What is jerk chicken?

Jerk chicken is a slowly cooked chicken coated with spices. Traditionally jerk chicken is made over a fire or grill which has green pimento wood over burning coal and the smoke absorbed by chicken improves the taste.

What is jerk seasoning?

Jerk seasoning, also known as Jamaican jerk seasoning, is a spice blend which includes, powdered onion and garlic, cumin, nutmeg, allspice (Jamaican pepper), smoked paprika, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, salt, dried parsley and thyme and some brown sugar.

air fryer

jerk chicken tenders air fryer recipe

Emine Aslan February 28, 2024
Jerk Chicken Tenders Air Fryer Recipe

Summary: Here is a delicious chicken tenderloin recipe. Chicken tenderloins, or tenders in short, are the softest part of the chicken breast but this jerk chicken recipe will improve their already tender texture.

Tags: Air fryer jerk chicken

Category:Dinner
Cuisine:Jamaican
Serving:4
Cook Time:25 minutes
Prep Time:5 minutes
Author:Emine Aslan
Calories: 285

What makes a chicken jerk is the fact that the chicken is coated with spices and made by a slow-cooking process, traditionally over a fire made up of green pimento wood placed over burning coal. The spices and the smoke give the chicken its taste. Of course, you will not have the smoke in this air fryer recipe but, other than missing smoke taste, it will be a delicious jerk chicken. This recipe uses chicken tenderloins but jerk chicken can be made using all kinds of chicken meats. So, you can adapt this recipe to other chicken meat cuts such as chicken breasts, thighs, drumsticks, or even chicken wings. Let’s move on to the recipe!

Ingredients

  • 16 chicken tenders

  • 3 tablespoons jerk seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • Salt to taste

  • ½ teaspoon olive oil

Directions

  1. Preheat the air fryer by selecting the “Chicken” function and adjusting the timer to 3 minutes. Once you press the “Start/Pause” button, it will begin warming up.

  2. Dry chicken tenders with a paper towel and place them in a bowl.

  3. Add jerk seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and olive oil over the chicken tenders and mix them well. Please pay attention to the fact that your jerk seasoning may already have had onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. If so, do not add these three.

  4. Open the air fryer, arrange the chicken tenders in the basket in a single layer and close it.

  5. Set the timer to 25 minutes. Once you press the “Start/Pause” button, it will start cooking.

  6. Flip the chicken tenders halfway through cooking. The chicken tenders should turn charred when cooked.

  7. Once cooked, remove the air fryer basket and transfer the chicken tenders to a serving platter.

  8. Serve warm.

  9. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving
Amount/​Serving
% Daily Value
Calories per serving
285
Fat
6.4 grams
9
Carbs
5.8 grams
2
Sugar
2.2 grams
2
Protein
46.1 grams
92
Sodium
886.3 milligrams
44
Extras
  • HOW TO SERVE JERK CHICKEN TENDERS:

    Green salad is the best choice for the side of jerk chicken tenders. You can also serve them with roasted vegetables such as cauliflower, squash broccoli, asparagus, carrots, green beans etc. Rice made using chicken stock serves also as a perfect complement to jerk chicken tenders.