Hot Honey Air Fryer Chicken Tenders

Crispy cornflake breading coats juicy chicken tenders, which are air-fried until golden then sweetly drizzled with a handmade hot honey sauce that’s fiery and spicy!

Recipe By: The Chunky chef

Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients:

Chicken

1. 2 large chicken breasts, cut into strips without skin.
2. Wash one large egg with a splash of water.
3. 2 cups crushed cornflakes cereal
4. 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
5. 1 tsp black pepper
6. 1 tsp smoked paprika
7. 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
8. 1/2 tsp dried thyme
9. 1/2 tsp onion powder
10. 1/2 tsp garlic powder are all needed for cornflakes breading.
11. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12. 1/4 cup honey
13. 3 to 4 tablespoons hot sauce
14. hot honey your preferred manufacturer
    Other ingredients
15. cooking oil spray for the air fryer (we like to use avocado oil)fresh parsley, chopped (optional) as a garnish

Guidelines

Get ready:

1. Crush the cornflakes cereal with a rolling pin or an empty pan after placing it in a plastic bag that can be sealed. Or, place the cornflakes in a food processor and pulse until small pieces resemble crumbs.
2. Line up 2 shallow bowls next to an empty plate or baking sheet. In one of the bowls, add egg and splash of water. Whisk together the egg mixture until smooth.
3. In the second bowl, add cornflake crumbs, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cayenne, thyme, onion powder, and garlic powder. Stir to combine.
4. Preheat air fryer to 400°F.

Bread chicken

1. Add chicken tenders, one at a time, to the egg mixture, turning to coat all sides, letting the excess drip off.
2. Next add the chicken to the cornflake crumbs, turning and patting/pressing to coat all sides in the crumbs.
3. Finally, transfer the chicken to the prepared plate. Repeat with all remaining chicken tenders.

Air fry

• Spray the basket of the air fryer with cooking spray (we like to use an avocado oil spray), then place about 4-5 chicken tenders into the basket (or however many can fit in your air fryer basket). Leave a little space in between each tender, to make sure the hot air can really circulate. ** this will likely take multiple batches

• Spray the tenders with a little more oil spray. Air fry for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. Chicken tenders should be golden brown and have reached an internal temperature of 165°F.

Prepare a fiery honey sauce.

Add butter to a small pot and place over MED heat while the chicken cooks. After it has melted, thoroughly mix in the hot sauce and honey. Simmer for one or two minutes.
Pour and proceed to serve.

If desired, sprinkle minced parsley on top of the chicken tenders after drizzling them heavily with the hot honey sauce. Enjoy while hot! To slightly chill the chicken, we like to serve it with ranch dip

Helpful Tip!

The trick to avoiding ending up with completely breading coated fingers is to set up a simple assembly line.

1. 1. Set up your food from left to right (or vice versa if you’re a lefty), in the following order: chicken breasts, bowl with egg mixture, bowl with breading, and baking sheet or plate.
   2. Designate your left hand the “wet” hand, and your right hand the “dry” hand.
   3. Work from left to right, using your wet hand to add a chicken breast to the egg mixture, let the excess drip off, then drop it in the breading mixture.
   4. Use your dry hand to coat the chicken in the breading and add it to the baking sheet/plate.
   5. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces, being careful not to use the wet hand in the breading mixture.
   6. It’ll still be a little messy, but you shouldn’t have completely breaded fingers at the end.