These crunchy baked chicken tenders are life changing! The secret to truly golden, truly crunchy baked breaded chicken is to toast the breadcrumbs in the oven first. Bonus: No dirty fingers with my quick crumbing technique!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Really crunchy Baked Chicken Tenders
There is no feel-good story behind these crunchy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders. Quite simply, I am yet to meet anything deep fried that I didn’t love, but a) my waistline can’t afford the real thing every time I feel like it; and b) I reserve deep frying for “special occasions”. Because… well, you know.
Mess, oil wastage, gluey fingers.
Waistline. Bottom expansion.
Etc etc.
It also irritated me no end that the breadcrumbs always came out splotchy, no matter how much oil I used.
So this is how I make baked crumbed chicken.
Baked breaded chicken – my way
Toast the breadcrumbs in the oven for just a few minutes. This is the path to truly golden, truly crunchy baked breaded chicken even with a short bake time (max 20 minutes for chicken tenders). PS Much MUCH easier than pan frying!
One dredge batter – the usual process for crumbing is flour then egg then breadcrumbs. For this quick ‘n easy recipe, I combine the egg with flour plus mustard and mayo for flavour + oil (attempt to replicate deep fried) to make a thick batter in which the chicken is dredged. This stuff is great glue for the breadcrumbs!
Clean fingers! Use tongs to transfer the batter slathered chicken into the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over breadcrumbs to cover, press down to adhere. Transfer to tray. Marvel at clean fingers!!
Give it a light spray of oil, bake for 15 minutes and voila! This is what you get:
LOOK HOW GOLDEN THEY ARE!! Just imagine that crunch when you bite into the juicy chicken inside!
Dipping Sauces
It’s pictured above with a Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce. Just like Maccers. Only homemade. 🙂
Other Dipping Sauces: Try the Pink Steak Sauce from the Beef Kebabs, Sweet and Sour Sauce, Thousand Island, Tartare or even a classic Seafood Cocktail Sauce.
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
Breadcrumb
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs (Note 1)
- Oil spray
Batter
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard (or other mustard)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Chicken
- 500 g/1 lb chicken tenderloins (or breast cut into 2/3″ / 1.5cm thick slices, lengthwise)
- Oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180° fan-forced).
- Toast panko – Spread panko on a baking tray, spray with oil (spray vertically to avoid blowing the panko off the tray), then bake for 3 to 5 minutes until light golden. Transfer to bowl.
- Place a rack on a baking tray (not critical but bakes more evenly).
- Dredge batter – Place the Batter ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork until combined. Add the chicken into the Batter and toss to coat.
Crumbing (see video & photo in post)
- Pick up chicken with tongs and place it into the panko bowl.
- Crumb – Sprinkle surface with breadcrumbs, then press down to adhere. Transfer onto baking tray. Marvel at clean fingers, repeat with remaining chicken.
- Spray & bake – Spray lightly with oil, sprinkle with a touch of salt (optional). Bake 15 minutes (medium) or up to 20 minutes if gigantic. Any longer = dried out chicken.
- Serve – Remove from oven and serve immediately, with Sauce of choice (Honey Mustard pictured, see Note 2) and sprinkled with fresh parsley, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published April 2015, updated with new photos, video, words in post. No change to recipe, though some minor writing tidying up has been done.
More crunchy crumbed chicken
A crunchy golden crumb takes any chicken from bland to delicious!
LIFE OF DOZER
That hopeful sparkle in his eyes…. (it was false hope) (Oh wait, I lied. I gave him a bite!)
Hi , I don’t see the time and temperature , can you please let me know . Thanks
I followed the directions as written and these were sooooo good and the chicken was soooo tender! I under-toasted the panko a bit but they were still great. I would say though that the panko everywhere made a bit of a mess but it was worth it! Also worth it – I bought mayo specifically for the honey mustard sauce, as I don’t keep mayo in the house. I think I will use that sauce with EVERYTHING. 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Nagi I’m using Chicken Breast Fillet is that ok.
Hi Sharon – I mention this next to the chicken in the recipe ingredients. 🙂 N x
The recipe looks great but I dislike mustard and mayo. What can I use instead of mustard and mayo?
I’d love to try it out!
These were so delicious! Thank you for all your recipes!
You’re so welcome Ryan, I’m so glad you love them! N x
Looks like a great recipe … i will definitely try it tmw but i have a problem … i cant find panko breadrcumbs in my city … can i use crushed Kellogs corflakes instead? and in case i use the cornflakes … do i need to toast them in the oven with a drizzle of oil like u did with the panko? or i can use them directly to coat the chicken? thank u so much
Hi Moussa, to be honest I haven’t tried so I’m not sure how they would go as a substitute! Would love to know if you try them! N x
Try also using crushed finely, crisps, any flavour you fancy
I have used corn flake cereal to coat chicken tenders. Came out rather crispy. I did not brown the cereal. I always have panko so I use this recipe instead .
Hi Nagi, would chicken thighs work in this recipe?
Hi Christie, they’ll take longer to cook and because they are a little bit more fatty, may not cook as well as the tenders unfortunately. N x
Hi Nagi, my son has an egg allergy. What would you recommend as a substitute in this recipe. Thanks
Hi Tina, I imagine a chia/flax egg substitute would work well here – N x
I added a few extra spices and used bread crumbs instead of panko (I hate the taste) but this is a deadly recipe. 😏 will definitely make these again.
These were truly crunchy and easy. Thanks so much for such a straightforward, quick, and tasty recipe!
Hi Nagi! Where can you find a rack like the one used here?
Any kitchen shop will have them! Cake cooling racks are perfect 🙂 N x
What a great recipe! I made it with the honey mustard dip and it was a huge hit. Followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect. Will definitely be adding this to our rotation. Thanks Nagi!
Great to hear Nyssa! N x
BEST BAKED TENDERS!!!! The chicken was so juicy and had great flavor. I dipped them in blue cheese dressing!
YUM! Sounds great Tara! N x
Wow! This recipe is amazing. I baked the tenders at 200C with fan for 15-18 mins. My kids loved the chicken tenders – they were crisp, moist and tender – and the honey mustard sauce was delicious. We will definitely be making this again! Thanks so much, Nagi!
What temperature should the chicken cook at? 200? Higher? 15 at 200 was way short, so making sure I didn’t miss something?
Hi Kristin – yes they are baked at 200 for 15 minutes – or if they are giant tenders they will take closer to 20 minutes. N x
I cooking mine at 400 for 15-20 and they were regular size tenders. They came out perfect.
Made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious and perfectly crispy! They were cooked to perfection in 15 minutes. I’ll definitely be making them again.
That’s awesome to hear Michaela! N x
Hi Nagi, if I dont have mayo, can I leave this out or replace with something else?
Hi Esther, try a little sour cream to yogurt. N x
Made these for supper tonight – delicious! Hubby enjoyed!! Toastng the breadcrumbs is a great idea!
It’s a total game changer isn’t it Nancy! N x
Hi Nagi, I dont have a baking rack, what can I use instead? Thank you.
These chicken tenders are great! They really come out perfect.
When using bread crumbs don’t skip the browning of the crumbs or the misting with oil before baking!
I went crazy and tried the batter with a toasted mix of coconut flakes, finely chopped almonds and finely ground hazelnuts and OMG it was fantastic! So crunchy and nutty!
Thanks to your batter the mix sticks to the chicken like glued 🙂 And I didn’t even have to mist with them with oil because the nuts contain enough oils. Definitely my favorite chicken tender recipe! Thank you so much 🙂
Now all I need is a sweet and sour, mango/chili sauce and my life is complete 😉
Sounds divine Kazz, I’ll have to try it – that would be great on prawns too! Try these sauces:
https://promotown.info/coconut-shrimp-prawns-with-spicy-thai-mango-sauce/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> https://promotown.info/cocktail-meatballs-with-sweet-sour-dipping-sauce/%3C/a%3E N x
Spicy Thai mango sauce sounds perfect! Thanks 🙂 I’m heading to the store as soon as they open and will check if I can find some mangoes to try it out
No more unevenly cooked breadcrumbs and dry overcooked chicken. Thank you so much for this! Can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Wahoo – perfect Badette!! N x