Add salt, pepper and smoked paprika and mix well until the chicken is coated with the spices.
Pour in honey and mustard and mix well.
Place the finely-crushed pecans on a plate.
Working with one chicken tender at a time, roll the tenders into the crushed pecans until both sides are coated. Brush off any excess.
Place the tenders into the air fryer basket and continue until all tenders are coated and in the air fryer basket.
Set the air fryer to 350F for 12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the pecans are golden brown before serving.
Tips And Tricks For Making Pecan Crusted Chicken
For this recipe, you want the nuts crushed fine, but not utterly powdered. The finer they are chopped, the more likely they are to stick to the mustard mixture.
If you find yourself getting annoyed by nuts that just won't stay put, just chop them a little bit more and you should be good to go.
Remember too that you can use other nuts for this recipe, so if you don't like pecans, try something different.