Air Fryer Chicken Tenders With Parmesan and Shredded Coconut

Once you make chicken tenders in the air fryer, you’ll never go back to baking them in the oven. Plus, if you have picky eaters in the house — young or old — they’re going to love how the mixture of grated parmesan cheese and shredded coconut works as “breading” for these low carb chicken pieces, which have just 3 grams of net carbs each.

Air Fryer Chicken Tenders With Parmesan and Shredded Coconut

One of the reasons this low-carb version of chicken tenders works is the coating I’ve used. Basically, you’re getting sweet and savory altogether — sweet from the shredded coconut and savory from the grated parmesan cheese. It’s a wonderful combination. Then, it cooks up in the air fryer to be a crunchy, juicy bite that, oh man, I’m just salivating writing about it. As you know, cooking in the air fryer is so much better for you than deep frying in oil.

Chicken tenders are like the perfect blank canvas for a number of different dipping sauces, which is probably why young eaters love them so much. And you know what? Adults enjoy eating with their hands from time to time. I found that the Trader Joe’s sweet chili sauce paired perfectly but had to use in moderation because it is high in sugar.

Another option: Greek yogurt tzatziki sauce, which is naturally low carb. Note to self: I need to add that tzatziki sauce recipe to this blog. It’s one of my favorites to make and eat, and I think you’ll love it, too. Or even ranch dressing, especially if you’ll be serving this to the kiddos. They love ranch dressing.

Equipment

• 1 Air fryer

Ingredients for the Air Fryer Recipe

• 1 pound chicken breast tenderloin about 12 pieces
• 2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2/3 cup shredded coconut or coconut flakes

Instructions

1. Season the chicken tenderloins with salt and pepper.
2. Beat egg in one bowl and set aside.
3. Mix grated parmesan and shredded coconut together in a bowl.
4. Dip each chicken tender in egg mixture first, then in shredded parmesan/coconut mixture. Make sure you coat both sides.
5. After coating, place in the air fryer basket.
6. Air fry at 375 F for 20 minutes. You can flip the tenderloins halfway through the cooking time but that’s not necessary.

Notes

Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may have to cook these chicken tenders in batches. I know that with our air fryer that has a round basket, we can fit fewer pieces than our larger Instant Pot brand air fryer, which has a square basket.

Sometimes I find that buying chicken tenderloin is much more expensive than buying skinless, boneless chicken breast. So if you want to make this chicken tenders recipe and tenderloins are not on sale, here’s a frugal hack: buy regular boneless skinless chicken breasts and then use kitchen shears to cut the chicken breasts into chicken strips. You could also turn them into chicken nuggets.

Feel free to make your keto air fryer chicken tenders spicier in flavor with your own selection of herbs and spices or other additions like garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper or even paprika.

Because you’re not using any flour in this recipe — not even almond flour, one of my low-carb faves — or panko breadcrumbs on these breaded chicken tenders, this is a gluten-free recipe.