Crispy golden brown air-fryer chicken tenders brushed with sweet and spicy hot oil served over a crunchy salad with thousand island dressing.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time16 minutesmins
Additional Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr36 minutesmins
Course: Salads
Servings: 4
Author: the communal feast
Ingredients
2large boneless skinless chicken breastscut into tender strips
1cupbuttermilk
1/3cuppickle juice
1/4cuphot sauce
1cupall-purpose flour
1/3cupcornstarch
1tspsalt
1tsppaprika
1tspgarlic powder
1tsponion powder
1/3cupvegetable oil
1TBsbrown sugar
1/2tspchili powder
1/2tspgarlic powder
1/2tspsmoked paprika
1/2tspcayenne pepper
Salad:
1head of lettucefinely chopped
1/2cuphamburger pickleschopped
1/2cupcherry tomatoeschopped
2/3cupshredded orange cheddar cheese
1small white onionfinely diced
serve with thousand island dressingsee notes
Instructions
Pound the chicken down to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into strips to form tenders.
To a large bowl or plastic bag, add the buttermilk, pickle juice and hot sauce. Mix until just combined and submerge the chicken strips. Let soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour to tenderize the chicken.
In a shallow bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, salt, tsp paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Dredge the chicken pieces through the flour mixture coating on both sides and pressing with your hands to adhere. Repeat until all the chicken is coated.
Preheat the air-fryer according to directions. Lightly spray the basket with cooking oil, add 2 TBS of water to the bottom. Place chicken strips in the basket ensuring not to overcrowd- cook in batches if needed. Cook chicken at 350 degrees F 7-8 minutes per side, flipping.
Warm up 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in a saucepan or microwave. Once hot, stir in the brown sugar, chili powder, garlic, paprika and cayenne powder. Brush both sides of the chicken with the hot oil to give it a nice coating. If the mixture is too thick, add a bit more oil.
To make the salad; chop the lettuce head and combine with chopped pickles, tomatoes, onion and cheese. Toss with some thousand island dressing and served topped with hot chicken tenders. Enjoy!
Notes
Thousand island dressing: 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/3 cup ketchup 1/4 cup relish 2 TBS hot sauce 1 TBS apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce