Season the chicken

• Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.

Make the buttermilk dredge

• Whisk the buttermilk with a little salt and pepper in a bowl.
• Add the chicken and toss to coat well.

Coat in panko

• Skip the flour dredge entirely.
• Press each piece of chicken into the panko breadcrumbs, coating evenly on all sides.

Air fry

• Lightly spray the breaded chicken with cooking spray.
• Arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 200 °C, flipping halfway, until golden and cooked through.

Serve

• Serve hot, ideally in a fried chicken sandwich.