Name: Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders with Green Beans (Low Carb, High Protein, Optavia Lean and Green)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 24 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut lengthwise into 16 tenders (about 1 oz each); 1/2 cup almond flour; 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1 tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp paprika; 1/2 tsp onion powder; 1/2 tsp salt, divided; 1/2 tsp black pepper, divided; 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten; Olive oil spray; 6 cups fresh green beans, trimmed; 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders with Green Beans

Crispy air fryer chicken tenders with green beans, a complete Lean and Green dinner, 52g protein, ready in 25 minutes. No frying, no breading guilt.

Optavia Lean and Green Recipes Published November 13, 2026 1,029 words · 6 min read

Why this recipe works

Chicken tenders are the weeknight dinner everyone actually eats, and the air fryer is the reason they can stay on plan without tasting like a compromise. The hot, circulating air does the work a deep fryer used to do: it dries the surface of the coating, sets it crisp, and browns it, all with a light spray of oil instead of a pan of it. The almond flour and Parmesan coating matters here. Plain chicken breast in an air fryer can dry out fast, but a thin, seasoned crust protects the meat, holds in moisture, and gives you the crunch that makes tenders feel like tenders rather than plain grilled chicken cut into strips.

This is also a deliberately simple plate. One protein, one vegetable, one basket. There is no separate side dish to cook and nothing to work out at the table: the green beans are the Green, the chicken is the Lean, and the meal is complete as written.

If you are cooking for the Optavia 5 and 1 plan, the structure will look familiar: a lean protein of 5 to 7 ounces, three servings of vegetables, a healthy fat, and a condiment, with no starch and no fruit in the meal itself. The lemon wedge is not decoration; acid at the end is the cheapest flavour upgrade in cooking, and it means the seasoning can stay light without the plate tasting bland.

Short on time? The recipe card below has everything on one screen: tick off the ingredients as you gather them, scale the servings up or down, and tap each step as you finish it.

Why this one opens the calendar

This is the first air fryer recipe on a site with 216 recipes and none in the category, and it targets the exact gap the strategy ranked first: air fryer chicken at 40,500 searches a month for tenders alone. It is also a genuinely complete Lean and Green meal in one pan and one basket, which is the format the site's readers already come for, no side dish to work out, no extra Green to add.

Tips, swaps and storage

Do not crowd the basket. Tenders touching each other steam instead of crisping. Two batches beat one crowded batch every time, and the first batch stays hot in a 200 F oven while the second cooks.
Cut evenly. Tenders cut to roughly the same thickness finish at the same time. If one end of a breast is much thicker, slice it in half lengthwise so it cooks through without drying out the thin end.
Swap the coating, keep the counts: finely crushed pork rinds replace the almond flour one-for-one for a crunchier, zero-carb crust; check the Healthy Fat count for the swap before publishing, because pork rinds are not a one-to-one fat match.
Make it a meal prep: the tenders reheat in the air fryer at 375 F for 3 to 4 minutes and stay crisp; the microwave makes them soft, so it is worth the extra minutes. Store chicken and beans separately in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do not freeze the cooked green beans; they go limp on thawing.
If you only have frozen green beans: thaw and pat them very dry first, then air fry for 8 to 10 minutes. Wet beans steam and never blister.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use chicken thighs instead of breast?

Yes, but the counts change. Thighs carry more fat than breast, so a thigh version is a different Lean with a different Healthy Fat allowance. Work the counts out again for thighs rather than swapping them in silently, and trim all visible fat before cutting.

Do I need to preheat the air fryer?

It helps, and it only takes 3 minutes. A cold basket means the first minutes go to heating metal instead of crisping coating, and the tenders come out paler and softer. Preheat while you coat the chicken and you lose no time.

How do I know the tenders are done?

Colour is a hint, not a test. The thickest tender should read 165 F (74 C) on an instant-read thermometer, and the juices should run clear. At 400 F, tenders cut to about an ounce each usually need 12 to 14 minutes total, flipped once.

Try more Lean and Green chicken dinners: Buffalo Chicken Wrap and Sheet Pan Chicken Fajita Lettuce Wraps.

This recipe is educational information, not medical advice. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Optavia LLC or Medifast, Inc.

Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Tenders with Green Beans

Why this recipe works