Turkey Tenderloin Air Fryer is juicy, tender, and the perfect comfort food for any occasion. Easy to customize with your favorite spices, this turkey breast tenderloin is sure to be a family favorite.
It doesn’t have to be the holiday meal to enjoy this succulent turkey! You can easily serve it with your favorite sides or cut it into slices and add it to a sandwich. Heck, you can make your Thanksgiving meal out of this succulent and tender cut of meat.
Not only is this dish satisfying, comforting, and delicious, it’s truly so EASY! It goes over well when you are entertaining or when you want some home-cooked goodness for the family for an easy weeknight meal.
🍽️ Why This Works
Fast | You can cook the tenderloin in less than 20 minutes! Larger tenderloins will take a little bit longer, but it’s always quick and easy. Substitute for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.
Perfect For Entertaining | If you are having family or friends over, they will love everything about this turkey! Guests will love the way it tastes and you will love the fact that there is very little effort needed.
Customizable | You can season the turkey with any kind of seasonings you like. Because it goes well with all sorts of flavors, you can make it sweet or savory depending on what you are craving.
🦃 Ingredients
Turkey Tenderloins | We love to use Jennie-O, Shadybrook Farms, and Butterball varieties. Tenderloins are always boneless and skinless. Make sure the cuts of meat are similar in size so they cook evenly.
Olive Oil | You’ll need just a little bit of olive oil spray so the spices can stick to the turkey. Don’t go overboard, just a spritz and you are good.
Seasonings | It’s fine to use any seasonings you like. We love the Kick’N Chicken Seasoning from Weber, but really anything you like will work well. Go with tried and true herbs like kosher salt and pepper, rosemary and thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, poultry seasoning or your favorite seasoning mixture.
⏲️ Equipment and Tools
Air Fryer | We love to use our Ninja, but Gourmia and Cosori air fryers also work great too. Using a quality air fryer is going to lead to fewer issues, so it’s worth investing in! You know we love our Instant Vortex 7 in 1 as well when we are feeding more than a couple people.
Tongs | You could flip the meat with something other than tongs, but they are my preferred too! Tongs make it easy to grab ahold of the turkey and quickly turn it over without issue. They are one of our favorite accessories.
Thermometer | I highly recommend having a digital meat thermometer in every kitchen. There is no question on the temperature of the meat and it’s easier to keep an eye on.
Air Fryer Liners | While they aren’t required, having some silicone air fryer liners is a game changer for cleanup! Trust me on this one. If you haven’t used them before, jump over to the post dedicated to it.
Make sure to snag your {FREEBIE} Air Fryer Cooking Times Printable, Deep Fryer to Air Fryer Conversion Printable and Oven to Air Fryer Conversion Printable.
🔥 Instructions
Step One: Spray both sides of the turkey tenderloins with olive oil spray. Then add seasonings to both sides.
Step Two: Preheat the air fryer to 350°F degrees. Then add the turkey to the air fryer basket in a single layer.
Step Three: Cook for 17-20 minutes and check the internal temperature. If it’s 165°F degrees, then it’s ready otherwise, cook for an additional 1-3 minutes and recheck the temperature.
Note: Always cook to temperature, not time when dealing with poultry.
❗ Expert Tips
- Cutting the tenderloins so they are the same size will allow them to cook evenly and flawlessly. Otherwise, they may get done at different times and the results will vary.
- Don’t overcook the turkey or it will be dry and not as flavorful.
- Knowing how long to let turkey rest is key to keeping the juices in and not letting it dry out. Shoot for 5-10 minutes before serving. This will allow the juice to properly redistribute back into the turkey instead of running all over the serving dish.
Storage
After the turkey has cooled down, store leftovers place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days or freeze for up to three months.
Reheating Instructions
Reheat the tenderloin in the air fryer for a few minutes or until it’s hot all the way through. Or you can place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
All your burning questions: Can You Put Parchment Paper in Air Fryer? Can You Put Foil in the Air Fryer?
Meal Prep
Cook the air fryer turkey tenderloin in advance and slice. Place into food meal prep containers along with your favorite sides like roasted veggies or rice.
Substitutions
Swap the turkey tenderloins for chicken breasts or even pork tenderloins as well. The directions are still the same, you just may need to adjust the cooking time.
🥦 Serving Suggestions
This is one of those air fryer recipes you would feel proud to serve to company. Serve with any of your favorite sides like oven roasted potatoes, smashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, or cut it up and put it into a salad. You can even slice the turkey and eat it as a sandwich. This recipe is truly versatile and you can easily eat it in so many different ways.
We have even made these plain and made meal prep shredded turkey like we did for the chicken to put in the freezer. We pull a pack out and make tacos, enchiladas, sandwiches…the list is endless. Use the leftover turkey in Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole, Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole, add it to the Garlic Broccoli Stir Fry or Cauliflower Fried Rice.
Favorite Air Fryer Main Dishes
Recipe FAQ
You should cook the tenderloin until it reaches 165 degrees. Eating undercooked poultry could make you sick, so be sure to use a thermometer to check it properly.
A turkey tenderloin actually comes from a turkey breast. It’s a cut of meat that doesn’t have bones or skin. Tenderloin is actually a lot more tender and cooks fast too.
Tenderloin is meat that is from a turkey breast. It’s a strip of meat that is from the center of the turkey breasts.
They are both fantastic, but tenderloin is going to be more tender and juicy than the whole turkey breast. Both are delicious and work well with many dishes, so one isn’t necessarily better than the other. It’s just about your preference.
You will need to cook the tenderloin at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Check the meat and if it’s not done continue cooking for an additional 5-10 minutes or until it reaches 165 degrees.
Cutlets come from the tenderloin meat. You can make cutlets yourself by slicing the turkey tenderloin into ½ inch slices.
Related Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Turkey Tenderloin Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb Turkey Tenderloins our total was one lb
- Seasonings choose what you like
- Olive Oil Spray
Instructions
- Spray the turkey tenderloins with olive oil spray. Sprinkle both sides with spice of your choice.
- Heat air fryer up to 350 degrees. Place the turkey tenderloins in air fryer and cook for 17 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Always cook to internal temperature NOT the actual time on the machine when cooking poultry. If the temp is not 165, place back in the fryer for 1-3 minutes and test again until it reaches 165.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
I liked that recipe went into weight of tenderloins. Mine was 1.3 lbs. 17 minutes was perfect
Thanks, PJ! That is sweet of you to come comment! So glad you loved it!
I made these for a Thanksgiving salad and it was a huge hit!