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Brined in pickle juice, these tender and juicy air fryer chicken nuggets are easy, delicious, and incredibly addicting!
Why You’ll Love These Golden Crisp Nuggets
Crispier than baked chicken, and healthier than fried chicken. These aren’t just for the kiddos, lets get that out of the way now. These air fryer chicken nuggets will please all palates with tender meat, crunchy golden breading, and a yummy dill pickle-y essence.
Pickle brine is the ticket to super juicy and flavorful chicken, so that’s the first step in making these. After that, just bread them, air fry them, and store them. You can even make a large batch and freeze some to have on hand for a quick future meal or snack, just like your regular ol’ frozen chicken nuggets!
(Except these are so much tastier.)
What to Serve With Them
- Let’s get the obvious sides out of the way: mac and cheese or French fries are always a hit with chicken nuggets.
- For dipping, I love to serve these with ketchup or Ranch. Honey mustard is also awesome.
- Some sides that would be more unconventional but delicious all the same: a simple rice pilaf, oven-roasted broccoli, or crispy roasted mini potatoes.
Quick Tip
The best time frame for brining chicken in pickle juice is between 2-24 hours, so you can totally start preparing this the day before. If necessary, you can skip the brining process completely.
Ingredients
Exact measurements in the recipe card below.
- Chicken tenderloins. I like tenderloins because they’re pretty uniform in size, which makes for even cooking. You could use skinless boneless chicken breasts, just be sure to cut the chicken into uniform pieces for an even cook.
- Breadcrumbs. I used Italian here for a change of pace since I used Panko breadcrumbs for my air fryer chicken tenders. Either work!
- Seasoning. I’ve kept it simple with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and sea salt. However, you could easily get creative with a recipe like this by using Everything Bagel seasoning, dill weed, ranch seasoning, Parmesan, etc. You could even get things spicy with some cayenne.
- Flour. Flour creates a dry surface over the meat for the egg to stick to before breading.
- Eggs. Beaten eggs help the breading stick to and coat your chicken.
- Pickle brine. Straight from a jar of pickles! This ingredient is used only if you’re doing the brining process. If not, don’t worry about bringing pickle brine to the equation.
How to Make Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
Place your chicken into a deep container with a lid or a gallon-size zip-top bag. Slowly pour the pickle brine over it until the chicken is fully immersed. Pop it into the fridge and let it brine for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to cook the chicken nuggets, preheat the air fryer to 400º F. Remove the chicken from the fridge and transfer the tenderloins to a paper towel-lined plate or cutting board; lightly dab them with another paper towel to remove excess brine, then cut them into 1-inch pieces.
Prepare a breading station with a dish for the flour, a dish for the beaten egg, and a dish for the seasoned breading. (You could also put the flour and the breading each in their own gallon-sized zip-top bag for shaking. This makes the process quicker. I also like to keep those bags and their contents (leftover flour/breading) for future chicken nuggets. Less waste!
Place the chicken bits into the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs.
Once the air fryer has reached 400º F, give the air fryer basket a spritz of non-stick olive oil cooking spray. Place as many nuggets as you can fit into the basket without overcrowding, then give the tops of the nuggets a spritz of cooking oil.
Cook the nuggets for 6 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Check on the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. You want them to be between 160-165º F. If they’re less, give them another round in the air fryer in 2 minute increments until they register at the above temperature.
When they’re done, carefully remove them from the air fryer and transfer them to a platter. Repeat these steps until all of your chicken nuggets are cooked and golden brown.
I definitely recommend making a big batch so that you can freeze some.
Storage, Freezing, & Reheating
- These air fryer chicken nuggets can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- To freeze, let them cool, then place them in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Push out any excess air, then freeze for up to 3 months.
- If you’re reheating them from the fridge, you can simply pop them into the microwave and heat them in 25 second intervals, or pop them into the air fryer and heat them in 1 minute intervals until heated through. If heating from frozen, pop them into the air fryer and heat them for 3-5 minutes per side at 375º F, or until heated through with an internal temp of 160-165º F.
More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes to Try
Have You Made This Recipe?
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Ultimate Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken tenderloins
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 TBSP onion powder
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups pickle brine from a jar of dill pickles, If you aren't brining your chicken, you can ignore this ingredient.
Instructions
PICKLE BRINING
- Place your chicken into a deep container with a lid or a gallon-size zip-top bag. Slowly pour the pickle brine over it until the chicken is fully immersed. Pop it into the fridge and let it brine for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
MAKING THE CHICKEN TENDERS
- Preheat the air fryer to 400º F.
- Take the chicken out of the fridge. With tongs, transfer the tenderloins to a paper towel-lined plate or cutting board, then gently pat them with more paper towels. This removes excess moisture and brine. After that, cut them into 1-inch pieces.
- Set up a breading station with a dish for flour, one for the beaten eggs, and another for seasoned breadcrumbs. (I like to put the flour and the breading in their own gallon-sized zip-top bag for shaking. This makes the process a bit quicker, and you can keep those bags along with any leftover flour or breadcrumbs for future chicken nugget making. Less waste! Just label the bags and pop them into the freezer.)
- Toss the chicken bites into the flour, followed by the egg, and then the breadcrumbs.
- When the air fryer reaches 400º F, spritz the air fryer basket with a bit of non-stick cooking oil. Transfer the nuggets (as many as you can fit without overcrowding) into the basket; spritz the tops of the nuggets with a bit of the cooking oil.
- Air fry the chicken nuggets for 6 minutes, flipping halfway through. Check on the internal temperature with a meat thermometer at 6 minutes. You're looking for an internal temperature between 160-165º F. If they haven't reached that temp yet, continue to air fry in 2 minute increments until ready.
- Once they're ready, carefully transfer them from the air fryer basket to a large plate or platter. Repeat until all of your chicken nuggets are cooked.
The breading stayed perfectly intact, and the chicken was juicy and tender. The cooking instructions were easy to follow, and the end result was delicious.
What a fantastic looking chicken nugget. Perfectly crispy on the outside and just the right amount of flavor. My family will love these.
Super crispy which we loved. Way better than the processed kind at the store.
This is so much better making my own chicken nuggets with the air fryer! My son loves to dunk them in honey bbq sauce. Perfect snack to munch on.
That brine is everything – these are amazing. So easy in the air fryer too! Love it!
Brining is such a game changer! We loved these for dinner with a side of your buttermilk ranch, fries and a salad. Easy and super delicious!
Brining is such a game changer. Despite it being an extra step and all, it is just SO so worth it. Glad you enjoyed these, Ieva!
I’ve been looking for a good chicken nugget recipe for ages and these ones cooked in the air fryer worked so well. Thank you!
I’m so glad!
I made these with the intention of giving them to my toddler, but I might have eaten most of them! Thanks so much for sharing :)
It happens to the best of us ;)
They come out crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The seasoning is perfect and they are so easy to make. My whole family loves them!
Happy to hear it! I was so happy with how crisp these turned out, for sure.
Love this air fryer chicken nuggets recipe, easy and delicious. Can’t wait to make them for my kiddos again. Thanks for sharing :)
You’re welcome!