Buffalo chicken tends to be one of those foods that everyone loves, but no one really knows how to prepare it well.
These air fried buffalo chicken tenders are an easy option for anyone who wants good tasting food with little effort.
What Is The Best Way To Cook Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
The answer depends on what you’re looking for in your buffalo chicken tender recipe.
You can either go with something simple like frying them in a pan or baking them in the oven, or you can opt for more time consuming methods such as grilling them over hot coals or broiling them under the sun.
If you want to keep things simple, then this recipe will work well for you.
The dish itself isn’t overly complicated, so if you have never cooked buffalo chicken before, you should have no problem following these instructions.
If you want some extra crunch though, try adding some cornbread crumbles on top!
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
- Meanwhile, season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper. Then coat them in flour.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and 1/3 cup of the butter until smooth.
- Dip the floured chicken into the egg mixture, shake off any excess liquid, and place them onto a plate covered with parchment paper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium sized skillet on high heat.
- When the fat starts smoking, carefully add half of the chicken breasts to the skillet and sear them on each side until golden brown.
- Transfer the seared chicken to the oven and repeat step 4 with the remaining chicken pieces.
- After cooking the chicken, remove from the oven and transfer them to serving plates topped with the reserved butter and cheese.
What Is The Nutritional Value Of Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
The nutrition facts on this recipe are pretty basic, so you can expect your average buffalo chicken tender to have around 310-320 calories per serving.
This includes both fat and carbohydrates from the meat itself, and any sauces or toppings used on top.
Most people will also find sodium listed here, which comes mostly from the saltiness of the sauce.
The sodium content ranges between 220 mg – 300 mg per serving, depending on whether they’ve been marinated or not (which adds more seasoning).
You should also keep in mind that these tenders contain some amount of cholesterol, which can come from either the skin, the fat, or the meat.
It’s important to note that most of the cholesterol found in meats like buffalo chicken tenders comes from saturated fats, which aren’t necessarily bad for you if consumed in moderation.
If you want to reduce your intake of cholesterol, look at other sources of protein instead.
How Many Calories Are In Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
The calorie content isn’t something you should worry about when eating these tasty treats.
The most important thing to consider is portion size.
If you want to lose weight or keep your weight at a healthy level, then making sure you avoid empty calories like fried foods will help you achieve this goal.
For example, if you have two pieces of air-fried buffalo chicken tender (about 10 grams each) on top of an 8 ounce glass of water, you get a total of 20 calories from both pieces.
If you were to eat four pieces of air-fried buffalo chicken tender instead, you would consume 40 calories per serving, which is still less than half the amount of calories found in a single piece of regular fried chicken (72 calories).
This means that if you wanted to go back to eating fried chicken after trying out the new trend of air frying your own chicken, you can easily do so without feeling guilty because you aren’t over indulging yourself.
In fact, there are actually more nutrients in air-fried buffalo chicken tenders than in the original fried chicken.
You may find it hard to believe, but air frying has been shown to reduce fat by up to 80% while also increasing levels of vitamin B6, iron, and selenium.
The only downside to enjoying air-fried buffalo chicken tenders is that they don’t last very long once they hit the table.
This makes them difficult to make ahead of time since freshness is key to getting the best taste.
What Is The Best Way To Eat Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
This recipe calls for four different types of sauces: honey mustard, blue cheese ranch, BBQ sauce, and hot pepper garlic butter.
You can use any combination of these or even make your own variations on them if you’d like.
The point here is to have some variety so that each bite tastes slightly different from the last.
You also need to cut up the chicken into tiny pieces so they cook quickly and evenly.
It’s better to buy pre-cut chicken tenders than try to do this yourself, especially when it comes to cooking.
If you don’t want to spend money on this type of chicken, you could always pick up some boneless, skinless thighs at the grocery store instead.
The first step is to mix together the marinade ingredients.
You will find instructions below.
Once the marinade has been mixed, place the chicken pieces inside a large Ziploc bag.
Make sure not to overfill the bag since you may end up wasting too much liquid during the process.
Next, pour the marinade overtop of the chicken and let sit for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, drain off excess liquid by squeezing out as much as possible and pat dry with paper towels.
Place the patties onto a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until cooked through.
This should take between 15 – 20 minutes depending on thickness of the meat and size/shape of the chicken breast.
Let cool before serving.
What Are The Benefits Of Eating Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
The main benefit to eating these tasty treats is that they’re lower in fat than most other options on the market.
Most people don’t realize this because there aren’t many alternatives out there that taste like regular fried chicken tenders.
However, if you make them at home instead of buying them from your local fast-food place or deli, you can get much better quality food that won’t cost you any more money either.
Another thing that makes these chicken tenders so healthy is that they use less flour than normal.
This means that you won’t have to worry about getting sick if you accidentally consume too many.
It also means that if you want to add some extra flavor to the mix, you can add things like garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, or even cayenne pepper.
You could even go a step further and try adding hot sauce to give it a spicy kick!
If you would rather not cook up your own batch of buffalo chicken tenders, then you will definitely appreciate that Air Fried Buffalo has several different flavors available online right now.
Not only do they offer the original recipe, but they also sell versions made with BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, honey mustard, and blue cheese dip.
All of these options are delicious, plus they come with their own unique set of health benefits.
What Are The Drawbacks Of Eating Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
While there aren’t any major health concerns when you eat buffalo chicken tenders, they do contain some ingredients that could cause problems if not prepared correctly.
The primary ingredient in these chicken tenders is milk. If your body isn’t used to drinking cow’s milk, then this may be a problem for you.
It also has a lot less fat than regular chicken tenders which means it will have fewer calories as well.
Another drawback is that although these chicken tenders taste great, they don’t always look like the picture on the box.
You might end up with pieces that look different from what you ordered or that are smaller than expected.
This makes them harder to portion out into individual servings so you won’t get as much meat per bite as you would with normal chicken tenders.
There are ways around both of these issues though.
First, you can use non-dairy milk alternatives such as almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, etc.
Secondly, you can order larger portions of the buffalo chicken tenders so that you can cut down on waste.
Finally, you can cook the buffalo chicken tenders yourself at home using low-fat cooking methods.
How Can I Make Buffalo Chicken Tenders More Healthy?
When you think about it, buffalo chicken tenders have some pretty serious health benefits over their fried counterparts.
- They’re much lower in fat than fried ones.
- They don’t contain any hydrogenated oils or trans fats.
- The marinade contains no MSG.
- There’s even less salt compared to fried chicken tenders.
So what gives?
Is there something wrong with these buffalo chicken tenders?
No!
In fact, they taste so great that people often wonder why fried versions exist at all.
But we do need to address a few things first…
Buffalo vs. Rotisserie
Most people know that rotisserie chickens (also known as spit-roasted) are usually better for you because they use very low heat cooking methods.
However, this doesn’t translate into higher nutritional value.
In fact, the opposite is true.
A rotisserie chicken will typically have 10 times more unhealthy ingredients like sodium nitrite/nitrate, MSG, corn syrup solids, sugar, and artificial colors.
This is where the real difference comes in between buffalo chicken and rotisserie chicken.
Most buffalo wings are made from boneless skinless thighs which has a lot less fat content than regular chicken breasts.
The same applies to most buffalo style meats.
It also helps that most buffalo wing recipes call for celery juice, not high fructose corn syrup.
Another thing to note is that most buffalo wings aren’t deep fried, but rather breaded and pan seared.
This makes them much healthier since frying adds extra calories and saturated fat.
Why Do You Need To Cook Them At All?
Many people love buffalo chicken tenders because they’re quick and simple to cook.
There’s nothing complicated about making them.
So if you want to eat your favorite type of chicken tenders, then you might be wondering why you should bother cooking them at all.
To understand the answer to this question, let’s take a look at the process of preparing a classic chicken tender recipe.
- First, start by coating the chicken breast with flour.
- Next, dip the chicken breast into beaten egg mixture, followed by panko crumbs.
- Finally, fry the chicken until golden brown.
If you’ve ever cooked a batch of chicken tenders before, then you probably already know that these steps add up quickly.
If you were to reduce these processes down to the bare essentials, then you would only need two main elements: 1)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
It’s important to recognize that there’s really no reason to go through this whole process when you could simply get ready-made frozen or refrigerated buffalo chicken tenders instead.
These products come in several different varieties including oven baked, broiled, grilled, steamed, and air fried.
You can find many options on Amazon and other online retailers.
Just pick out whatever kind of buffalo chicken tenders you prefer and follow the instructions on the package.
With these types of convenience foods, there’s no point in worrying too much about nutrition anyway.
What Is The Best Way To Store Buffalo Chicken Tenders?
There are a few ways you can keep your buffalo chicken tenders fresh after they’ve been cooked up.
You can either freeze them or refrigerate them until needed.
If you’re planning on making these in bulk, consider freezing them so you have some ready-to-go meals when you need them.
- Freezing
You can either put them straight into freezer bags or wrap them individually in foil before putting them in the bag.
Make sure to leave at least 1/4 inch from each other and don’t overfill the bag.
After placing the frozen items in the bag, seal it tightly, label it clearly and place it back in the freezer.
This method will preserve a lot of their crispiness, but it may take longer than if you had kept them in the fridge.
- Refrigerating
If you want to keep your buffalo chicken tenders cold longer, you should put them in the refrigerator right away.
The problem here is that they won’t stay chilled very long.
However, this is still better than keeping them out in the open where they could get damaged by moisture.
When storing buffalo chicken tenders in the fridge, try to keep them upright since the grease will seep through the packaging and drip onto whatever else you have stored there.
Once you’ve got the storage container handy, grab a towel and cover the top part of the package.
This will help prevent any condensation forming inside the container, which would ruin the product.
Place the containers in the fridge and let them sit overnight.
Once done, remove them from the container and enjoy!
How Long Do Buffalo Chicken Tenders Last?
The short answer is “a few days”.
The longer answer depends on what you plan to use them for.
If they will not be cooked right away (e.g., if you want to take them out of their packaging and eat them straight from the package), then they should keep in your fridge for up to 4-5 days.
If you plan to cook them immediately, or freeze them to save for later, they can probably stay fresh for 5-7 days after opening.
That said, the taste deteriorates over time so we recommend eating them within 2 weeks of purchase.
Storage tips
- Do not refrigerate frozen buffalo chicken tenders – they will become mushy
- Do not put them back into the original bag – this will cause condensation which could lead to mold growth
- If possible, remove any remaining sauce before storing
- Store the container closed when not using them
What Are Some Creative Ways To Serve Buffalo Chicken
When you think of buffalo chicken, you probably don’t picture something healthy.
It is usually served in greasy takeout containers or on top of some fries, which can make this meal very unhealthy.
You might also have seen these restaurants offering up a grilled version of their dish, which isn’t much better than what I just described.
If you want to eat healthier, then try making your own buffalo chicken at home.
The recipe below uses simple ingredients like flour, milk, eggs, butter, and spices.
This will allow you to create delicious buffalo chicken wings without any extra fat.
- Ingredients: 1/3 cup flour (you may need more depending on the thickness of your chicken)
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 egg
- 1 stick butter melted
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Salt & Pepper
(Optional) ¾ cup breadcrumbs
Equipment
- Air-fried
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins
- 2-4 tablespoons buffalo sauce
- Olive Oil Spray
Instructions
- Chicken breasts should be cut into 1-inch-thick pieces. With a paper towel, dry the chicken off.
- Place a small bowl with the buffalo sauce in it. Panko breadcrumbs should be added to a separate, small bowl.
- With your fingertips, scrape off any extra buffalo sauce after dipping the chicken strips in the sauce. In the bowl of Panko crumbs, add the dipped chicken and coat thoroughly.
- Place the breaded chicken in the Airfryer basket with care. Cook the chicken at 300° for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°. Serve right away.
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My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.