These paleo and keto Air Fryer chicken tenders are like a “shake and bake copycat” — just put the breading mix in a bag, add the chicken, shake, and air fry! Egg-free, grain-free, and dairy-free, you can have these easy and healthy chicken tenders on the table in 15 minutes!

I missed chicken tenders.

For years.

Once I stopped buying the frozen, bagged, pre-battered tenders, I just quit making them all together.

Battering and frying them myself just seemed like such a PITA, ya know?

I’m a Southern girl through and through, so it’s not like I don’t have battered and fried everything coursing through my veins — chicken fried steak, fried okra, fried squash, cheese sticks… well, you get the idea.

I just don’t like the battering-and-frying part. I much prefer the eating part. 😛

Then, I got an Air Fryer.

First, I tried chicken nuggets and chicken tenders with arrowroot powder. They were pretty good, but the breading didn’t have quite the right texture, especially leftover.

I’ve been limiting my use of almond flour, so I didn’t want to go backwards and start using it as a batter. Plus, to be honest, almond flour doesn’t make an awesome breading. It gets all gummy and sticky.

So, one evening, with thawed chicken breast in my sink, I dug through my pantry, determined to find something that would work as a breading for some Keto Air Fryer Chicken Tenders.

And there they were: the pork rinds! (My favorite pork rinds are Epic brand, which I find for the best price at Thrive Market. Click here to save 25% on your first Thrive order!)

My favorite part of eating a bag of pork rinds is the crumbs at the end. Surely this would make an excellent breading for some nut-free (no almond flour), egg-free (wasn’t about to get my gunk on!), paleo and keto Air Fryer chicken tenders!

I was right (as usual). 😉

Perfect for Meal Prep

I live for leftovers and am a big believer in the COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE principle.

This recipe makes enough to feed a family of 4 a couple of times, accompanied by side dishes.

You could double or even triple this recipe and make plenty of paleo and keto Air Fryer chicken tenders for quick re-heating during the week.

I probably wouldn’t freeze them because I’d be worried about over-cooking the chicken when re-heating, but if you try it, let me know!

I make up a big batch of these yummy and healthy Air Fryer chicken tenders on a Sunday afternoon. Then, my teenagers and I have lunch for at least 2, if not 3, days.

Quick side dishes we love:

• frozen veggies, like peas or broccoli, steamed or heated in a pan
• whole sweet potatoes, “baked” in the Instant Pot or roasted sweet potatoes
• chopped or sliced raw veggies with hummus or homemade dressing
• a blended soup
• kale chips

The right dipping sauce is EVERYTHING.

I confess: my favorite part of eating anything fried is deciding what dipping sauce I’m going to use.

When I used to eat chicken tenders and nuggets at Chick-Fil-A, I always got 1 of every dipping sauce they had! Ranch, BBQ sauce, honey mustard… I wanted alllllll the dipping sauces!

I haven’t changed a bit, though my dipping sauces have.

So, here are some super clean, Real Food dipping sauces. Try them all!

• homemade yogurt ranch
• avocado oil buffalo ranch
• keto BBQ sauce
• paleo honey mustard
• Noble Made Whole30 Buffalo Sauce
• paleo sweet and sour sauce
• keto, paleo, & Whole30 ketchups

Paleo & Keto Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free)

If you remember Shake ‘n Bake from the 90s, then you’ll get the idea of how to make these paleo and keto Air Fryer chicken tenders. 

Rather than making an egg + milk wash and coating the chicken in the breading, you’re just going to put the breading ingredients into a zip-top bag, add the chicken, and shake, shake, shake!

The breading ingredients are:

• 2.5-ounce bag salted pork rinds (Epic brand is my favorite — I get it from Thrive Market. Save 25% on your first Thrive order!)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour (<– Save 10% on my favorite coconut flour with my discount code NOURISHING)
• seasonings of choice — I used Primal Kitchen’s New Bae seasoning, but my Season Anything Spice Mix would also work!

Add the breading ingredients to a gallon-size zip-top bag. Close the bag and crush the pork rinds until they are the consistency of breadcrumbs.

Oh, you can also go ahead and preheat your Air Fryer to 400 degrees.

If you have pre-cut chicken tenders, great. If not, slice chicken breast into thin strips to make your own tenders. (Hint: this is cheaper!)

Next, add about half the chicken tenders to the breading mix, close the bag, and shake!

Put the breaded tenders into the Air Fryer in a single layer and lightly mist them with avocado oil spray.

Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Then, flip them over, mist them with avocado oil spray again, and bake for another 5 minutes.

While the first batch bakes, go ahead and shake the second batch of chicken in the breading mixture. The, repeat and DONE.

Here’s the whole recipe!

4 from 2 votes

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Keto Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free)

These paleo and keto Air Fryer chicken tenders are like a "shake and bake copycat" -- just put the breading mix in a bag, add the chicken, shake, and air fry! Egg-free, grain-free, and dairy-free, you can have these easy and healthy chicken tenders on the table in 15 minutes!

CourseMain Course, Main Dish

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 22 minutes

Servings 5 servings

Calories 297 kcal

Author Rebecca Hansen

Ingredients

• 2poundsorganic boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 12.5 oz. bagsalted pork rinds
• 1/4cupcoconut flour
• 2teaspoonsseasoning mixsuch as Primal Kitchen's New Bae or my Season Anything Spice Mix
• avocado oil spray

Instructions

1. Press the Preheat button on your Air Fryer.

2. While it preheats, slice the chicken breast into strips or tenders.

3. To a gallon-size zip-top bag, add the pork rinds, coconut flour, and seasoning. Crush the pork rinds in the bag so that it is a breadcrumb consistency.

   

4. Place half of the chicken tenders in the bag with the breading.

   

5. Close the bag, leaving some air in it, and shake, shake, shake!

6. Lay the breaded chicken tenders in the Air Fryer in one layer.

   

7. Lightly mist the chicken with avocado oil spray.

   

8. Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping and spraying the other side with avocado oil spray half-way through cooking.

9. Repeat the breading and cooking with the remaining chicken tenders.

10. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, such as BBQ, ranch dressing, buffalo wing sauce, or honey mustard!

    

Nutrition Facts

Keto Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free)

Amount Per Serving (5 tenders)

Calories 297Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 1.7g11%

Cholesterol 159mg53%

Sodium 741mg32%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Fiber 2g8%

Protein 53g106%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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More Paleo & Keto Chicken Dishes You’ll Love…

• Super Simple Salsa Verde Chicken — Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
• Keto Instant Pot Sesame Orange Chicken
• Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Chowder
• Pinchos de Pollo
• Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken
• One-Pot Low-Carb Chicken Fried “Rice”
• Keto Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
• Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
• Nourishing Mexican Chicken Soup

Do you remember Shake ‘n Bake? Will you try these Air Fryer Chicken Tenders?