Its so simple to air fry chicken tenders in the Ninja Foodi! Use our show stopping lemon and herb marinade to take bland, plain chicken into a perfect meal. And easy? YES! Air frying makes chicken tenders pop with flavor and clean up is a snap!
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Now this marinade and technique would also work with full chicken breasts, but as there is only so much room in the Ninja Foodi Air Crisp basket, I prefer to cut my chicken up and make tenders.
The marinade below is a beautiful chicken marinade with just the right amount of lemon and herbs to really bring out the chicken flavor. These chicken strips are great to eat on their own or to serve sprinkled on a strawberry spinach salad.
Once you learn how to air fry chicken breasts, you won’t want to go back to baking! After all, a Ninja Foodi is one of my top most essential kitchen items you must own- I just love it!
Ninja Foodi Lemon Tender Ingredients
This Ninja Foodi Recipe requires a little bit of prep because you will want your thawed chicken breast strips to sit in the marinade for about 20 minutes to really soak up that flavor.
Before you ask, yes you can put the chicken and marinade in a gallon sized baggie and basically get all the herbs and spices on them and cook immediately, and its still really good, but you might have less of a lemon flavor and more just spice. Still really good, so if you are short on time, just do the quick version.
You can, of course, use your own personal marinades for this air frying technique as well if you have a favorite.
✔ Ninja Foodi 6.5 quart ✔ Air Crisp Lid ✔ Guilt Free Dinner
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1″ strips
- salt and pepper
Also there is nothing more delicious and traditional than Chicken and Fries! Make sure you try these Air Fryer Potato Wedges along side your chicken!
Lemon Herb Chicken Marinade
To get started on the Air Fryer chicken tenders, the lemon chicken marinade recipe comes first.
Add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, coriander, cumin, nutmeg to a large bowl and mix well.
Add thawed and cut up 1 inch chicken strips to the mixture and spoon to evenly coat all sides of the chicken.
Let bowl with chicken set to marinate in the fridge for 20 minutes so the chicken really soaks up the flavors.
Air Crisp Chicken Breasts in Air Crisp Basket
Preheat Foodi air crisp basket for 5 minutes at 360 degrees.
Once warm, place chicken into Foodi basket to air fry.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook chicken tenders for 5 minutes at 360 degrees and flip, cooking or another 5 minutes on the other side.
Remove from Ninja Foodi and serve immediately with favorite dip – like I love homemade ranch dip with mine!
You may need to work in batches to get the chicken to fit into the Foodi basket.
Chicken is nothing with out a Side Dish!
I am confident you will love this recipe but it needs a side….or three.
- Keep the meal light and fresh by adding Caprese Everything Bagel Salad.
- Keep the meal filling and savory by adding oven baked Herb Roasted Parmesan Potatoes.
- Last but not least, bring some color to the meal with creamy corn and bacon.
Ninja Foodi Chicken Tenders (Air Fry)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 chicken breasts - cut into 1" strips
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, coriander, cumin, nutmeg to a large bowl and mix well.
- Add chicken strips to the mixture and spoon to evenly coat.
- Let set to marinate, in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Preheat Ninja Foodi air crisp basket for 5 minutes at 360 degrees.
- Place 1 inch chicken breast strips into pre-heated foodi basket.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Cook chicken tenders for 5 minutes at 360 degrees and flip, cooking or another 5 minutes on the other side (see note).
- Remove chicken from foodi and serve immediately.
- Please note that you may need to work in batches to get the chicken to fit into the foodi basket.
Recipe Notes
- If chicken is really thick, you may need to add another minute on each side. One trick I do personally is pound down my chicken to all be even prior to cooking (if a breast is big on one side and not the other) and that also keeps all my chicken tender pieces the same size for cooking.
- This recipe was created in the 6.5 quart Ninja Foodi
- Feel free to try this chicken strip method with any flavor you love!
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