Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken

This air fryer lemon pepper chicken recipe is perfect for weeknights, coming together in less than 20 minutes. Using simple ingredients, this chicken is juicy and tender and packed full of flavour thanks to the homemade lemon pepper seasoning.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Australian

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 12

Total Time 20

Servings people

Calories 210kcal

Author Sally

Ingredients

500 grams chicken tenders
1-2 tablespoons lemon zest approx 2 lemons
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
fresh parsley to serve

Instructions

Preheat the air fryer to 180°C and trim the chicken tenders, removing the tough tendon.
In a mixing bowl add the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper, salt and garlic powder and mix to combine. Add in the chicken tenders and toss to coat in the marinade.
Place a piece of baking paper down in the basket of the air fryer and line the tenders in the basket, ensuring they don’t touch or overlap. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to cook the tenders in 2 batches.
Cook for 10-12 minutes depending on the size of the tenders, or until the internal temperature reaches 75°C (165F).
Set the tenders aside on a plate covered with aluminium foil to rest and keep warm while you cook the remaining chicken.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve with your favourite sides.

Notes

I find it much easier to use my mortar and pestle to crush whole black peppercorns for this recipe rather than using my pepper grinder as it’s much quicker and gives the pepper a coarser texture which is perfect for this recipe. Feel free to adjust the amount of pepper used based on your tastes.

The acid from the lemon juice will begin cooking the chicken so it’s best to cook the tenders straight away rather than leave them marinating for longer than 10 minutes.

Conventional oven cooking method: place the marinated chicken tenders baking tray lined with baking paper, evenly spaced apart and place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until cooked through (or until the internal temperature reaches 75°C (165F).

Nutrition