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This air fryer turkey tenderloin recipe gives the same juicy and delicious results as my pressure cooker turkey breast and crockpot turkey tenderloin recipes but in less than 30 minutes. It’s the perfect Thanksgiving option for two or small groups. Learn how to make a 1.5lb turkey breast tenderloin in the air fryer, easy and fast!
Why Make Turkey Tenderloin in the Air Fryer
There are so many reasons to add this turkey tenderloin air fryer recipe to your list of turkey recipes. Here are my top four:
- Quick and Easy: Cooking Butterball or Jennie-o turkey tenderloin in the air fryer takes less than 30 minutes from prep to plate. This delicious recipe also requires simple ingredients.
- Save time: you’ll need more than 40 minutes of cooking time to make the same dish in an oven or pressure cooker.
- Great Thanksgiving option for small groups: This turkey dish will be ideal if you’re making Thanksgiving dinner for two people, or just a small group of guests, especially those who don’t like the darker meat (turkey legs and turkey thighs).
- Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner too: these are available year-round. That said, you make this delicious air fryer turkey tenderloin recipe for the holiday season, or for an easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients Needed
- Turkey breast tenderloins: These come pre-brined and ready to cook in a 1.5lb package.
- Braggs herb seasoning: this is one of my favorite seasonings because it is all-purpose and includes common turkey seasoning ingredients like rosemary, thyme, sage, and tarragon.
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
- Olive oil or avocado oil: this is the easiest way to help the spices stick to the turkey tenderloin, and brown the tender meat in the air fryer.
How to Make Brined or Marinated Turkey Tenderloin in an Air Fryer
- Mix the spices in a small bowl.
- Pat the turkey tenderloins dry with paper towels. Add the turkey, oil, and spices to a bowl. Toss evenly in the seasoning mixture to coat all sides of the turkey tenderloins.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees for 5 minutes and add the coated tenderloin into the air fryer basket in a single layer.
- For best results, turn the heat down to 360 degrees and cook for 10 minutes per side of the skinless turkey tenderloin.
Recipe Tips & FAQs
- Buy pre-brined tenderloins: Brining is a great way to help the turkey breast to come out moist, and buying pre-brined meat will save you prep time. If you buy fresh turkey tenderloin, you can use my buttermilk turkey brine or turkey marinade to brine or marinate your meat the day before cooking (air frying).
- Pre-heat the air fryer: Pre-heating the air fryer helps with crisping and giving the tender cut of meat a sear. You can learn how to preheat your air fryer with my tutorial.
- Brined turkey will shrink: brines add liquid and seasoning to meat and helps to keep it moist. This means that you can expect your juicy turkey breast tenderloin to shrink when you cook it in the air fryer.
Marinated Turkey Tenderloin in Air Fryer
Any brined or marinated tenderloin works in this recipe. If you use fresh turkey breast tenderloin, feel free to use the brine from my pressure cooker turkey breast or the turkey tenderloin marinade from my air fryer turkey thighs.
How to Store Leftover Turkey Tenderloin.
If you have any leftovers from this air fryer turkey breast tenderloin recipe, the best way to store them is in an airtight container for the next time (up to 3-4 days). You can also store leftovers in a freezer bag and place them in the freezer.
Yes.
Cook the meat to an internal temperature of 155-165 degrees. You can confirm the temperature with a meat thermometer.
For my easy air fryer recipe, I cook the lean turkey tenderloin for 10 minutes per side.
Yes. It will only take longer to cook to crispy. You will also want to turn down the heat in your air fryer so that it can cook and thaw without drying out.
Recipes to Enjoy This With
Try the following side dishes:
- Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
- Keto Cornbread Stuffing
- Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Keto Cranberry Sauce
- Keto Cornbread
More Turkey Tenderloin Recipes
If you try this recipe, please stop back and leave it a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Stay connected & share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Turkey Tenderloin in the Air Fryer Recipe
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Turkey breast tenderloin, these come packaged with two and are already pre-brined
- 1.5 tsp 24 Herbs Sprinkle Seasoning (Salt-free)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt, use DRDAVINAHS to save!
- 2 tbsp olive oil, or avocado oil
Instructions
- Pat the turkey tenderloins dry with a paper towel.
- Mix the spices in a small bowl – this helps with applying the spice mix evenly over the meat.
- Add the turkey, oil and spices to a bowl. Toss evenly to coat.
- Preheat the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes – this helps to give the meat somewhat of a sear.
- Add the turkey tenderloin to the air fryer basket
- Turn the heat down to 360 degrees and cook for 10 minutes per side.
- Rest for 5-10 minutes with the air fryer basket removed or the air fryer door open.
Recipe Notes
- Buy pre-brined tenderloins: Brining helps the Turkey breast to come out moist, and buying pre-brined meat will save you prep time. If you buy fresh turkey tenderloin, you can use my buttermilk turkey brine or turkey marinade to brine or marinate your meat the day before cooking.
- Pre-heat the air fryer: Pre-heating the air fryer helps with crisping and giving the meat a sear. You can learn how to preheat your air fryer with my tutorial.
- Brined turkey will shrink: brines add liquid and seasoning to meat and helps to keep it moist. This means that you can expect your turkey to shrink when you cook it in the air fryer.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
