Air fryer honey mustard chicken salad
Crunchy golden chicken tenders sliced over crisp romaine, cucumber, tomato and cheddar with a sweet and tangy homemade honey mustard.
- 35 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.22 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1¼ lb chicken tenderloins, patted dry
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar
From your pantry
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Each serving has about 500 calories, 43 g protein, 28 g carbs and 25 g fat, and costs about $3.22 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken tenderloins? Chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs work.
- No honey? Maple syrup works.
- No romaine lettuce? Green leaf lettuce or iceberg lettuce or butter lettuce works.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the air fryer to 400°F. Beat the egg in a shallow bowl, and mix the panko, paprika, garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt in another.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Dip each tender in the egg, then press it into the panko on both sides.
Dolly’s tip: Use one hand for the egg and the other for the crumbs, or both hands end up breaded.Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
with the oil and air fry in one layer, in batches if needed, 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway, until and the thickest one reads 165°F.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 11 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
the honey, both mustards, mayonnaise, vinegar and the rest of the salt until smooth.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
the lettuce, the cucumber and the tomatoes.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
the tenders and pile them on the salad with the cheddar. with the honey mustard.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Dolly’s tip: For lunches, pack the tenders separately and warm them in the air fryer for 3 minutes so they crisp back up. Keep the dressing in a small jar.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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