to its recipe.
By using an air fryer, you may cook without making a mess.
These fried bacon-wrapped chicken tenders are wonderful for a grab-and-go lunch or a simple dinner with loads of flavor.
It takes less time to prepare than an oven or grill.
The ideal low-carb and keto cuisine.
How To Make Chicken Breast Tenders?
If you’re wondering how to make chicken tenders or how to turn chicken breasts into tenders, I’ll teach you exactly how in a moment.
All you’ll need is a boneless, skinless chicken breast, a cutting board, and a sharp knife.
Place boneless, skinless chicken breast on a cutting board and cut it lengthwise into 1-inch thick slices. That’s it. 4 to 5 chicken tenders can be made from one medium-sized chicken breast.
Now that you know how to cut a chicken breast into tenders, the next time you go shopping for chicken tenders, consider buying chicken breasts instead of precut chicken tenders to save money!
How To Make Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders?
Ingredients
1 ½ pound chicken tenders
1 pound uncured bacon
1 tablespoon brown swerve
⅓ cup BBQ spice dry rub
Instructions
Put the air Fryer to preheat at 400° F for about 5 minutes while you prepare the chicken tenders.
Take a small bowl and put the brown sugar and BBQ spice dry rub in it, and mix them until they are well combined.
Now take each chicken tender and rub the spice mix all over it generously. When you’re done, you would only have a little left of it. Keep that aside.
When you’re done with coating all the chicken tenders, wrapped a piece of bacon around each piece of it.
Make sure to leave extra little bacon on each end of the chicken tender to tuck it in easily.
Rub the remaining spice mixture on the outside of each bacon.
Place the chicken tenders in an air fryer basket and bake them for 11-13 minutes, make sure the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165° F and the bacon is crisp while keeping in mind to flip the chicken halfway through the cooking process.
Take them out and serve them with your favorite dip or sauce.
Watch the following video to learn an amazing recipe for Air fryer Bacon-wrapped chicken tenders with herby ranch dip.
Air fryer Bacon-wrapped chicken tenders
Handling Chicken
When cooking chicken, you need to take care of a few things:
Firstly, you have to make sure to clean the surface before and after putting the raw chicken in it.
Secondly, the chicken that you don’t need to use should be immediately covered in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator, don’t forget to utilize it in a couple of days.
Thirdly, the thickness of the chicken decides its cooking time. But, regardless of the cooking time, the internal temperature of the chicken should be 165° F.
Tips
Instead of tenders, you can use skinless chicken thigh pieces.
Cheddar cheese can be tossed on top of them when they are still hot.
Another good sauce for this is duck sauce or tangy honey mustard sauce.
How To Store Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tender?
Store: You can easily store air fryer bacon-wrapped chicken tenders in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three days.
Freeze: If you’re not going to eat them in three days, then you can freeze each piece individually by wrapping it in plastic wrap and putting them in the freezer bag. In this way, they can store for 3 months.
To reheat them again, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator then you can reheat them in the air fryer, microwave, or oven.
Is Air Fryer Chicken Healthy To Eat?
Yes, air fryer chicken is healthy to eat because it is not loaded with oil.
While most of the time, breaded chicken tenders are fried in vegetable oil, air fryer chicken tenders only need some drops of oil to cook them which makes it a much healthier option.
But, with little oil, you wouldn’t miss out on flavor because wrapped Bacon around chicken gives it a delicious flavor.
Can Chicken Breast Be Used Instead Of Chicken Tender?
Chicken breasts
Yes, you can use chicken breast instead of chicken tender, but there would be a difference in taste.
Chicken breast can be certainly cut in tenderloin sizes but you need to know a couple of differences in using chicken tenders versus chicken breast.
The big difference between chicken breast and chicken tenderloins is that tenderloins are much more tender in taste than breast pieces.
As you know that tenders also come from the breast area of the chicken, but tenderloins are less dense meat because they are present next to ribs and hence they cook faster than the breast while being tender.
Conclusion
Air fryer bacon-wrapped chicken tenders are juicy bites made with BBQ dry rub spices and wrapped bacon around the chicken, making it more flavorful and moist from the inside.
You can also use chicken thigh pieces as a variation of the recipe.
To make the air fryer bacon-wrapped chicken tenders spicy, you can use cayenne powder in the rub mixture.
Make sure to leave a little bacon at the end of the chicken tender to tuck in easily.
Chicken tenders are supposed to be done when their internal temperature reaches 165° F.
You can store the leftover tenders in the refrigerator and can also freeze them.
