Sanpete County Chicken

Sanpete County Chicken–the easiest and most delicious marinated chicken made in your air fryer or on a grill. Tender and juicy!

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Sanpete County Chicken

Sanpete County is located in central Utah and is where my mother and father-in-law were raised. In one town in Sanpete called Moroni there is a large turkey plant. Down in Sanpete this marinade is used on turkey breasts (my mother in law calls them turkey steaks). But where I live turkey breasts are quite expensive so I use this marinade on chicken tenderloins. Don’t worry it is still so delicious!

The chicken turns out moist, flavorful and tender every time. The hardest part is just remembering to marinate the meat the day before. After that it’s smooth sailing! This chicken is best when marinated for 24 hours. I used my air fryer to cook this chicken but you can also grill the chicken on an outdoor grill. Grilling season is over here (cuz baby it’s cold outside) so I opted to stay inside and use my air fryer. It worked very nicely! Skyler said, “you gotta make this more!!”

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Sprite–or 7-up (I haven’t tried this with diet soda)
• Soy sauce–I used low sodium soy sauce. For gluten-free chicken use gluten-free soy sauce.
• Vegetable oil–or canola oil
• Horseradish–bottled or finely grated. Sometimes I just leave this out if I don’t have any on hand.
• Garlic powder–or 1 tablespoon of fresh minced garlic
• Chicken tenderloins–or halved chicken breasts or turkey breasts cut into thirds

Steps

In a bowl add the Sprite, soy sauce, oil, horseradish and garlic powder. Stir well. Add in the chicken tenderloins and try to immerse in the liquid as much as possible. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12, but preferably, 24 hours. Stir or flip one or twice, if possible, during the marinating time. I like marinating in this large, flat rubbermaid container*.

Preheat air fryer to 375 degrees. Add in the chicken tenderloins in one layer. Shake off excess marinade. You may have to cook the chicken in batches.  Air fry for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Check chicken for doneness (should be 165 degrees in the middle). 

Let sit for 5 minutes and then serve. 

Notes/Tips

• Serve with mashed potatoes, green salad, corn, fruit salad and dinner rolls.
• To make this gluten-free use gluten-free soy sauce or liquid aminos.
• This recipe is dairy-free.
• I’ve never tried using diet soda with this recipe but I bet it would work okay.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Vortex*. This comes in handy for cooking tots, fries, bacon and many other items.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Other recipes you can make with Sprite/7-UP is Instant Pot 7-Up Chicken and 7-Up Cake.

More Air Fryer Recipes…

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for. 

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.