Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders

If you’re looking for an easy and fun weeknight meal, look no further than Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Tenders. This dish is simple to make and is always a crowd-pleaser. Plus, the air fryer does all the work for you – no need to preheat the oven! Just toss the chicken in some oil and spices, then wrap it in bacon before cooking. Your family will love this delicious chicken dinner.

Chicken – We used raw, un-breaded chicken tenders from our ButcherBox. If you do not have chicken tenders on-hand you can cut white meat chicken into 1″ thick strips.

Bacon – For this recipe, we used Godshall’s Turkey Bacon. It cooked up wonderfully and helped us to save a few calories with this dish. You can use any bacon you prefer.

Oil – The chicken tenders are tossed with extra virgin olive oil before seasoning them with spices.

Spices – Chili seasoning, onion, garlic powder, and cumin are the main stars of this recipe. These spices provide a smoky, delicious flavor.

Sauce – If you love sweet and savory sauces, BBQ sauce, and sweet Asian Chili sauce are mixed to provide a lovely glaze finish for the tenders.

Air fryer cook time for bacon-wrapped chicken depends on a number of factors:

• The thickness of your chicken tenders. Obviously, thicker pieces take longer to cook than slender, thinner pieces of meat.
• Whether you’re cooking thawed or frozen chicken. If you are starting with frozen chicken they will take a bit longer to cook than if they were thawed first.
• Finally, the size of your air fryer basket will also affect how long it takes to cook the chicken. A smaller basket may require less time than a larger one.

Taking all of these factors into account, how long should you cook bacon-wrapped chicken in an air fryer?

In general, cook time is between 8 to 12 minutes per side.

However, always use a meat thermometer to check for doneness; chicken breasts are fully cooked when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. When in doubt, err on the side of cooking for a minute or two longer, as under-cooked chicken can carry food-borne illness.

Our tenders took 8 minutes per side to fully cook and also crisped the bacon nicely.

In case you haven’t heard of Cuisinart before, they are one of the most well-known companies in home appliances. They make a lot of different things: blenders, toasters, and yes even Air Fryers. We love their Cuisinart® Air Fryer Toaster Oven (Amazon affiliate link) because it can air fry and so much more! The ample-sized basket makes air frying for our large family a breeze!

Check out some other things you can do with it!

2. Bake a cake. It’s not just for leftovers! It can also bake cakes, cookies, tarts, and more. Just set the appliance’s temperature to 350 degrees with no timer required; the cake will take about 30 minutes to cook.

3. Steam vegetables. Like roasting a chicken, steaming vegetables is a great way to use your air fryer toaster oven without having to heat up your whole kitchen. Place a cup of water in the bottom of the appliance, then add your favorite veggies on the wire rack. Set the temperature to 375 degrees and cook for 10-12 minutes.

4. Quickly reheat leftovers. No need to nuke your food in the microwave when you can reheat leftovers quickly and evenly in the air fryer toaster oven. Just set the appliance to 375 degrees and heat for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size and type of food.

5. Toast bread or bagels. This one is a no-brainer! Just pop in some bread or bagels and set the dial to toast.

These bacon-wrapped chicken tenders taste best on day one but will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days when stored properly. I suggest reheating them in a skillet, air fryer, or oven to crisp the bacon up. You might also want to add additional sauce glaze.

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