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Easy Air Fryer Chicken Bites are going to become a weeknight favorite! These are a copycat recipe for Chick Fil A Grilled Nuggets and they are phenomenal! Serve them with a spicy honey mustard dipping sauce. Perfect to meal prep protein for the week!
You have got to make a batch of Air Fryer Chicken Bites!
They are the easy breezy chicken recipe you didn’t know you needed. Start by marinating the chicken nuggets in a little buttermilk and dill pickle juice combo. It’s my favorite way to make crispy chicken sandwiches because the pickle juice just adds so much flavor. Then we’ll season them in a blend of seasonings including garlic powder and then we’ll toss them in to the air fryer basket to cook until they are done.
Serve this all up with ranch dressing, Polynesian sauce, or my ultra flavorful spicy honey mustard sauce. It’s got a squirt of bbq sauce in it too and it tastes just like a copycat Chick Fil A sauce!
Air Fryer Chicken Bites are just like the Chick Fil A Grilled Nuggets, minus the grill marks of course! And if the marks are really, really, important to you, you could always just toss the chicken on a grill pan on the stove top so that they are near identical.
Grilled Nuggets are great to use on salads, wraps, in rice bowls, serve with crispy fries, or potato wedges, and great to have prepped in the fridge to toss on pasta, in buffalo chicken bowls and so much more!
They also happen to be naturally gluten-free and so easy anyone can make them!
Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Bites
- Chicken: I like to use boneless skinless chicken breasts but boneless skinless chicken thighs would also work for this recipe. You could even use chicken tenders. Today I’m just using chicken breast meat cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Pickle Juice: I like to use dill pickle juice for this recipe. Picklejuice as brining liquid helps tenderize and flavor the chicken.
- Buttermilk: because of its low pH, buttermilk helps tenderize the chicken without toughening it. I usually have buttermilk cubes in the freezer – I freeze leftovers in cubes so I have some when I need them.
- Cornstarch: helps lock in the moisture for the chicken bites. we’re only using a tablespoon so it doesn’t give the chicken pieces a coating or anything like that.
- Powdered Sugar: helps give the grilled nuggets a little caramelized color!
- Seasoning Salt: I like to use this brand. It includes ingredients like salt, sugar, paprika, celery seeds, turmeric, onion powder, and other ingredients.
- Black Pepper: adds a hint of spice.
- Garlic Powder: Just ensures that the chicken bites have plenty of flavor. You’ll need ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
- Paprika: I like to use hot paprika for this recipe, but swaps are totally find if you have smoked paprika on hand!
- Cooking spray: I like to use a high heat cooking spray, such as avocado oil because it has a high smoke point. You don’t want to use olive oil, because we are cooking these chicken bites at a temperature above the smoke point of olive oil.
- Spicy Honey Mustard: This is my favorite dipping sauce, so I always serve it with crispy chicken bites, tenders, and basically everything else.
Tip: If you don’t have buttermilk, just combine ⅓ cup 2%, 1% or skim milk in a bowl with 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) and let its for a few minutes before adding the pickle juice.
Instructions for Grilled Chicken Nuggets
- Soak the chicken chunks. Start by combining the pickle juice and the buttermilk in a bowl. Once mixed, add the bite-sized pieces and allow the chicken to soak for as little as 30 minutes before you air fry or up to 24 hours.
- Make the seasoning mix. Once the chicken is done marinating, in a bowl combine the cornstarch, powdered sugar, seasoning salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Sprinkle the chicken. Drain the chicken from the marinade and drip off as much of the liquid as possible. Then sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken. I like to use gloved hands and really coat the chicken well.
- Preheat the air fryer. Some air fryers have a preheat setting and if you’re does, get it going. If it doesn’t just allow the air fryer to heat at 425ºF for 3-4 minutes.
- Air fry the chicken. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer to the air fryer basket. You can line the basket to amen for easier clean up. Then spray the chicken with cooking spray to help crisp the exterior a little. Cook for until a meat thermometer says the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 160ºF. You can broil the nuggets for a few seconds if your air fryer has that setting! Serve warm with prepared sauce.
FAQs about this recipe
Cook these for 8-10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 160ºF.
Pop the remaining chicken in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Make Caesar Chicken Wraps, use them in bowls, or serve them as a main dish with baked potatoes, or shred the chicken up as use it as you would a rotisserie chicken!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken Skewers
- Sticky Baked Chicken Bites
- Firecracker Chicken Meatballs
- Crispy Sticky Honey Garlic Chicken
- Sticky Garlic Gochujang Chicken
- Turmeric Black Pepper Chicken
Easy Air Fryer Chicken Bites (Grilled Nuggets)
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, thighs or tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ½ cup pickle juice
- ⅓ cup buttermilk see notes
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt such as Lowry’s
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika hot or smoked
- Spicy Honey Mustard Sauce in notes
Instructions
- SOAK: In a medium bowl, combine the pickle juice and buttermilk. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (ideally, it’s best if you do this several hours in advance – up to 24 hours.)
- SEASONING: In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, powdered sugar, seasoning salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
- SPRINKLE: Drain the chicken from the marinade in a colander, but do not rinse. Then place it back in the bowl. Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken and using a spoon or with your hands make sure the seasoning coats all of the chicken pieces.
- PREHEAT: the air fryer to 425ºF for a few minutes. Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray (or line with a liner.)
- AIR FRY: Add the chicken pieces in a single layer. Spray with cooking spray and cook for 7-9 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to 160ºF. You can broil the nuggets for 30 seconds if your air fryer has that function to give them a bit more color. Serve with homemade sauce (in notes) if desired!
Notes
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, use 2 tsp distilled white vinegar and ⅓ cup 2%. 1%, or skim milk. Let ingredients mix in bowl for 5 minutes before adding the pickle juice.
- Spicy Honey Mustard Sauce: In a bowl, combine 1 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp BBQ sauce, ¼ cup mayo, 1 tbsp, mustard, ½ tbsp sriracha, 2 tsp lemon juice. Stir, taste, and adjust to preference.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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These were delicious. They were so tender and full of flavor. I think I will cut back the salt a bit if I make them again.