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!)
Best chicken tenders ever. So yummy I’m going to make it again tomorrow for friends I’m having over for dinner. So juicy and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Do the panko crumbs stay dry and crispy if I would coat thw chicken about 3 hours before baking, or might it go soggy?
Hi Madre, I’ve done it this way before and they were slightly less crunchy – but still great!
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Ok I made this on Tuesday for the first time,it was sooooo good! I love your two bowl breading process. Both my husband and I loved them.
Yesterday afternoon my husband was still talking about how much he liked “that chicken “. I said it was so easy to make and he sheepishly said,”can we have it again “.
So we had it again last night.
You the best, keep the recipes coming 💕💕💕
That’s awesome Colleen! The crumbing method is a game changer!
5 Stars all the way!!! I served the chicken tenders on top of a chopped salad, sprinkled the leftover Panko crumbs from the bottom of the baking pan on top and used the honey mustard as salad dressing- sooo good!! Thank you for this delicious and easy recipe, I will definitely make this again!
YESSS!!! That’s great Marielle!
I made these tonight and they were SO quick! My girls said they tasted “like real nuggets!” —- that’s a compliment 😀
These were a HUGE hit with my family. The kids requested them (and the honey mustard sauce) for lunch! It’s too bad they ate them all! Thank you.
Winner winner chicken dinner Kimberly!!!
These are in my oven as I type& smelling so good
I’m making them for my grandson who has a picky palate!!
Can’t wait to devour them!!!
I hope they are a winner Laura!
These were great! I love having clean fingers too! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
You’re so welcome Sandy! You’ll never make them any other way now!
This recipe turned out really well. I am very impressed with how crispy these are while maintaining their moisture. I found they needed 20-25 minutes.
I’m so glad you loved them Amber!!
Easy meal and delicious chicken!
Thanks so much for the great feedback Jill!
So good and easy to make, love this recipe! I made this to accompany some pasta. After the chicken was done baking, I added some mozzarella cheese on top and baked a few more minutes..yum! My husband agreed hands down this is the recipe to use from now on. 🙂
I marveled at my clean fingers literally. It was so delicious and it has become a weeknight favorite..thanks so much.
It’s a total game changer isn’t it Taffy!
This is the best crispy oven Baked tenders recipe. It is also the easiest one I have found
It’s sooooo good isn’t it Faye?!
These were by far the easiest and tastiest chicken tenders I have ever made. I can’t believe I never thought myself to combine the egg, flour, seasoning in one bowl and just toss. Toasting the panko was absolutely the right thing to do too! I loved these and will never make tenders any other way again@
It’s a game changer isn’t it Andrea!!
So delicious! I was looking for a new way to bake some chicken tenders…and these turned out amazing! Thank you!!
WOOT! That’s great Jennifer!
Can you make these ahead and save the rest (cooked) and store in the freezer for later use and rebake when needed?
Hi Trisha, I’d recommend freezing them uncooked, then you can thaw and bake ❤️
Hello Nagi,
Can I use this recipe for prawns? If so, for how long in the oven? Thank you!
My Sis in Law was making this when we visited..(she had a newspaper article)..making for our supper tonight and it’s delicious! my grand kids will love!!!
Perfect Karin!
Nagi, made these tonight for my wife and daughter. (Added paprika and parsley flakes to the batter and a bit of milk, and cut back on the Dijon a bit….. kids!)
Both agreed they’d eat them again any time.
Cheers
That’s awesome to hear Andrew!
Just made this for dinner and Nagi, you nailed it again (& again & again & again…. 🙂 10 year old loves it! She said it’s better than eating out! Thank you very much Nagi for great food and easy to follow directions with accessible ingredients! Not something that I have to hike to the Himalayas for!
Oh one more thing, when it comes to oven temperature for Celsius, is it based on a fan force oven?
I didn’t have mayo so I used a lemon garlic marinade made with avocado oil and it was great! Chicken was juicy and the coating was nice and crunchy! yum!!
Sounds great Courtney!
This is a winner with my 5 and 3 year olds. I even forgot to spray oil on the breaded pieces before going in the oven, and they still came out golden and delicious. Such a better alternative to processed, premade ones! Thanks!
Winner winner chicken dinner Susan!
These are really good! I’ve made them a couple of times now. I like to add Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning to the Panko crumbs, they turn out amazing!!!
Great idea Raquel, you could really add any type of seasoning, it’s so versatile!
I subbed gluten free flour and GF Panko to make these for the kids. They came out so great! Thanks very much!
Oh good to know it worked ok Kathy! – N x