Instead of deep frying or baking, make crispy cornflake chicken in the air fryer! Using minimal oil and crushed cornflakes as breading, these air fryer cornflake chicken strips are crunchy without being greasy. They're so good dipped in honey mustard or my homemade ranch dressing without buttermilk. For a spicy kick, you can also serve them with my dairy-free chipotle sauce!
To make it a meal, serve these chicken strips with mayo-free coleslaw, air fryer potato ranch salad or this Italian bow tie pasta salad!
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Quick Look: Air Fryer Cornflake Chicken Strips
- ⏱ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 👩🏻🍳 Air Frying Time: 20 minutes (for 2 batches)
- ⏳ Total Time: 35 minutes
- 🍽 Servings: 4
- ⚡ Calories: 280 per serving
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: tender and juicy with a crispy cornflake breading.
- 👌 Difficulty: easy with just a few steps for the breading process.
- ❤️ Why you'll love: elevated chicken strip, crispy without being greasy.
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What makes this cornflake chicken recipe so good?
Cornflake crusted chicken is definitely not a new recipe, but making it in the air fryer is a game changer. You can get crispy results without the grease of deep frying or pan frying, and air frying is much quicker than baking the chicken.
When I was a kid, these weren't called chicken strips or chicken tenders. They were called chicken fingers. There was a take-out near my house and my favorite thing to order was chicken fingers and fries!
This air fryer version is less greasy, quick to prepare and even more delicious than the take-out version I remember!
If you love crispy breaded chicken without a lot of oil, you'll also want to try these crispy air fryer chicken bites. They're homemade chicken nuggets with a coating of toasted panko bread crumbs!
More recently, my new favorite crispy chicken obsession are these air fryer boneless chicken wings. The double breading of flour is a game changer!
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Chicken - While you can use chicken tenders for this recipe, as they're the perfect size for chicken strips, they aren't always available at grocery stores (at least around me). So, I just use 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them into strips. You'll need about 12 strips or tenders for this recipe.
- Cornflakes - You can buy cornflake crumbs (and save yourself some time) or easily make the crumbs yourself. You can do this in a food processor, or by adding the cornflakes to a resealable bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. We don't usually have cornflake cereal on hand, so I just buy the crumbs when I need them.
- Seasonings - The recipe calls for dried oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and salt, but feel free to change it up with different herbs and spices.
How to make crispy cornflake chicken strips in the air fryer
Step 1: Slice your chicken breasts into 12 strips. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 2: Prepare your breading stations. Add the flour to a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. In a third bowl, mix together the cornflake crumbs and seasonings.
Step 3: Dredge the chicken in flour. Shake off any excess.
Step 4: Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and let any excess egg drip off.
Step 5: Coat both sides of the chicken in the cornflake mixture, pressing the crumbs into the chicken to ensure it sticks.
Step 6: Lightly spritz both sides of the chicken strips with oil and place in your air fryer basket in a single layer. (I usually air fry 6 strips at a time).
Step 7: Air fry on 400F for 5 minutes. Flip the strips over and air fry for another 3-5 minutes.
Step 8: Repeat with remaining chicken and then serve with your favorite dipping sauce!
Storage and reheating
Refrigerate: Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Just note that the cornflake coating will soften a bit in the fridge.
Reheating: To get the chicken strips crispy again, you'll want to avoid microwaving them. To reheat, just air fry on 400F for about 3-5 minutes, or you can warm them in the oven on 400F for 5-8 minutes. Be careful not to reheat them for too long as the chicken will dry out.
Expert tips
- Coating the chicken in flour: I dredged each chicken strip in flour, but you can also just add all of the sliced chicken to a large resealable bag with the flour. Seal the bag and shake it until the chicken is evenly coated.
- Use tongs: To keep your fingers from getting clumped up with breading ingredients, you can use tongs to move the chicken slices from the flour to the egg to the cornflake crumbs.
- Air fry in multiple batches: I used a 5.8 quart air fryer and needed to air fry the chicken strips in 2 batches. You don't want to overcrowd the chicken as air needs to circulate around the pieces to ensure even cooking and crispiness. You can always half the recipe if you only want to air fry a single batch.
Air fryer cornflake chicken strips FAQs
The coating will be a darker color and crispy and the chicken should be fully cooked through (to an internal temperature of 165F). I use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Cooking time may range between 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken tenders or strips.
We love them as an appetizer or part of a main meal with honey mustard or this homemade caesar salad dressing recipe on the side for dipping. If you'd like to take it up a notch, this homemade marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes is the perfect pairing with crispy chicken! You can also serve them as the chicken in this air fryer chicken caesar salad recipe!
More air fryer chicken recipes
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📖 Recipe
Crispy Air Fryer Cornflake Chicken Strips
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 2 large breasts)
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup cornflake crumbs, (or 3 cups cornflakes, crushed)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Spray oil
Instructions
- Slice your 2 chicken breasts into 12 strips. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
- Prepare your breading stations. Add the flour to a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. In a third bowl, mix together the cornflake crumbs, oregano, salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Dredge a piece of chicken in flour, shaking off any excess flour. Dip it in the egg mixture and let any excess egg drip off. Coat it in the cornflake mixture, pressing the crumbs into the chicken to ensure it sticks.
- Repeat until all of the chicken is breaded.
- Lightly spritz both sides of the breaded chicken with oil. Place in the air fryer basket in a single layer. (I usually air fry 6 chicken strips at a time).
- Air fry on 400F for 5 minutes. Flip the strips over and air fry for another 3-5 minutes.
- Repeat with the remaining chicken strips.
Notes
- You can use 12 chicken tenders instead of sliced chicken breast.
- I dredged each chicken strip in flour, but you can also just add all of the sliced chicken to a large resealable bag with the flour. Seal the bag and shake it until the chicken is evenly coated.
- I used a 5.8 quart air fryer and needed to air fry the chicken in 2 batches.
- You don't want to overcrowd the chicken as air needs to circulate around the pieces to ensure even cooking and crispiness.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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