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!)
My husband and young kids love this recipe. It’s become a regular meal in our household. The chicken is crispy and tender. Delicious!
This recipe couldn’t be more perfect! I’ve lost count how many times I’ve made these chicken tenders. Simple to make and everyone in my family loves them!
Super easy and delicious. I like to divvy up the chicken after it’s done and use for chicken marinara or freeze for a later date to toss into salads for lunch.
What a tasty and easy recipe!
My daughter and son-in-law, who loves chicken tenders, LOVED this. The only change I made was substituting Greek yogurt for the mayo. Maybe that’s why they took a little longer to cook. Next time I’ll use the mayo. Btw, toasting the breadcrumbs is genius!
This recipe is an absolute keeper for the flavor and ease of preparation. Thank you!!
P.S: I’m going to make the crunchy chicken taco fingers next. Can’t wait!
This was FANTASTIC! The chicken was juicy and it the coating was crispy. I loved this recipe. The only thing I added was some Dano’s seasoning with the spices. Thss as no you for this recipe!!
So easy, love that it is not fried, and family loved these during Super Bowl! Will make again and again!
Yummy Yummy best breaded chicken recipe dreadging batter is a game changer (tried a few over the years finally found the one )
So crunchy and delicious
Made the chicken tenders and they were great. Can they be fully prepared and baked and then froze for another time?
So good ! My new go to chicken fingers recipe. Followed the recipe completely and turned out perfect.
Nagi, do you ever remove the tendon from tender or do you just leave it and proceed with recipe. I always have breasts in freezer but I would like to try this with the tenders as you do here.
2nd time I’ve made. Perfect and super easy both times.
Made this for family tonight! Definitely a delicious winner! Love the batter recipe/ method. Thanks for another great recipe.
Simple recipe and always turns out great. Goes well with some fresh veges and roasted potatoes
Delicious! The chicken came out super tender and crunchy! I did season the panko with paprika, onion powder, cayenne powder, dried parsley, salt and paper.
These were great, my husband, who isn’t a big chicken tender fan, loved them. Such an easy recipe! Cooked for 18 minutes
Had to come back and rate this one…best oven baked chicken tenders hands down!! My son devoured them! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This is a new favorite. Simple healthy ingredients and absolutely delicious! Try it you won’t be disappointed.
This recipe is wonderful!! Delicious and easy! Thank you!
These were so good! Make sure to really pack on the panko so it doesn’t flake off.