fried chicken tenders

This is a perfectly crispy fried chicken tender served with a flavorful spicy Asian bbq dipping sauce! Screen reader support enabled.

Fried Chicken Tenders with Spicy Asian BBQ Dipping Sauce

lbs chicken breast

flour

salt

tsp pepper

paprika

Panko

eggs

buttermilk

apricot preserves

soy sauce

Tbs white wine vinegar

Tbs sesame oil

Tbs Sriracha

Tbs minced garlic

onion

Tbs sweet chili sauce

Tbs brown sugar

tsp ground ginger

Cut chicken into tenders

Whisk together eggs and buttermilk in a medium sized bowl

In another bowl mix together flour, salt and pepper, and paprika

In yet another bowl add Panko bread crumbs

Dip chicken into egg batter, then into flour mixture. Shake off excess flour

Dip same piece of chicken back into egg batter.

Then dip chicken, and roll in Panko

Set aside, do this until all chicken is coated

In a large pan heat oil on medium heat, you don't want your oil too hot or it will burn the outside of the chicken without cooking the inside, so set your heat to medium, no higher, if the oil starts to smoke at all, turn it down.

Once the oil is hot, add chicken to the pan.

Let chicken cook 5-7 minutes, then flip to other side and cook an additional 5-7 minutes depending on thickness of chicken. Use a meat thermometer or cut into thickest part of chicken to test doneness.

Remove from oil, and serve hot with dipping sauce, salad, fries, or your choice of sides.

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If you do not want it too spicy, use less Sriracha.

Spicy Asian BBQ Sauce

Crispy fried chicken tenders don&#039;t just come from a freezer or drive through window. They&#039;re easy to make, and a family dinnertime favorite!

Cajun Chicken Tenders

chicken breast

all purpose flour

cajun seasoning (can increase to up to 4 tablespoons if you want it really strong)

onion powder

garlic powder

water

In a large, shallow bowl or dish with sides, mix together the flour, cajun seasoning, onion and garlic powders. Set aside. 

In a second bowl, beat the eggs and water. Set aside. 

Dip one chicken tender at a time into the flour then the eggs, and then back into the flour, pressing to coat the chicken well. 

Repeat with the remaining tenders and set them aside while you heat the oil. 

Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a large cast iron skillet or deep pot. Heat on medium-high to 375 (you can use a thermometer to check if you aren&#039;t sure). 

Slowly add three to four pieces of coated chicken, reduce heat to medium high, and allow them to fry until just brown on one side--about 5 minutes--then turn and cook until golden on the second side--6 to 7 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack over a baking sheet to drain and repeat with the other tenders. Make sure to stay by the stove! 

If your oil starts to smoke, turn the heat down or pull the skillet off the burner carefully for a minute or two. If your chicken is cooking too slow and the breading is soggy or falling off, turn the heat up. Chicken should register 165 degrees on  a digital meat thermometer. If it&#039;s browned but not fully cooked. Heat oven to 400 degrees and cook until the chicken reaches a safe temperature.

Serve the tenders warm with your favorite dipping sauce. 

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders are marinated in seasoned buttermilk, breaded in seasoned flour and panko breadcrumbs, and fried in peanut oil until golden brown and crispy. They are absolute perfection.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders

chicken tenderloins

all-purpose flour

panko breadcrumbs

baking powder

black pepper

¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning

peanut oil

In a large plastic bag or bowl, combine the chicken tenders with the buttermilk, salt, garlic powder, paprika, and Tony&#39;s.

Massage the marinade into the chicken until it is fully coated, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight if possible.

Marinate the Chicken

Before breading the chicken, begin preheating the frying oil. The target temperature is 350°F. (Our fryer can take anywhere from 15 - 25 minutes to heat up depending on the amount of oil.) See below for notes about the quantity of oil.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, panko breadcrumbs, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and Tony&#39;s.

Toss together with a fork until well combined, then drizzle in the buttermilk and stir until the mixture is clumpy.

Remove the chicken tenders from the marinade a few at a time and place them into the breading mixture.

Press the chicken firmly into the breading so that the clumps of panko and buttermilk stick to the chicken. (This is what makes the breading crispy/like takeout chicken.)

Lay the breaded tenders on a baking sheet or dish, but do not stack them on top of each other. Repeat until all tenders are breaded.

Bread the Chicken

Check that the oil is heated to 350°F. If I am frying chicken tenders on the stove, I use a thermometer. If I am using a deep fryer, it self regulates the temperature, which is really nice.

Next, get a draining station set up for the chicken. I like to place a paper grocery bag down with a layer of paper towels on top and a cookie rack on top.

I like to double-check that the oil is hot enough by dropping a rogue/leftover chunk of breading into the oil. If it starts bubbling up right away, it is ready to go. If the breading sinks and doesn&#39;t start cooking at first, it will absorb a lot of oil and won&#39;t taste very good.

Using tongs, place a few chicken tenders in the oil but only in one layer. Do not place them on top of each other or they can stick together. (If using a deep fryer, give the basket a shake to make sure the tenders don&#39;t stick to the bottom.) Do not overcrowd the oil as this will drop the temperature and the chicken won&#39;t cook right.

Cook the tenders until they are golden brown. If they are not fully submerged in oil, flip them over and cook until the second side is also golden.

Drip the excess oil off the tenders, then place them on the cookie rack to drain. (If using a deep fryer, I hang the basket on the side for a minute or two before flipping them onto the pepper towels.)

Repeat and fry the rest of the chicken tenders in batches. If you are using a deep fryer, it should go pretty quickly. If you are using the stove, keep an eye on the oil level and the temperature. It might need increasing and you might need to add more oil. (This is why a thermometer is really helpful.)

Serve tenders while they are still hot with a delicious dipping sauce.

Fry the Chicken

What&#39;s not to love about Fried Chicken Tenders? Marinated in buttermilk and fried until golden brown, crunchy, crispy, and oh so delicious.

Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders

oz buttermilk

chicken tenders

milk

sea salt

black pepper (more if you like peppery tenders)

paprika (optional)

vegetable oil

Place chicken tenders in a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Turn to coat each piece and let them sit in the buttermilk (refrigerated and covered) for at least 8 hours up to 24 hours.

Put the flour in a bowl or baking pan adding in the sea salt, black pepper and paprika. Mix well.

In another bowl add the eggs, milk (or water) and whisk until blended. This is the eggwash.

Lift out the chicken tenders out of the bowl and allow the excess buttermilk to drain off. Pat them dry with paper towels and then place them into the seasoned flour.  Make sure to completely coat the chicken with flour.

Put the floured tenders into the eggwash and coat completely

Add the chicken tenders back into the seasoned flour for another coat of flour.

Completely coat the tenders and place on a dish until ready to fry.

Heat oil in a large skillet and place half the tenders at a time into the pan (or as many that will fit. Do not overcrowd the pan)

Fry on each side for 3-4 minutes until they are completely cooked and have good color and have reached and internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F

 
​This fried chicken tenders recipe without buttermilk is finger-lickin'-good! Unbelievably crispy and juicy, these homemade fried chicken strips are coated in a seasoned flour mixture and then fried in a cast iron skillet until the inside is juicy and tender and the outside is perfectly crisp and crunchy! 

Fried Chicken Tenders Recipe Without Buttermilk

chicken breasts chicken tenders

eggs, beaten

cayenne pepper

thyme

oregano

Set up drenching stations before getting started because this will make drenching and frying the chicken much easier.  Eggs whisked in a shallow bowl. Sheet pans with wire racks on top, one for raw chicken and one for cooked chicken.

Rinse and pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel, then cut them into 1-inch strips. If your strips are larger than 1-inch thick pound them with a meat mallet so they cook evenly and quickly. Place cut strips into a large bowl with salt. Mix to coat.

In a large bowl add the flour and the seasonings - ground black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, ground paprika, dried thyme, dried oregano, and onion powder. Mix until combined.

Dip one piece of chicken into the flour mixture using a pair of tongs or gloved hands. Mix to completely coat then dip into the egg mixture, then finally back into the flour mixture, then set on a wire rack. (I like to use separate tongs for the dry and wet steps)

Repeat with the remaining chicken until they all are coated in both the egg and flour mixtures.

In a large cast iron skillet or cast iron Dutch oven heat vegetable oil until hot, then add 2 - 3 inches of vegetable oil. Add carrot if using. Once the carrot is sizzled (you can also sprinkle a pinch of flour into the oil to check) carefully add the tenders into the oil away from you so it doesn’t splatter. Add as many tenders as you can but don’t overlap.

Fry tenders for 3 minutes per side or until the crust is a nice golden brown color all around.

Remove cooked chicken from the oil using a slotted spoon or fork to a wire rack to drain. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Serve and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauces!

This was a great base recipe; thank you for sharing!  My husband and I did teamwork at our dredging station.  We thought that when dredging our chicken tenders, the salt was washed off in the egg so, I dipped the tenders in the seasoned flour and then in the egg.  Then my husband would salt the strips before the final dredge in the seasoned flour.  I also added a pinch of baking powder to the flour mixture which made the breading even crispier.  We tried your recipe as written first, and then we made adjustments to fit our tastes.  We had fun setting up a dredging station together and testing your recipe.  Thank you so much for sharing your recipe as it is just my husband and I at home now and we would just end up throwing away any leftover buttermilk - that's just not something we have in our refrigerator, like, ever.  Thank you!

This Chicken Tenders recipe brings restaurant-style strips home with a buttermilk brine and deep-frying for maximum crispiness.

Chicken Tenders

pickle juice (or white distilled vinegar)

hot sauce

garlic granules

onion granules

cornstarch

ground pepper

Add all the ingredients to a large bowl and thoroughly mix to combine. Cover and place the tenders in the fridge to marinate for 2 to 24 hours. The longer, the more flavorful and tender they will become.

For the Marinade:

In a cake tin or wide shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, garlic granules, onion granules, paprika, 2 teaspoons of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Set it to the side.

In a separate cake tin or a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper until well combined. Set it to the side.

At this stage, add enough oil to a 4- or 5-quart pot to fill it halfway. Heat it over medium to low heat until it reaches 375°F. Keep it at that temperature. Once the cold tenders are added to the oil, the temperature will immediately drop to 350°, which is perfect.

Take the tenders out of the fridge and remove them a few at a time. Drain off any excess, then dip them right into the seasoned flour. Press down on the tender from all sides to ensure it’s evenly coated. Lift it, shake off any excess, then over to the egg wash. Coat it on all sides, completely covering the flour in the whisked eggs. Now, drain off any excess liquid, as before, and return to dredging the flour, pressing down to completely cover it.

Place them on a rack over a sheet tray and let them sit for up to 15 minutes, then repeat the process to bread the remaining tenders.

Next, place the tenders 4 to 6 at a time into the hot oil. Cook them for 3 ½ to 4 minutes while flipping them every 2 minutes. They should be golden brown and cooked throughout. Set them aside on a rack to drain off any excess oil while you cook the remaining tenders in batches. They will hold fine while you do this.

Serve with optional dipping sauces of ranch, blue cheese, or honey mustard.

For the Breading:

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The most viewed fried chicken tenders recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine