These air fried, paleo bbq chicken tenders are one of my favorite dinner recipes I’ve ever made! I am air fryer obsessed over here so adding these into my air fryer archive made me very happy. The perfect amount of barbecue sauce, the right amount of crisp, and just a great texture over all.
Sometimes with healthier versions of your favorite recipes, they let you down. Like, they taste good but it’s just not the same. But that is definitely not the case with these paleo bbq chicken tenders. I still love my Chick fil A but these make me less tempted to go 😉
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Why I love my air fryer:
I cooked these in my air fryer because I think that method gives the chicken a great amount of crispiness. In comparison to baking, which doesn’t always give them the best crisp on the outside. I use the Ninja Foodi Oven which has an air fryer option but I’ve used this one before.
Are you a fan of the air fryer method?! It took me awhile to get on board but now I am seriously obsessed! I want to make everything in it haha. I have so many ideas in my little recipe notebook of what to make! It’s a game changer if you love crispy or fried food.
What BBQ sauce to use:
I like to use barbecue sauce that doesn’t have a ton of added sugar. It’s crazy that sauces can be packed with sugar. Whyyyy do companies have to add sugar to everything?! Don’t get me wrong- I love sugar but not in my sauces. If I’m going to eat sugar, I want it to be in a dessert or sweet treat.
The Primal Kitchen Unsweetened BBQ sauces are great because they’re paleo, whole30 approved without added sugar. Even though they’re sugar free, they still have a good smokey barbecue taste. The perfect addition to these paleo BBQ chicken tenders!
How to make the recipe:
Exact measurements are posted in the recipe down below. But I’ll run through it here with a little more detail! First, Preheat your air fryer to 400F. You need two, small shallow bowls. You can use tupperware too. Just make sure you’re able to dip your chicken tenders in them.
Take your chicken tenders, lay out on a cutting board, and pat dry. In one shallow bowl, whisk the eggs. In the other shallow bowl, mix the almond flour + spices. You’ll dip a chicken tender in the whisked eggs, coating the entire thing. Then dip in the almond flour mixture, making sure that the entire tender is coated.
Repeat until all chicken tenders are coated.
Add chicken tenders to your air fryer (I did two batches, 4-5 at a time). You don’t want to overcrowd the air fryer so make sure they aren’t overlapping. Overcrowding the chicken tenders causes them to not cook evenly and also can get super messy! Bake for 12 minutes and flip halfway through. You can take a fork and that makes it a lot easier.
Remove and brush with bbq sauce. You’ll want to brush them on both sides and let them sit for a minute before eating. They’re a little messy but so worth it!
Other Paleo Dinner Recipes:
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Paleo BBQ Chicken Tenders
Air fried, paleo bbq chicken tenders that are SO tasty and delicious, you;ll forget they’re actually healthy. A great healthy dinner recipe and a healthier version of your favorite comfort food.
Ingredients
1 lb chicken tenders
2 eggs
1 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup paleo bbq sauce
Method
- Preheat your air fryer to 400F
- You need two, small shallow bowls.
- Take your chicken tenders, lay out on a cutting board, and pat dry.
- In one shallow bowl, whisk the 2 eggs. In the other shallow bowl, mix the almond flour + spices.
- Dip a chicken tender in the whisked eggs, coating the entire thing. Then dip in the almond flour mixture, making sure that the entire tender is coated.
- Repeat until all chicken tenders are coated.
- Add chicken tenders to your air fryer (I did two batches, 4-5 at a time). You don’t want to overcrowd the air fryer so make sure they aren’t overlapping.
- Bake for 12 minutes and flip halfway through.
- Remove and brush with bbq sauce.
