Air Fryer Chicken Bites (Crispy But No Breading)
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These Air Fryer Chicken Bites are as easy as it gets—just a few ingredients and a few minutes in the air fryer. Perfect for a fast lunch, dinner, or meal prep! They’re crispy, tender, and ready for all the dipping sauces.
Table of Contents
Why We Love Air Fryer Chicken Bites
- Quick And Easy – This makes the fastest dinner or lunch with only a few minutes of work, I’ve been trying more and more in the air fryer because it cooks fast! These chicken bites don’t have breading but do have the perfect amount of crispiness.
- Perfect For Meal Prep – While you can enjoy these chicken bites on their own, you can add them to so many things like on top of salad, in a wrap, over rice or on a creamy pasta like our mac and cheese with broccoli. You can also enjoy this chicken warm or cold, and I have a few suggestions below in the recipe card to change up the flavors too.
- Kids Love These! – Chicken bites are boneless skinless chicken breast repackaged, and while it’s not quite the same as a chicken nugget they aren’t a far stretch for kids who will try new flavors a little. You can serve chicken bites with sauces like bbq sauce, ketchup, honey mustard, buffalo sauce or whatever your favorite dipping sauce is.
Ingredients For Air Fryer Chicken Bites (Crispy But No Breading)
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.
- chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into 1-inch chunks, you want to have evenly sized chicken pieces so they cook evenly. You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces.
- brown sugar
- Cajun seasoning
- garlic powder
- salt
- cayenne pepper optional- see notes in the recipe card about adjusting for pickier eaters
How To Make Chicken Bites In The Air Fryer
- Cut the chicken breast into one inch pieces. Try to keep them the same size so the chicken cooks evenly. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl add brown sugar, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and optional cayenne pepper.
- In a large bowl, add the chicken, dark brown sugar, Cajun seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper tossing to coat the chicken in all of the spices.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken to the basket of the air fryer in a single layer (cook in batches if you can’t fit it all in one layer in the air fryer.)
- Cook at 400°F in the air fryer for 10 minutes. Halfway through toss the chicken in the basket. Chicken should register an internal temperature of 165 on the inside when done and have no pink on the inside.
Variation Ideas
You can swap out the Cajun seasoning for another seasoning that goes well with the brown sugar. BBQ seasoning or BBQ rub is a great option that goes great with the brown sugar. An Asian seasoning such as Korean BBQ seasoning also works well with the brown sugar.
Other seasoning mixes such as Montreal Chicken seasoning, lemon pepper, Italian seasoning or even everything bagel seasoning can be used but I would recommend leaving out the brown sugar and instead add two tablespoons of cooking oil.
I also have a few suggestions for adapting the recipe’s original flavors for pickier eaters in the notes section of the recipe card.
What To Serve Chicken Bites With?
These chicken bites are a great starting point for a meal and easy to make. Throw the chicken over a creamy pasta like our mac and cheese with broccoli, add the chicken bites to wraps, throw them over rice or add them to the top of a leafy green salad for a quick and easy meal. Add some toothpicks, and they can also make a great appetizer.
You can throw a potato on the side for a great full meal. Try the roasted baby potatoes, the potato wedges or the green beans and potatoes for great options. Potato pancakes or cheesy mashed potatoes are more great options.
Try throwing a cold salad on the side like the bean and chickpea salad, the Mediterranean tomato cucumber salad or the Italian pasta salad.
Can I Make These Chicken Bites In The Oven?
Yes you can make these chicken bites in the oven. If you have an air fryer or convection oven setting, you can follow the same directions as for the air fryer.
If you are using the oven without the special settings, bump the temperature up to 425 degrees. Spray the pan generously with cooking oil. Halfway through the cooking time, flip the chicken.
The chicken may not get quite as crispy just using the oven alone, as air fryers are really good at making food crispy. It will still be delicious though.
How Long Will Air Fryer Chicken Bites Last?
Expect the chicken to last for about three days if stored in an airtight covered airtight container in the refrigerator.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Air Fryer Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional- see notes about picky eaters
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breast into one inch pieces. Try to keep them the same size so the chicken cooks evenly. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl add brown sugar, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and optional cayenne pepper.
- In a large bowl, add the chicken, dark brown sugar, cajun seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper tossing to coat the chicken in all of the spices.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken to the basket of the air fryer in a single layer (cook in batches if you can't fit it all in one layer in the air fryer.)
- Cook at 400°F in the air fryer for 10 minutes. Halfway through toss the chicken in the basket. Chicken should register an internal temperature of 165 on the inside when done and have no pink on the inside.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This?
I would love to see it! Share your thoughts with me in the comments below!
