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!
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
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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!)
The recipe looks great but I dislike mustard and mayo. What can I use instead of mustard and mayo?
I’d love to try it out!
These were so delicious! Thank you for all your recipes!
You’re so welcome Ryan, I’m so glad you love them! N x
Looks like a great recipe … i will definitely try it tmw but i have a problem … i cant find panko breadrcumbs in my city … can i use crushed Kellogs corflakes instead? and in case i use the cornflakes … do i need to toast them in the oven with a drizzle of oil like u did with the panko? or i can use them directly to coat the chicken? thank u so much
Hi Moussa, to be honest I haven’t tried so I’m not sure how they would go as a substitute! Would love to know if you try them! N x
Hi Nagi, would chicken thighs work in this recipe?
Hi Christie, they’ll take longer to cook and because they are a little bit more fatty, may not cook as well as the tenders unfortunately. N x
Hi Nagi, my son has an egg allergy. What would you recommend as a substitute in this recipe. Thanks
Hi Tina, I imagine a chia/flax egg substitute would work well here – N x
I added a few extra spices and used bread crumbs instead of panko (I hate the taste) but this is a deadly recipe. 😏 will definitely make these again.
These were truly crunchy and easy. Thanks so much for such a straightforward, quick, and tasty recipe!
Hi Nagi! Where can you find a rack like the one used here?
Any kitchen shop will have them! Cake cooling racks are perfect 🙂 N x
What a great recipe! I made it with the honey mustard dip and it was a huge hit. Followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect. Will definitely be adding this to our rotation. Thanks Nagi!
Great to hear Nyssa! N x
BEST BAKED TENDERS!!!! The chicken was so juicy and had great flavor. I dipped them in blue cheese dressing!
YUM! Sounds great Tara! N x