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!)
Love it! 5 stars all the way!
Thanks so much Laura!
I’ve made this recipe several times since finding it….it’s so delicious and simple! I have found that I need more bread crumbs than called for but that is likely because I have too many pieces of chicken to begin with.
I’m so glad you love it Tina!
Yummy! Followed recipe and they are the best oven chicken tenders we have ever had. Family loves them!
Wahoo! That’s terrific!
I find it easier to ‘toast’ the crumbs in a skillet. I can keep the crumbs moving so they toast evenly.
I’ve used this recipe more times than I can count. These are amazing! Toasting the panko beforehand results in super crispy tenders!
Side note, I put my batter ingredients into a bag, mix, and put the chicken straight into the bag so I don’t have to dirty another bowl. 🙂
Genius!!! I’ll do that next time! 🙌
I made these and even my ultra picky eater ate them with relish. In fact he wanted them for breakfast AND lunch the next day.
As an aside I browned my panko in a sauce pan which I then rinsed and used to make mac and cheese. As well I used one more spoon to keep my hands completely clean. After mixing the chicken in the batter with a spoon, I used this “wet” spoon to move each chicken piece to the crumb mixture. I used a second, clean spoon to coat, turn and transfer the chicken pieces to the baking rack – my “dry” spoon.” History has taught me my children know when my hands are too filthy to curb their wild heathen ways so the extra spoon was worth it.
😂 I love this!!
The Panko Chicken Tenders were a healthier option, so quick
and easy to make, and delicious. I was surprised the crust was so crispy with that coating batter. Toasting the crumbs 1st is brilliant! I will be following you and your recipes! Thank you!
These look amazing! Have you tried freezing them and reheating it in the toaster oven? (asking for a toddler who would like these for lunch!)
I have frozen these successfully and thawed them – reheated in an oven with a little spray oil (I imagine a toaster oven would work fine). You can even freeze them raw and cook fresh ☺️
Genius! Can’t wait to try this tonight!
I hope you love them!
Wow. It was delicious. I like the crust because it didn’t fall off the chicken. The taste was awesome. We don’t like a lot of sodium or spices, so when you leave those out it usually doesn’t have a good flavor. This one tastes great.
I’m so glad you loved them Susan!
I was really in a jam because I promise to cook dinner and was running late. I stumbled on this recipe and gave it a shot. My wife of few words said, and I quote, “It’s a keeper.” Believe me, high praise. Even made the honey mustard. Also really good. Thank you for posting this. I look forward to making the fried rice next.
Awesome stuff Bob, you’re killing it! – N x
This was one of the simplest and more delicious recipes that I’ve tried from something online. What a win for me and my family. Thank you so much for posting it and providing the video to make sure that I didn’t miss a step!
About the oven temp, did you really mean 390, or should it be 350? I’m making these for a picky eater who won’t eat the rest of the delicious Christmas Day meal. I hope this wows him.
I’m guessing she meant 400, since maybe she was using the 200 Celsius, and it doesn’t convert exactly to our normal settings. I will use 400.
Hi Marie I bake on 200C here which converts to 390F.
would absolutely cook your recipes over the Pioneer Woman. Your recipes are authentic as are you. Thank-you
Thanks Suzanne!
If I don’t have spray oil what can be done instead? We don’t use it and I don’t want to have to buy a can just for this?
Made these and substituted mayo for olive oil and used honey mustard. These are perfect and I will definitely repeat it.
Great Brandi!!!
Hello, Love your short snappy videos. In your blog you mention oil in the batter, but I didn’t see it in ingredients list. See… we actually read it.😊
Hi Linda, great pick up! I originally posted the recipe some time ago and have updated it. No oil in my updated version, only spray oil once the chicken is crumbed! x
You had me at easy clean up. LOL! I made these this evening and they were so crunchy. Very delicious honey mustard sauce. I didn’t have any lemon juice, but it was still good. Thanks for sharing!
Yum yum yum! Paired the chicken tenders with some thick cut homemade fries, was a delicious meal and great for a mid-week dinner. Not the first recipe of yours I’ve used and most certainly won’t be the last. Keep up the good work!
What oven temp do you cook them at? Can’t wait to try this recipe.