These Air Fryer Hot Honey Chicken Tenders cook in under 10 minutes! Crispy and juicy and seriously addicting when served with the delicious hot honey sauce. Great for sharing and a true crowd pleaser!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time8 minutesmins
Total Time23 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer / Party food, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Air Fryer Hot Honey Chicken Tenders, Hot Honey Chicken Tenders
2tspChiu Chow chilli oil(or see notes for alternatives)
1tspSriracha
½tbspapple cider vinegar, or to taste
Cornflake Coating
4cups(150g) cornflakes
2tbspcornstarch(cornflour)
2tspsmoked sweet paprika
1tspcayenne
1tspgarlic powder
1tspsalt
2large eggs
3tbsprapeseed oil or light olive oil
Chicken
1 ½lbs(675g) chicken tenders, or see notes
Instructions
Make The Hot Honey Sauce
Combine the honey, chilli oil, Sriracha and apple cider vinegar in a saucepan and stir over low heat to warm through. Taste the sauce - it should be sweet and salty with a spicy kick but not super hot.
Make The Cornflake Topping
Place the cornflakes, cornflour and seasoning into a food processor or mini chopper and pulse until you have a coarse breadcrumb consistency. Add the oil and pulse again. Tip the cornflakes into a shallow bowl.
Prep The Chicken Tenders
Beat two eggs in a shallow bowl and dip each chicken strip a couple of times to coat. Let excess egg drip off the chicken.
Dredge the chicken strip into the coating, pressing down with a fork so that it sticks. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Air Fry The Chicken
Preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes at 375°F (190°C). I like to use an air fryer rack and liners to allow for better air circulation and avoid the chicken coating getting stuck in the basket. Mist the liner and rack with oil and space the strips on it. Mist those in oil as well.
Air fry for 5 minutes per side for the first batch, flipping halfway through. Any further batches will only need 8 minutes total or less. To check whether the chicken is cooked through use an Instant Read thermometer – it should register 167°F (75°C).
Serve
You can either coat the chicken with the hot honey sauce or drizzle it a bit more sparingly and serve some on the side so people can help themselves to more if they wish.
Video
Notes
HOT HONEY SAUCE WITHOUT CHILLI OILInstead of the Chiu chow chili oil use two teaspoons dried chili flakes, two minced garlic cloves and a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil in addition to remaining ingredients. RECIPE NOTES
Adding oil to the coating is crucial - but don’t forget to also mist the chicken tenders when air frying.
Chicken Size Matters: How large or small you cut your chicken will determine how long it needs to cook in the air fryer. Feel free to cut your chicken into larger chunks, it will just take a bit longer.
Air Fryers can vary in their capacity and efficiency – you might need to adjust the cooking temperature slightly. Second batches will probably cook a little quicker as the air fryer is already hot. A meat thermometer is the best way to determine optimum cooking time.
Don’t crowd the chicken in the air fryer – allow space for the air to circulate.
If you are using multiple stackable racks to cook the chicken strips the cooking time overall will be longer. I didn’t have much success with this method so I am not recommending it for this recipe.