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 200C/390F.
- 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).
- 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.
- Sprinkle surface with breadcrumbs, then press down to adhere. Transfer onto baking tray. Marvel at clean fingers, repeat with remaining chicken.
- 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.
- 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!)
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!
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.
These were great. I used flaming hot cheetos for the breading. The batter idea is amazing.
Can I substitute the mustard with something else for the batter? My kids don’t love mustard.
I made these for the first time and they are fabulous!
I won’t ever buy ready made crumbed chicken. This was easy and incredibly delicious. (and so much cheaper!) The whole family loved it. Thanks!
can these be frozen after breading them and before cooking them??
3. MAKE AHEAD: Best way is to toast breadcrumbs, then put chicken in batter, leave up to 2 days. Then crumb the chicken just before baking. It is ok crumbed up to 24 hours beforehand, store in the fridge. Freezing raw doesn’t work.
Hi there! I’m looking to take chicken to a picnic. Is there a way to preserve the crispness of these tenders and serve at room temp? Thank you!
No temp in the recipe. What temp and how long on how long to cook
I love your technique of browning the crumbs first before coating and the batter with egg mixed in. No mess at all and saves time! I just doubled the salt in the batter so I won’t need to add after crumbing. Also didn’t have oil spray so I just mixed in the oil (a bit more amount) with the crumbs and won’t need to spray after crumbling. Works well too!
Couldn’t believe they were so crunchy without being deep-fried! I used your Tachin Yoghurt Sauce for dipping… Deeelish! 😘
I love this recipe! I use the version printed in your amazing cookbook, and in fact will be making it tonight for dinner as chicken tenderloins were on special!
To make it gluten free, we use either gluten free panko breadcrumbs or the largest looking gluten free crumbs available. I also replace the flour with gluten free plain flour, and add a splash of milk if the batter looks too thick/dry. However, that isn’t usually a problem as we use the largest size eggs in our house and that adds a fair amount of moisture back.
These were quick, easy and delicious. Loved the flavor of the batter
I’ve made the chicken tenders many times and they are wonderful, and your instructions are excellent. This makes great breaded shrimp cocktail also!
Great baked chicken recipe, I made nuggets out of the chicken and they turned out really well. Highly recommend!
Without a doubt, the best crispy chicken tenders I have ever made. We were shocked to be honest. I have the cookbook and made them from there. Everything I’ve made in the cookbook has been absolutely incredible.