Air Fryer Bacon Ranch Chicken Tenders
Craving crispy, ranch-flavored chicken tenders without the mess? Make weeknights a breeze with our Air Fryer Bacon Ranch Chicken Tenders! Ready in under 30 minutes, this family-friendly recipe is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
Simply pair with a salad or veggie and you have an easy to put together meal!
Why you’ll love these Air Fryer Bacon Ranch Chicken Tenders
- Only four simple ingredients!
- Super easy and can be changed up to suit your own personal tastes.
- Delicious served as is, or with seasoned rice or even pasta.
- Ready in less than 30 minutes so its perfect for busy weeknights!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Chicken Tenderloins – You can also use boneless skinless chicken breasts and slice them into tenderloins before putting them in the air fryer.
Bacon – You can cook your own bacon right in the air fryer, or use pre-cooked bacon.
Ranch Seasoning – we use hidden valley ranch seasoning packets. You could potentially make your own ranch seasoning mix or even use premade ranch dressing but you will need to re-baste the chicken a few times with it after placing in the air fryer.
Garlic Powder – If you would like to use garlic salt instead of garlic powder, omit any additional salt as to avoid over salting your food.
Ideas for Other Additions – we’ve added jalapenos, black olives, cheese sticks, different herbs and/or seasonings.
How to serve these chicken tenderloins
These chicken tenderloins can be served as is, with a side dish. However we have also served over rice, pasta and wrapped in flour tortillas or lettuce.
Storage and Leftovers
Refrigerator Storage: These can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Freezer Storage: We make up this recipe every few weeks and freeze them in individual servings in freezer zip top sandwich bags. When we want to serve them, we will reheat them in the microwave for about 3 minutes.
Leftovers: If you wind up with leftovers, these can be chopped up and added to cold pasta salads, rice dishes, casseroles or anything else you want added flavor and calls for chicken.
How to prepare this chicken
Begin by preheating your air fryer to 400 degrees. You will be cooking the chicken for 10 minutes the first time.
As the air fryer is preheating, coat your chicken in the garlic powder and ranch seasoning mixture.
Layer tin foil on the bottom of your air fryer basket and begin placing the chicken tenderloins on the tin foil leaving space between them. Be careful not to over crowd. If you begin to notice over crowding, expect to make a second batch. Cook for 10 minutes.
At the 10 minute mark, remove the chicken from the air fryer and wrap carefully with strips of bacon. Use toothpicks to secure the bacon or wrap the bacon and place the chicken back in the basket on the bacon to keep it in place.
Continue cooking the chicken tenders for another 5-10 minutes or until chicken tenders are cooked through and a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F.
PRO TIP: All air fryers cook differently. This recipe was tested using an Instant Pot Vortex Plus, as well as a
Recommended Air Fryers
These are the air fryers we own and recommend. We will not recommend an appliance that we don’t own and these are almost always the different appliances we test all of our recipes on.
Your air fryer will be a personal choice, but if you decide to purchase one through one of our links, we may earn a small commission.
What to serve with these Air Fryer Bacon Ranch Chicken Tenders
- Buttery rice, infused with fresh squeezed lemon juice, minced garlic and cracked pepper makes this Garlic Lemon Pepper Rice the perfect side dish for any summertime meal.
- Creamy Bacon Avocado Pasta Salad is such a fantastic side dish for your summer BBQ event, and is perfect for large crowds. But it’s also excellent with these chicken tenders.
- A simple summer salad starts with blended yogurt and fresh blueberries tossed with fresh spinach. Add anything you like after that, but enjoy this Easy Blueberry Spinach Salad just as it is.
Printable Recipe
Air Fryer Bacon Ranch Chicken Tenders
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken tenderloins
- 12 strips bacon cooked
- 4 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 ounce ranch seasoning mix
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F. If your air fryer doesn't have a preheat setting, you can place chicken in immediately. You may need to add an extra minute or two of cooking at the end.
- Line your air fryer basket with tin foil. Toss your chicken tenderloins in the ranch seasoning mix and garlic powder to coat evenly.
- Place the chicken tenders on the tin foil. Be careful not to over crowd. Cook the chicken tenderloins for 10 minutes.
- Remove the chicken tenders at the 10 minute mark and wrap each tenderloin in cooked bacon. We used one slice per chicken tenderloin, but you could use more if you wanted. Place each bacon wrapped tenderloin back into the basket.
- Continue cooking the chicken tenderloins for another 5-10 minutes until chicken reads 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.
- Remove finished chicken from air fryer and serve.
