Cheez-It Chicken
Air fry or bake crispy Cheez-It Chicken with simple ingredients and expert tips. Easy cheesy chicken tenders are the best weeknight dinner or game day appetizer.
Servings: 10 chicken tenders
Calories: 146kcal
Equipment
- Air Fryer or oven
Ingredients
- 10 chicken tenders about 1 pound
- 2 cups Cheez-It crackers
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 ranch seasoning packet
- olive oil cooking spray
- Optional: dipping sauce
Instructions
- Combine buttermilk and a ranch seasoning packet in a large bowl.
- Add chicken tenders to buttermilk mixture, cover the bowl, and let them soak in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
- Spray air fryer basket with olive oil and preheat to 400°F.
- Add Cheez-It crackers to a Ziplock bag and close. Using a rolling pin, crush crackers into small crumbs. Alternatively, you can crush Cheez It crackers in a food processor.
- Pour Cheez-It crumbs into a shallow bowl. Remove chicken from buttermilk and allow any excess marinade to drip off. Bread chicken tenders by placing them in the cracker crumbs and firmly press down to allow crumbs to stick to the chicken. Coat all sides of the chicken.
- Place breaded chicken in the air fryer basket. Repeat until air fryer basket it full, but take care not to overcrowd the basket. You may need to cook chicken in batches.
- Lightly spray breaded chicken tenders with olive oil spray and cook at 400°F for 5 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 5 minutes until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- To bake: Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread out chicken on a baking sheet with parchment paper, or on top of a wire rack on the baking sheet. Cook for 6-7 minutes, flip and cook an additional 6-7 minutes.
- I don't add additional salt to this recipe because the Cheez-Its have enough sodium, in my option. Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired.
- Marinate for as long as you can, up to overnight. The longer the chicken marinates in the buttermilk mixture, the more tender and flavorful it will be.
Nutrition
Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 214mg | Potassium: 264mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 94IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 1mg
