Air Fried Doritos Crusted Chicken Strips or Tenders
Buy our air fryer e-cookbooks today Kids and everyone in our test kitchen loved these air fried chicken strips with doritos crust! Our kitchen team inhaled the first test batch of air fryer Doritos chicken strips ! We couldn’t believe how delicious these were and kids will be asking for seconds.
Air Fryer Doritos Chicken Strips or Tenders
They’re crispy coated with crushed Doritos or nacho cheese tortilla chips! We’re obsessed with the salty, crunchy flavors of crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips. Adding the crispy texture of air fryer Doritos crust gives the most flavorful chicken strips. Be ready to make a second batch because they’re perfect as an appetizer or for dinner. A fresh green healthy salad is a nice balance to this dish or if kids want pasta to pair, then it makes a hearty meal for them. Adults will enjoy them as well because beer pairs perfectly with these as a nacho cheese crusted chicken strip recipe appetizer!
Video: Air Fryer Doritos Crusted Chicken Tenders Recipe
How to Make Air Fried Doritos Crusted Chicken Strips
There’s so many possible by using what ever crushed tortilla chips you want. Explore the many flavor options of tortilla chips. With so many different brands, the possibilities are endless. Here’s some tips when making these chicken strips:
- Smaller the better: Make sure to crush the chips finely. The smaller they are, the better they stick.
- Don’t let the crushed chips get wet and soggy. Try to keep the bowl of crushed tortilla strips dry. As you dip the wet egg coated chicken in the chips, they can easily get the crushed chips all mushy. Just lay the egg coated chicken in the bowl, then get a spoon and pour the chip coating on top and press it into the chicken. That way, egg doesn’t get mixed into the dry chips.
- Keep crushed chips from coming off. Gently move the chip crusted chicken pieces so that the chips don’t fall off.
- Oil Spray. Make sure to oil spray the tortilla chip crust enough so that it air fries crispy. If you don’t add enough even oil spray, the outside crust will be dry and hard.
- More recipe details are in the recipe box below.
Chicken Strip Dips
There’s so many options for dipping these delicious chicken strips. Here’s a few of our favorite dips:
- Spicy ketchup
- honey mustard
- bbq sauce
- buttermilk ranch
- quest cheese dip
- sriracha mayo
Air Fryer Doritos Crusted Chicken Strips
Ingredients
- 9 oz. (255 g) Doritos or any flavor tortilla chips
- 1 large egg , beaten (or more if needed)
- 2 pounds (907 g) chicken , cut into thin strips
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
- fresh black pepper , to taste
- For dipping: Ranch, sour cream, ketchup, bbq sauce or your favorite sauce
Equipment
Instructions
- Crush the Doritos or tortilla chips in a bag with a rolling pin. Crush them thoroughly. The smaller the pieces, the better they'll coat the chicken. Place the crushed chips in a bowl for dredging the chicken. Put the beaten egg in another bowl.
- Season the chicken strips with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Working with one or two chicken strips at a time, first coat the chicken strips with the egg, then coat with the crushed Doritos. Gently press the chicken into the crushed chips, then pour chip pieces over the chicken strips. Gently press chips into chicken. This help chips to stay dry. If they’re wet, they stick less to the chicken.
- Pre-heat your Air Fryer at 380°F (195°C) for 4 minutes. Spray the air fryer basket or racks with oil spray. Gently lay chicken pieces in the basket or on the racks in a single layer (cook in batches if needed). Spray oil spray on top of coated chicken.
- Air Fry at 380°F (195°C) for 15 minutes. Gently turn the chicken pieces and spray the tops with oil spray (make sure to turn the chicken gently or else the chip pieces will fall off).Air Fry for additional 3-5 minutes or until the crust is crispy golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Serve warm with your favorite dip.
If your air fryer is preheated or if you are cooking multiple batches, you may need to reduce timing by a few minutes (unless preheating is called for in the recipe).
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
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- This recipe was originally published in 2020
2 Comments on “Air Fried Doritos Crusted Chicken Strips or Tenders”
This was a really fun recipe to cook. Kids fell in love with it.
I used the cool ranch doritos and they air fried fantastic! I’m gonna try these with the hot cheetos next.