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!
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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 200°C/390°F (180° fan-forced).
- Toast panko – 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).
- Dredge batter – 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.
- Crumb – Sprinkle surface with breadcrumbs, then press down to adhere. Transfer onto baking tray. Marvel at clean fingers, repeat with remaining chicken.
- Spray & bake – 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.
- Serve – 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!)
What temp Fahrenheit do you cook the chicken after it’s battered? I toasted my pinko bread crumbs at 390 degrees Fahrenheit and they burned after 3-1/2 minutes. Too hot. Please help. Thanks.
LOVED these! They were so easy to make with ingredients that I always have on hand. AND, these were the first baked chicken tenders that I’ve made that are actually crispy. I served these with Chick-fil-A sauce (yummy) since I didn’t have honey and therefore couldn’t make the honey mustard sauce. I also made a toasted chicken parm sandwich for my husband with them–also very delicious. My cook time was around 25-30 minutes, and they were moist and perfect. Nagi, you are a genius! Thank you again for sharing your talent.
These do not brown. Made exactly as it said
162′ F…not 132’F sorry!
Delicious!! Kids loved them too! I had oddly cut breasts so I just made sure they were 132′ on my thermo pen and they were perfect!
162′ F…not 132’F sorry!
These are amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe. It is a family favorite. I substitute Greek yogurt for the mayo and they are always delicious!! Grateful to recipe developers like you who come up with super ideas. I would never have thought to pre-crisp the Panko.
Finally some chicken tenders that are PERFECTLY cooked: crunchy on the outside and delightfully tender on the inside. My taste buds have been a fan of your recipes for a while now and this just validates their adoration further. We put these on homemade subway rolls with butter lettuce and tomato. So tasty!
I want to make this. Is the mustard and mayo added for a reason or for a specific flavor. My kids don’t like either but if they don’t know, maybe they’ll enjoy.
My oldest hates mayo and we used spicy brown mustard – waited until after she commented on how good they were and she had a 2nd serving to tell her. She had no clue.
Thank you Nagi for a great little recipe – these tasted brilliant!
Has anyone tried freezing these so they can be made in bulk? I’d love to have a stash in the freezer but not sure whether to freeze prior to baking, or after. Would be nice to preserve the crunchiness!
Nagi – You. Are. A. Genius! Made these last tonight for my family and tonight I made them into smaller bite-sized pieces. They were a HUGE hit! The honey mustard sauce was absolutely divine as well. Can’t believe they’re baked, honestly still blowing my mind.
Your recipes are AMAZING. Thank you.
The best oven fried chicken tenders! So good and crunchy
Can these be made in an air fryer? Sounds yummy.
AMAZING! Easy and delicious. Turned out just like the photos. Thank you for a great classic.
“Marvel at clean fingers”. Lol, love it. Love this recipe too, I’m making them again tonight. So easy, so tender!
Lovely! Simple and quick, and the whole family gobbled them down. Thanks. Now they want me to try it using pork tenderloin, sort of a pork tonkatsu!
Second time I’ve used your recipes. Wonderful. Perfect.
What’s left to say, I did it by the book. Thank you.
I forgot I did change one thing. I cooked it for 10 minutes longer to bring it up to temp.
Oh. My. Goodness! The “one dredge batter” is an incredible improvement over traditional two-bowl methods.
Absolutely incredible recipe.
Thanks so much Lord James!! N x
Hello These sound great. Has anyone tried this with bone in chicken breasts?
Hi Christine, no you need boneless here as they need to be thin enough to cook in time. You can always debone and prepare as per the note in the recipe 🙂 N x
Wow! Truly Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders …. yum! Made with ranch dressing. Such a quick dinner and no messy fingers. Super tasty, crunchy and everyone keen to have it again.
Super tender!! Delicious
Hiya, love these chicken tenders thank u so much for the recipe.
Quick question can they be frozen if so at what stage and would re defrost and reheat/cook or cook from frozen.
Many thanks again