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!)
This was super easy to make and a great hit with the kids
This is by far my favourite way to do tenders. Nice thing is can use the same concepts for full chicken fillets as well (even pan fried). One bowl dredge is the best!.
Would say if doing fillets make sure they are same thickness … I just love using the mallet … very satisfying to bash something that has no repercussions.
I absolutely love these and make them for dinner every few weeks. They’re easy and the meat stays moist thanks to the mustard. They’re not as good the next day because the crumbs absorb moisture, but they are still tasty.
Just wondering if after making the Chicken Tenders… can freeze them? and how long will it keep in freezer?
Thank you,
Merry Christmas to you and Dozer 😛
The family love these
Yum
This recipe is soooo good. I subbed all the mayo with organic cream cheese, it still works like magical glue. The breadcrumbs I used was made out of the leftover homemade loaf on hand, blended it and toasted at 250F oven for 15 to 25 mins. I can eat tons of these fingers. Thanks.
Sooo good! I have celiac disease and altered the recipe to make it gluten free by substituting gluten free flour and panko. They turned out amazing, flavorful and so tender… and easy!! I just had two tonight from leftovers and they were even better today reheated in the oven. Thank you for this recipe!!!
I have made this recipe so many times for my family! It’s a go-to and such a hit!
Fantastic, what would be the best way to reheat the strips?
Fantastic
A new favorite in our household!
I enjoy your videos either way Nagi and I love seeing Dozer😍
You do a brilliant job. I’ve bought your book and I love your new presentation. Keep it up. Hugs, of course, for Dozer.
Pam
yum, yum, yum! I am so happy I have this in my arsenal! This will be a weekly staple. Thank you!
I do not eat meat, but made these for hubby as part of a heart healthy diet. He said they were amazing and some of the best chicken he has ever had! I am so happy because it was so easy to make and no messy unhealthy frying! Thank you!
This was fantastic, Nagi. Thank you. Your extra tips especially the tongs are so helpful. Will be a go to recipe from now on.
Great recipe, I made just two changes with the bread crumbs, I added some smoked paprika and some G. Washington’s golden for flavor as well as some Utz’s regular crushed potato chips for extra crunch and flavor. I used Perdue chicken tenderloins which are quite large so needed to bake slightly longer to insure food safety.
These were so crunchy that when my Husband took his first bite I could hear it over a Sunday Football game on a TV that is twelve feet away and traffic noise from the open patio door. I was dumbfounded by the crunch factor. Husband was astounded, just unbelievably CRUNCHY!
I do have a convection oven and I set it at 390 degrees F, I did need to cook for 22 minutes because of the size of the chicken tenderloins, no burning, just crazy crunchyness. I will definitely make this recipe again!
For anyone who is gluten free, find Kellogg’s Cornflake Crumbs and crush some unflavored potato chips for crunch. You may not need any oil spray.
Thank you so much for such a great crunchy chicken tender/nuggets recipe.
I love the easy recipe. I did add some parsley flakes as I saw green in the pictures but it was not mentioned in the recipe.
Kid approved. I think I’ll just add a tiny bit more salt next time, otherwise good simple meal.