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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!
Great chicken recipe! This was a huge hit tonight and will definitely be added to the dinner rotation! Thank you!
So glad to have found your blog through Pinterest!! Always grateful for new ways to healthify old favorites. This recipe looks awesome and easy for someone like me who doesn’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Thank you!
Tonight for dinner, I decided I wanted to make Baked Chicken Strips, so I went to Pinterest and searched and out of the 3 recipes I looked at, I decided to go with yours, I didn’t have panko but we had some cornbread stuffing, looking forward in them, they smell wonderful.
Thank you for your post and so glad I found you via Pinterest!!
So I made these when this was first posted. My husband and I finished most them that night. I put the rest on salads the next day.
They were really quick easy and very flavorful.
Next time I added a tablespoon of chili flakes to my panko mix. Even better with a kick.
I make these almost every week now. So good, versatile you can add them to lots of dishes, and a hit with the man which is always a plus.
Thanks Julie!
I made these for lunch today and they were Yummo! I added a few extra spices to our taste and they came out perfect and crispy! Thank you for an easy, healthy, tasty, recipe!
I don’t think you’re alone in this sieze-the-day-relax-enjoy-the-little-things-dream-big-anything-is-possible-get-off-the-couch-learn-how-to-chill sort of mentality. And I feel ya on lighting! haha I went from an 8-5 job (with plenty of time for pic taking) to a 10-9 job (startup life) and I was actually way more sad than I should have been about the whole cooking during the week and lighting thing. It’s hard! But everything eventually works itself out and you learn to make it work. Keep on keepin’ on! XO
I hate photographing in the winter too! your photos look beautiful, these look like the most perfect chicken fingers I’ve ever seen
I totally understand what you’re saying in this post. I often have to remind myself to stop and smell the roses. I think it’s my perfectionism creeping in. I’m trying to learn not to put so much pressure on myself and just enjoy the life God has provided for me.
I get chicken tenders 100% of the time at restaurants, unless it’s an Italian place. Love that these are baked!
I get upset easily over such things, too. I have no idea what I’m doing with photography and sometimes spend hours on one photoshoot. And then end up with nothing. And it’s so dark here in winter, seriously, grey all the time, so I have to try to make as many posts ahead of time as possible. Otherwise everything will be extremely gloomy. So I hate winter too. I hope that we’re both able to let certain things go and just relax. Maybe life will be easier that way. :)
Julie my dear! Sometimes it’s hard for me to say no to things in fear that I will let people, or myself, down. I take on as much as possible but the problem is that everything I do, must be done perfectly. It’s hard to accept that I can’t control certain situations! But we all need to know to breathe and understand that we can’t do EVERYTHING!
That being said, I think you are too hard on yourself for these pictures! I think they turned out beautifully. I am starting to notice the darker light for after-work shooting and it’s killing me. Just have to work around it, I suppose! The recipe sounds great – I love new chicken recipes because I tend to get bored with it!