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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
- 10 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins, sliced into strips
- 2 cups (120 g) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 3 eggs
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.
- In another shallow dish, beat the 3 eggs together.
- 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.
- 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 know those kind of days/moods. Lighting often spurs it. I’m having to adjust all of my photo shooting times around the sun! I am obsessed with making oven baked chicken tenders! I just froze my 2nd batch this month for make ahead meals.
My family says I’m a stressful person too and I know they are right, lol! I love the fall, but it does make photography difficult!!
These chicken fingers look fantastic!! Definitely want to make some with different yummy sauces!
I struggle with the same things. I’m so busy these days that I can’t even enjoy the things that I do for fun, like blogging. Wahh. :(
These chicken fingers look great though! My boys would love them. :)
SO right, usually after all the stress is gone, it never really mattered anyway. It’s so funny how things always work themselves out! Love the chicken fingers!
Agree, agree, agree! Top the lighting issue with a housing issue (still living in the seminary’s temporary townhome with a tiny tiny old dark kitchen). If you were a fly on my wall, you would see that you are not alone! ;)
We struggle over lighting ALL the time… We have very little natural light in our condo so it’s either shoot in odd places, or create our lighting with little tricks we’ve picked up online. Since we have full time jobs while blogging, it really is a struggle. You’re definitely right, all about balance.
We all struggle with that balance between stop-and-smell-the-roses and live-each-day-to-the-fullest, so I can totally relate. These chicken fingers? Look amazing! I’ll definitely have to try these. =)
I’m dealing with the same thing. I want to live life to the fullest and fill every minute with wonderful things, but then I’m constantly busy. I have 2 full time jobs. It’s crazy.
And I’ve had SO many melt-downs over food photography that I should write a book. It’s ridiculous.
“Lesson: don’t stress over what you can’t control. It’ll work out in the end, even if in the moment you think it’s the end of the world.”
Preach!! I just started my blog a couple of months ago, and about a month after I started, I broke my hand. With my cast, I can barely cook meals, let alone take pictures! Needless to say, I have had to remind myself of the above sentiment a LOT these past 6 weeks. Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate the real talk. It is difficult balancing life, and I totally get it. While I am no expert, I do try to stop, take a deep breathe, and chill out for a minute. I think the funniest part is when I am in the middle of freaking out, and I know it’s happening, I am being ridiculous, I can somehow laugh in the moment and move on. But it is only funny when I know I am being dramatic.
Oh and I love the panko on the recipes, it totally makes it!
pretty photos by the way:)