Buffalo Tenders with Blue Cheese Dip
These are the perfect starter or guilt free main. The airfyer is my new best friend as you get that “fried feel” of a chicken tender with only a fraction of the oil. So basically, you can enjoy all the tenders you want! I have not tried these in the oven instead of the airfryer, but the principle remains the same, though you will need to line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
If you are cooking tenders for more than 3 people then you will need to cook the chicken in batches in your airfryer. You don’t want to pile chicken strips on top of each other in the airfryer as they stick together and won’t cook evenly. However, I’ve often made these for 4 people and I simply leave the cooked chicken strips in a warm oven (about 100 degrees Celcius) and when all my chicken is ready I toss them in the hot sauce and serve.
There’s no right or wrong way to make the coating for the tenders, once the main ingredient is breadcrumbs. Everything else comes down to personal preferences and desired flavour intensity. The buffalo sauce is tangy and spicy and served with the cool blue cheese dip is the perfect pairing. I hope you enjoy.
Ingredients for tenders
Serves 2 (232 calories per portion roughly)
2 large chicken breasts cute into about 8 strips each
Aromat seasoning to taste (about a tsp)
Peri peri seasoning (optional) (about a tsp)
Salt & Pepper
Handful of white breadcrumbs (about 150g/ 1 cup)
Olive oil or sunflower oil spray
Parsley (for garnish, optional)
Buffalo sauce (92 calories per serving)
160ml (2/3 cup) Franks hot sauce
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
25g (1/4 cup) butter
Blue Cheese dip (123 calories per serving)
125g (1 cup) fat free greek yoghurt
1 heaped tsp full fat mayo
50g (1/2 cup) blue cheese crumbled small (I personally like to just Cashel Blue or Gorgonzola, but you can use any blue cheese you like)
1 Tsp white vinegar
Squeeze of half a lemon (about a tsp)
½ clove garlic crushed / chopped fine
Salt & pepper, to taste
Since the blue cheese is only a dip to go with the tenders, you do get more than 2 servings out of this amount. If people are heavy handed it would serve 2. However, when I have made it this amount would do between 3-4 people. The calories are split for a 3 way serving.
Method
Preheat your airfryer (or oven) to 180
Get your chicken and place between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and hit with a rolling pin / your fist until slightly flattened. You want the chicken to be of roughly the same thickness before slicing, so that it will all cook at the same time. Cut chicken into tender sized strips. The smaller the strips the less time it will take to cook (Personally I like the size of the strips you would get in crispy chicken a chinese takeaway)
In a bowl mix together all the seasoning with the breadcrumbs
Roll chicken pieces in breadcrumb mixture until evenly coated and place on a large plate
Spray chicken pieces with about 10-15 sprays of oil before placing in airfryer, in ONE even layer in airfryer. (You will need to cook in batches if you have too much chicken otherwise the tenders will stick together and not cook evenly. See my tips at top of recipe for what to do if cooking for more than 2 people)
If using airfryer check on chicken every 7-10mins or so and turn with a few sprays of oil to make sure that all sides are cooking evenly. Chicken tenders in airfryer take about 20minutes. If cooking in oven flip tenders over half way through and spray with more oil.
While chicken cooking make buffalo sauce. Melt all ingredients together in a non stick pan and stir until combined. It’s as simple as that!
To make blue cheese dip make sure cheese is very finely chopped as well as garlic and stir all together.
Once chicken is cooked, toss the tenders in a pan with the hot sauce until tenders are all coated
To make them look fancy you can chop up some parsley and sprinkle it over your tenders. Serve with blue cheese dip on the side
