Crushed cornflakes, panko breadcrumbs and dried seasonings make up the crunchy breading on these healthy, oven baked chicken tenders. They are freezable.
Growing up, my kid’s menu item of choice was a plate of chicken tenders with a side of French fries. It’s an order that celebrates all things golden and fried. Wow!
My son is a big fan chicken fingers too. I don’t think twice when he gets them at a restaurant, but at home it’s another story. I would never dream of attempting to fry something in a vat of oil no matter how shallow or deep. An air-fryer is not a gadget that I have in my kitchen, and in the spirit of less is more, I don’t have any plans to add one (yet).
Actually, you can turn out a pretty amazing batch of chicken tenders from your oven with a couple basic kitchen tools that you probably already have in your cabinets. Make these for your little ones, and I have a feeling you will get their seal of approval.
And no matter your age or the age of everyone in your house, chicken tenders are great—no kids required. I love them for game day appetizers (hello, Super Bowl) and for those moments when I want a healthier version of bar food in the comfort of my own home.
It is key to have a wire rack that fits inside a sheet pan. By baking the tenders on a wire rack, the hot air can get underneath them, and there’s no risk of any soggy bottoms. You want the chicken fingers to be crunchy on all sides as if they were batter-fried.
It helps if the rack is non-stick, but I also still grease it with cooking spray. You can often buy a rack as a set with a baking sheet like this one.
These racks are great for cooling cookies and cakes too, so they are definitely multi-functional.
Now that we have the tools out of the way, it’s time to talk about the recipe, more specifically the coating for the tenders. It has to be crispy and crunchy and well seasoned.
The base for the mixture is a combination of crushed cornflake cereal and panko breadcrumbs. These Japanese-style breadcrumbs are super crisp. Sometimes you can find them as whole wheat, if you are looking for a way to incorporate whole grains.
Too often, breading can be tasteless, so I go beyond salt and pepper and also add dried oregano and thyme and garlic and onion powder.
This is what you need for these baked chicken strips:
If you want to keep with the baked not fried theme, you can make oven fries like these:
Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
Garlic French Fries
You can freeze cooked chicken tenders up to 1 month. Put them on a plate or a sheet pan on wax paper in the freezer and then transfer them to a bag or another container. This will prevent them from freezing and sticking together.
Just bake the frozen tenders at 400 degrees F for 12-14 minutes.
Baked Zucchini Fries
Sheet Pan Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadillas
Zucchini Corn Fritters
Baked Sweet Potato Fritters
Oven-Baked Beet Chips
Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Sheet Pan Nachos
Crushed cornflakes, panko breadcrumbs and dried seasonings make up the crunchy breading on these healthy, oven baked chicken tenders.
You can freeze cooked chicken tenders up to 1 month. Put them on a plate or a sheet pan on wax paper in the freezer and then transfer them to a bag or another container. This will prevent them from freezing and sticking together. Bake the frozen tenders at 400 degrees F for 12-14 minutes.
Keywords: baked chicken tenders, healthy chicken tenders
My kiddos are obsessed with these!
★★★★★
My son loves them, too!