We used the air fryer for this bacon wrapped chicken tender recipe. The tenders are perfectly cooked and juicy, wrapped in crispy bacon, and seasoned with a mix of sweet and spicy flavors!
My entire life has been a love affair with chicken tenders! I have eaten chicken tenders and waffle fries, or chicken tenders and cheese sticks more times than I care to admit!
One of my friends recently suggested that I do a recipe for chicken strips wrapped in bacon. Did you pick that up? WRAPPED IN BACON!
Who am I to say no to that?
We’ve made these bacon wrapped chicken bites, coated in a homemade BBQ sauce before, but we’d never done full-on chicken tenders so it was an obvious must make! We skipped the BBQ sauce and did a simple seasoning blend instead. So good!
Ingredient Notes:
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Chicken – We will use a pound and a half of chicken tenderloin. My grocer is often out of chicken tenderloin so I buy chicken breasts and cut them into strips when needed. Not quite as easy, but the recipe works the same either way.
Bacon – Use a thinner cut of bacon for this recipe. Thick cut won’t crisp up as nicely.
Seasonings- We’re making the flavorful rub out of ground mustard, chili powder, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
Most chili powders are not very spicy at all. To add extra spice, add in cayenne pepper!
To make this recipe low carb, use your favorite brown sugar replacement. We like Lakanto or Swerve.
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders in an Air Fryer:
- Seasoning – Stir together the brown sugar, chili powder, ground mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. This will be your seasoning blend. To make it spicy, add a pinch of cayenne or chipotle powder.
- Season the tenders– Dry your chicken tenders with a paper towel and sprinkle the seasoning blend over the chicken. Save about a 1/4 of the seasoning for the bacon.
- Wrap in bacon– Next wrap each piece of seasoned chicken in bacon and tuck the ends of the bacon under the chicken so it stays wrapped. Rub your remaining seasoning over/into the bacon to coat.
- Air fry your tenders– Spritz the air fryer basket with nonstick spray and arrange your chicken in a single layer in the basket. Cook in batches if there isn’t enough room for all your chicken. Air fry for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F and flip halfway through cooking.
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Serving Suggestions
These Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders are very flavorful on their own, but we never pass up an opportunity for dip!
Try these tenders with the following dips:
- BBQ Sauce
- Ranch Dressing
- Honey Mustard
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce
- Honey
- Buffalo Sauce
FAQ:
The internal temperature of your chicken tender should be 165 degrees F before serving.
I love these tenders served with honey mustard dip! BBQ sauce would also work well for this blend of seasoning and the chicken tenders.
To add extra spice, add in cayenne pepper.
Recipe Tips!
You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days if you keep them in an air tight container.
When it is time to reheat, just pop them in your air fryer at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes.
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