These Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders are crispy with a sweet and savory, spicy kick. They include chicken strips (cooked from frozen) with a simple hot chicken sauce. Learn how to make Nashville Chicken Tenders in an air fryer or oven with this easy main dish recipe.
Why Make Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders
There are so many reasons to make these Nashville Hot Chicken Strips. Here are my top three:
- No Deep frying required: many Nashville Chicken recipes use leftover hot oil from the deep fryer like vegetable oil or canola oil in the sauce. My easy recipe gives you delicious flavor using a substitute. Plus, they’re crispy baked or air fried.
- Air Fryer or Oven: cook these copycat KFC Nashville hot chicken strips from frozen in either the oven or your air fryer. I prefer the air fryer because it helps give the chicken strips a crispy fried chicken crunch.
- Cooks from Frozen: there is no need to thaw out your chicken tenders. Simply, take them from the freezer, cook them until they’re crispy and golden brown. Then, top them with my simple Nashville hot chicken sauce recipe.
Ingredients Needed
Making Nashville Chicken Tenders doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to gather:
Crispy Chicken Tenders
To keep this recipe easy, I used air fryer frozen chicken tenders that I got from the freezer section of my local grocery store.
These tenders include chicken breasts breaded in a gluten-free or whole wheat flour breading (choose the option that works best for you).
They usually come 10-12 in a bag. I make the entire bag for this recipe.
Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders Sauce Recipe
This spicy Nashville-style sauce uses these simple ingredients:
- Salted butter
- Avocado oil
- Cayenne pepper: you can add more or less of this depending on how spicy you like the sauce.
- Brown sugar
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
How to Make Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders from Frozen
Make the chicken fingers:
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes
- Add the chicken tenders in a single layer to your air fryer basket.
- Spray the chicken tenders generously with cooking spray – this helps with crisping and browning
- Air fry the chicken strips at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Flip the tenders and spray with more oil.
- Air fry the chicken tenders for 6-8 more minutes depending on desired browning and crisping.
Make the spicy butter sauce:
- Heat the butter and oil in a small sauce pan on medium-low heat
- Once the butter is melted and the oil is hot, turn the heat to simmer
- Add the spices and brown sugar. Mix and remove the saucepan from the heat. The goal is not to cook this mixture, but to simply heat it enough to mix the spices and sugar. It will look like a bit of sludge.
Top the tenders with Nashville Hot Sauce:
- For best results, use a basting brush to apply sauce to the chicken tenders.
- Serve
Top Cooking Tips & FAQs
- Use any crispy chicken tender recipe: If you’d rather not use air fryer frozen chicken tenders, feel free to substitute your favorite crispy chicken tenders recipe. You can also use other chicken like air fryer chicken nuggets (frozen) or popcorn chicken.
- Use medium-low heat to melt the oil and butter only: you do not need to cook the sauce. The sugars will burn and caramelize if you do. After the butter and oil are heated, simply remove the small saucepan from the heat and stir in the brown sugar and seasonings.
- Air fry or bake the frozen chicken fingers until they are crispy enough for you: chicken tenders are safe to eat when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. It’s ok to cook them longer to get the breading crispier.
Storage and Leftovers
Store your leftover hot chicken strips in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I reheat these in the air fryer for 3-4 minutes at 400 degrees the next day.
You can adjust the spice level in Nashville Hot Tenders by adding more or less cayenne pepper.
They are sweet, peppery, and crisp.
The spice mix in the sauce gives Nashville hot chicken its unique flavor.
What to Serve With Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders
There are lots of ways to make this main dish a meal. Here are some side dishes for your hot chicken tenders:
- 35 Best Side Dishes for Fried Chicken
- 38 Best Sides for Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Green Beans
- Patti LaBelle’s Baked Macaroni and Cheese
More Hot Chicken Recipes
Nashville Hot Chicken Tenders
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 12 Crispy Chicken Tenders I used air fryer frozen chicken tenders
Nashville Hot Sauce
- ¼ cup salted butter
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 2 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
Make the chicken tenders:
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes
- Add the chicken tenders in a single layer to your air fryer basket.
- Spray the chicken tenders generously with oil – this helps with crisping and browning
- Air fry the chicken strips at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Flip the tenders and spray with more oil.
- Air fry the chicken tenders for 6-8 more minutes depending on desired browning and crisping.
Make the sauce:
- Heat the butter and oil in a small sauce pan on medium heat
- Once the butter is melted and the oil is hot, turn the heat to simmer
- Add the spices and brown sugar. Mix and remove the saucepan from the heat. The goal is not to cook this mixture, but to simply heat it enough to mix the spices and sugar. It will look like a bit of sludge.
Make tenders:
- Use a basting brush to apply sauce to the chicken tenders.
- Serve