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When it comes to simple, kid-friendly, and easy to make meals, nothing quite beats Oven-Baked Chicken Tender Fingers. Aside from the chicken itself, you likely already have everything you need in your kitchen! These tenders are flavorful, never dry, and perfect for dipping in your favorite sauce.
For as long as I can remember, chicken tenders or chicken fingers were my favorite item to order at any restaurant. 95% of the time I order the chicken tenders platter off the menu at any given restaurant. Its become a game to me to compare each restaurant’s chicken tenders and which one has the best batter and best technique.
The best I ever had was at Blue Ridge Grill in Leesburg, VA. They were breaded in a very unique way and flash fried. This gave it the most amazing and crunchy crust.
I don’t think I’ve ever had such great chicken tenders. I legitimately love chicken tenders or chicken fingers. What do you call them? I know regionally they’re so different in the way you call them.
I honestly still can’t stop thinking about them so I tried to replicate them (the crust at least). I didn’t fry them because I wanted to make these a little healthier so instead of frying these chicken fingers, I created these oven-baked chicken fingers!
Most chicken tenders or chicken fingers are deep-fried and while that’s great every now and then, it is not realistic to prepare it that way often! These oven-baked ones are just as good and by using a panko breadcrumb crust exterior, it gives it an extra crunch factor!
What You’ll Need:
The beauty of this recipe lies in the simplicity of it! You’ll only need this handful of inexpensive ingredients to make your new favorite chicken tenders.
- Chicken – Boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins are what you’ll need. Cut them into strips for the best shape.
- Panko Breadcrumbs – I use Panko because of the signature crunch! While you can use plain breadcrumbs, Panko gives these tenders the best bite.
- Seasonings – You can customize your seasonings to your liking. With that being said, I’ve found that this simple (and delicious) blend to be the best! Garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and cracked black pepper come together to create a mix that’s tasty, but neutral enough to pair well with any condiment.
- Eggs – I like to use free range organic eggs.
Common FAQ’s
What kind of chicken do I use? Chicken tenders! Boneless and skinless. You could use breasts and slice them into strips, if you want, but buying chicken tenders are just easier.
What kind of seasonings can I use? I love garlic and onion powder (which is in the recipe) but smoked paprika would be great too. Any other seasonings you want to amp up the flavor would be good. Maybe a dash of cayenne too if you like a kick of spice.
What dipping sauce do you recommend? Honey mustard all the way! Or, you can try to make your own Chick-Fil-A sauce!
If you love chicken tenders and chicken fingers, you would love these recipes:
- Chick-fuh-lay nuggets and sauce
- Three ingredient chicken nuggets
- Peri peri chicken drumsticks
- Holy yum chicken
Baked Chicken Tender Fingers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups (120 g) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 3 eggs
- 10 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins, sliced into strips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 °F (232 °C). Line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a shallow dish, combine panko, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well to get it all incorporated.2 cups (120 g) panko breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper
- In another shallow dish, beat the 3 eggs together.3 eggs
- Take the chicken strips and dip them in the egg mixture then cover the chicken strips with the panko mixture. Gently press the panko mixture on the chicken to make sure it’s well coated.10 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
- Lay the strips next to each other on the baking sheets and repeat until all the chicken strips have been coated.
- Bake for 20 minutes then turn on the broiler and broil them for another 5 minutes to get the outside even more crispy & a light brown color.
- Serve immediately with honey mustard or BBQ sauce or ketchup!
I hate lighting, winter, and the rest of it! Here in CO it is sunny most of the year, I think we average 340 sunny days a year. But that doesn’t change the fact that in winter at 4:30 it is dark out! I got lights last year, but they take major practice to learn how to use correctly, and I don’t have that yet. So hard to just take a step back though.
We love chicken fingers around here, and especially love making them with my 7 year old. He will love these!
the lighting change always kills me, too, BUT fall is my favorite, so I don’t get really depressed about the no natural light until winter hits. blech.
the great thing is that these chicken fingers look awesome! nick would love them. putting them on the to-make list :)
I was realizing the same thing about summer and how I’ve been getting a little rage-aholic at the lighting too. So – thanks for saying what I couldn’t out loud. And about not being able to do it all. It’s hard to realize that “it’s okay” when you feel like you HAVE to do #allthethings RIGHT. Now. Ben has to sometimes not-so-gently tell me, this is something fun to do, it’s not our job (yet). And it will be OKAY. Then I tell him to bite me and keep doing what I’m doing. Suuuper productive.
Anyway – all is right in the world. And hey you’re not in it alone. Whether its lighting issues, timing issues, scheduling, life, blogging, and balance – we are ALLL in the same boat – we can be crazy wine guzzling bloggers together. ;) We are classy.
Great post, Julie. I agree with all the things you said. It’s crazy as to how upset we get over our photos when in fact, our blogs are all about having fun and doing something that we love. When I get really frustrated/annoyed/angry/upset during the “photo session,” Jason looks at me and says, “Honey, it’s okay. This is just for fun! So what if foodgawker doesn’t accept it?” He’s always there to remind me that it’s not the end of the world, but it’s just so hard to see that in the moment.
Anyway, awesome chicken fingers. I haven’t had them in so long! Will have to make this for Jason – he’ll love it!
Well I’m not concerned whether or not food sites accept my photos. I just have a really high standard I give myself for photos. It’s definitely hard sometimes to let go!
I agree with ALL of this…the winter…the lighting…the not sweating the stuff you can’t control…the CHICKEN TENDERS!
I literally almost started crying last week because the overcast lighting was ruining my pictures.
Then I stopped and remembered that I WAS TAKING PICTURES OF COOKIES and got over it.
It’s so hard when you’re right in the middle of it, isn’t it?
Anyway, awesome chicken tenders.
I know what you mean – I was almost in tears last night over ICE CREAM and BREAD. It’s definitely hard when you’re in the middle of it & you just want PERFECTION & you don’t want to walk away without getting a good shot.
Oh, you and I are going to be such good friends. I was always so anxious, and I worried about everything… enter my husband… who after a few months of dating me started asking me “is this something you can control?” when it wasn’t he told me to let it go. It’s hard, really hard, but it gets to much easier.
Did I mention that after I got married it got significantly better? There is something about someone who LEGALLY has to have your back that makes life better. (warn your fiance!)
PS– I lourves me a good chicken finger.
These baked chicken fingers look dynamite. I can really sympathize with your post, especially because nothing frustrates me more than when I can’t get a food photo. I’ve been known to lose it on occasion over that. We can’t always look on the bright side in a bad moment. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to a lot of things and I take it as a personal failure when I’m not succeeding at everything. We do the best we can, right?
will be making these for tomorrow nights game.
will be making these for tomorrow nights game.
Baked chicken fingers are one of my absolute favourite things too. I made a version of these with cornflakes which I saw on shutterbean the other day and they were amazing but I’m going to have to try these – I love all the flavours you’ve got into your coating!
And I definitely can sympathise about the need for balance and taking a step back and trying not to get too overwhelmed with everything, it can be hard because everything seems so competitive all the time but it’s just a path to absolute insanity!