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!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!)
Flo says
Do you bake the chicken the same temperature that you bake the bread crumbs ? Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Flo – you sure do! Enjoy! N x
Shanique says
Fantastic recipe! Tasty. Great tips and, easy and no mess.
Nagi says
Thanks so much for letting me know what you think Shanique! N x
Janice E. says
I have tried several recipes and this one was by far the easiest and gave me the best results. My super picky eaters loved it.
Marlene J Campbell says
What temperature do you cook the tenders? The recipe just has preheat to 200 degrees which I get for toasting the bread crumbs, but seems too low to cook the tenders.
Ruby says
Absolutely the best oven fried crispy chicken recipe I’ve ever tried- and I’ve tried many!
Made these twice in one weekend and will likely be making it again soon.
Thanks for sharing!
Su says
I made these for dinner tonight, so quick & easy. Another awesome recipe!
Sabina says
What a hit! I tried this today – nothing but crumbs left. And the dog got nothing.
Marilyn says
Easy and tasty! I used dry leftover Pepperidge Farm stuffing crumbs in place of the panko and it worked great. Served with honey mustard and bottled BBQ sauce. 😋
Abby says
Every recipe iv made of yours is incredible! Im excited to make these!!!
Can you freeze them before they are cooked so they can just be chucked in the oven quickly? Or would the crumb go funny? Or cook them then freeze them?
Thank you X
Nagi says
Hi Abby, you can freeze before cooking however, I’ve found the crumb just isn’t as crunchy. N x
Sarah says
I’m not someone who comments a lot but I made these tonight and I have to say…they’re PHENOMENAL. I’ll definitely be making these again. I did double the recipe and use gluten free bread crumbs on half and then regular breadcrumbs on the other half and both batches came out perfectly. They got a raving review from everyone in my household.
Nagi says
Wahoo!!! That’s awesome Sarah! N x
Tad says
Just like the chef said! Delicious, crispy, moist chicken tenders with no mess! I’ll make this again.
Nagi says
Wahoo! Thanks so much for the great feedback Tad! N x
Alyssa says
I don’t usually leave comments for recipes, but this one was SO easy and came out SO delicious. I added some harissa and garlic powder to the dredge and it was delish. Note that this also works Great with coconut flour or gluten free flour 🙂
Nagi says
That’s great to know Alyssa!!! N x
Jean says
I would like to try this with thin sliced breasts, any idea how long I should bake them? I love the tenders so much!
Nagi says
Hi Jean – the same time, use breast cut into 2/3″ / 1.5cm thick slices, lengthwise. N x
Kimberly King says
What oil spray do you use? I have Pam in the pump bottle, but it has grain alcohol in it & I’m afraid that will leave a funny taste. (I have tried a pump bottle that you refill at home but it just kept getting clogged all the time.)
Alyssa says
I used coconut oil spray and it worked great! Didn’t taste weird at all
Nagi says
Hi Kimberly, I just buy the spray olive oil from the shop. If you can’t get it, just drizzle with oil 🙂 N x
Anna says
Best oven tenders I’ve ever put on my mouth!
Nagi says
Winner winner chicken dinner! Thanks so much Anna! N x
Jason M says
Recipe worked out perfect! My husband and I loved these so much – delicious!
Nagi says
Winner winner, chicken dinner! I’m so happy they were a hit Jason!
Elizabeth Martin says
These were the best oven “fried” chicken tenderloins I’ve ever made or fried in general. So tender and flavorfull, I will make them again and again. The honey mustard sauce was awesome too. I recently purchased a bottle of honey mushard and was going to just use that but when I read the ingredients (no. 1 being high fructose corn syrup) I thought no, I’ll take an extra few mintues to make this and it was so delicous!
Nagi says
It’s so much more satisfying to make your own too Elizabeth!! N x
Marian Junkman says
This is great! Followed exactly. Maybe could use a little more salt or spicy seasoning but otherwise perfect. Thanks!
Chastity says
Hi, I want to make this tonight, I loathe mayo, could I use sour cream. Sorry if this is a repeat question, I didn’t have time to look through all the comments. So glad I found your website, you have some great looking recipes, that seem very achievable.
Nagi says
Hi Chastity, you can’t really taste the mayo in this recipe, it’s just used to help stick the crumbs. If you want, you can sub natural yogurt or sour cream – N x
Chastity says
I made this last night with the sour cream, it tasted great and was super easy to make. I am so happy I found your website. I love the way you show the process in pictures, I will be using one of your shrimp recipes tomorrow. Nagi, you have a true gift and a new devotee!
Leilani says
It’s a keeper. I didn’t have chicken so I used what I had and it was turkey.
I made it to accompany a nice colourful salad and drizzled Balsamic all over the salad as well as the turkey.
Nagi says
Yum! Sounds fabulous Leilani!