Air Fried Buffalo Chicken Strips: Healthy Comfort Food

Guys, you NEED an air fryer.  Like yesterday. It’s such a versatile little kitchen gadget! Today we are making my favorite type of chicken in the air fryer- buffalo style!  I’m obsessed with buffalo style anything. The saucier the better! This recipe  for air fried buffalo chicken strips is a healthier alternative to your typical fried buffalo chicken strips. It’s made with minimal oil but you still get all the flavor and the perfect crunch! I have also included a paleo version without Panko crumbs so you can make your chicken strips even healthier as well as lower in carbs.

Ingredients For Buffalo Chicken Strips

I prepared these buffalo strips two ways. One with panko crumbs which gives the chicken strips a great crispy crunch and another made with almond flour and egg which still tastes amazing but makes the recipe lower in carbs as well as paleo friendly. To make your chicken strips you will need your favorite buffalo sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot), a little ghee, chicken tenders, almond flour, egg, some basic seasonings and panko crumbs if you are adding that.

I like mixing a little ghee into the buffalo sauce because it gives the sauce a richer, creamier flavor. I buy my ghee from Costco since I use it in cooking often. To me, the saucier the better when it comes to my wings but you can opt for less OR use the buffalo sauce to dip your wings into instead of mixing it all together.

Preparing Your Buffalo Strips

I like to follow a dry-wet-dry method when cooking in the air fryer. I set some almond flour mixed with seasonings on a plate, beat an egg into a bowl and then add panko crumbs to another plate.  Then you can work in an assembly line, dipping your chicken tender into each before placing in the air fryer.

When you are measuring out the amounts of dry and wet ingredients, you can really use as much or as little as you would like.  I use enough to coat the amount of chicken I have.  Sometimes I just eyeball it and add more as needed avoid waste.  So the recipe here is for what I use specifically, but feel free to adjust to more or less as needed.

When I initially started using my sir fryer for chicken, I was a bit skeptical about cooking it in the air fryer but these came out great. I wanted to find a balance of not contracting food poisoning and not gnawing on overdone chicken leather. My suggestion is to cut your chicken open when you think it’s about done to verify it’s no longer pink. With fish, it’s much easier to gauge when it’s ready. I made a chili lime tilapia and fish sticks in my air fryer and it worked perfectly.

When your chicken tenders are done, you simply toss with your buffalo sauce and serve with a little ranch and you’re good to go! I have been loving the Vegan Ranch from Primal Kitchen Foods! (You can use code BEAUTY10 for 10% off your order!) Like I mentioned before, you can also reserve your buffalo sauce for dipping if you want a less saucy wing.

Other Air Fryer Recipes You Will Love:

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Buffalo Cauliflower

Crispy Potatoes

Smashed Potatoes

Air Fried Buffalo Chicken Strips

• Author: Jen Lopez
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 3 1x

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Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast strips
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup Panko crumbs – (skip for low carb or paleo option)
• 1/2 cup almond flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
• 1/2 tbs ghee
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• ranch for dipping (I love Primal Kitchen Foods Vegan Ranch – use code BEAUTY10 for 10% off)

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Instructions

1. Place beaten egg, almond flour mixed with seasonings and panko crumbs in separate plates/bowls
2. Spray the bottom of the air fryer with a little cooking spray
3. Dip chicken into the almond flour, then the egg wash, and roll in panko until well coated. NOTE: for paleo/low carb chicken strips, pat chicken dry and dip in egg wash first and then coat with almond flour mixture.
4. Place in air fryer and spray the top of the chicken with a little more cooking spray
5. Fry at 375 for 7-8 minutes. Flip and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink
6. While chicken is in the air fryer, warm buffalo sauce in a small sauce pan and whisk in ghee
7. Remove chicken from air fryer and place in a mixing bowl
8. Toss chicken in buffalo sauce until well coated
9. Serve with celery, carrots and ranch

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