Learning how to make breaded chicken tenders is an easy process, and it requires only a few essential ingredients. Whether you make them for family dinners or as a snack, this recipe is a winner for children and adults alike. You can serve them alone or with vegetables or serve them with a dip like Chicken Scampi. This recipe also reheats well. When making breaded chicken tenders, you can use store-bought bread, but the bread shouldn’t be too soft.
Chicken Tender Nutrition Facts
What Are Breaded Chicken Tenders?
Chicken tenders are white meat that, despite being smaller than chicken breasts, tastes identical to breast meat and are tender and juicy when properly cooked. Chicken tenders are sometimes offered separately from chicken breasts, making them ideal for stir-fries and skewers since the chicken meat must be sliced up anyhow.
When making breaded chicken tenders, it is best to thaw them first. Otherwise, the breading won’t adhere to the meat, and your chicken may cook unevenly. Before making them, make sure they are completely thawed. This is essential to get the best results because frozen chicken tends not to stick to the breading and fresh chicken.
How To Make Breaded Chicken?
Here are some essential points to make breaded chicken:
- To make breaded chicken tenders, first, cut the chicken tenders into 1-inch strips. You can use a boneless skinless breast if you prefer. For the breading, combine cornflakes with Panko crumbs for crunch and seasoned salt for flavor.
- You can also use crushed Rice Krispies, buttery crackers, or crushed cornflakes. Once all the ingredients have been mixed, it’s time to coat the chicken in breading.
- After thawing the chicken tenders, you should crack the eggs and whisk them. Next, add the panko bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Pour the egg mixture over the chicken strips and coat each piece of chicken with it. Once the chicken is fully coated, bake the chicken for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, and the breaded pieces will be ready in under an hour.
- If you are making breaded chicken tenders for family dinners, you can use a few leftovers to prepare the dish. When making chicken tenders, make sure to thaw them completely before dredging them.
- If you’re using frozen chicken, be sure to thaw them first. Don’t forget to thaw them before dredging if you’re using chicken tenders from the freezer. They won’t stick to the bread crumbs and will cook unevenly.
- If you’re making these chicken tenders for a party, you’ll need to have a few supplies. First, prepare the chicken breasts, and they can be purchased frozen or freshly thawed. You need to thaw the chicken and coat it with bread crumbs to make the chicken tenders.
- To prepare the chicken tenders for frying, you need to put the chicken in a shallow dish with two-thirds of the ingredients. You need to crack the eggs and whisk the egg in a third.
- If you’d prefer to fry your chicken tenders, you can use a skillet with 1/2 cup of oil. To prevent the chicken from drying out, place the chicken strips in the skillet. Once coated, bake the chicken until the inside is 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While breaded and fried, they are not as healthy as their savory counterparts. You can easily substitute herbs and spices for the breading for a more flavorful and nutritious dish.
Steps For Preparing Chicken Tenders
Here are essential steps to follow:
Prep The Chicken And Set Up Your Workstation
Gather three shallow bowls: one for the flour, one for the beaten eggs, and one for the breadcrumb mixture. Fill each with enough sauce to coat several chicken pieces. It will be much easier to bread the chicken if you set these up in an assembly line.
Assess the thickness of your chicken once you’ve got everything set up. Consider butterflying the chicken or using a meat mallet to smooth out the thickness of a cutlet if it is uneven. Even thickness across the cutlet or breast increases the chances of your chicken cooking evenly.
Coat The Chicken In Flour
Make sure your meat is dehydrated after butterflying or flattening it with a paper towel (wet chicken means the breading won’t stick as well). Dredge the cutlet in the flour and shake off any excess once it’s dry.
Dip The Chicken In Egg
After that, coat your floured chicken cutlet with beaten eggs. Allow the excess to drop out before transferring it to the breadcrumb bowl.
Coat The Chicken In Breadcrumbs
The chicken should be pressed into the breadcrumb mixture, then flipped and pressed again. Make sure the cutlet is completely coated, and shake off any crumbs that have accumulated here as well.
Ingredients For Breading Chicken
Breading chicken requires three fundamental ingredients: flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs, in addition to the chicken itself. When combined in that order, these ingredients form a coating that seals the chicken and keeps the liquids inside until you’re ready to eat. Each component plays a specific role in breading chicken, which is referred to as the “standard breading procedure” in culinary school.
Flour
When chicken is coated in flour, the outside of the chicken dries off, making it more straightforward for the other ingredients to adhere to. This is why it’s an excellent initial step!
Egg
When breading chicken, the egg is always the second step. Egg protein cooks rapidly and acts as a binder to keep the breading on the chicken in place. In addition, when the egg is mixed with the flour, it forms a gel that helps the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken cutlets.
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs give breaded chicken texture and flavor. As the final step in the procedure, you can use any breadcrumbs but bear in mind that the coarser the crumb, the crunchier the breading will be. Panko breadcrumbs are a popular choice for breaded chicken because of this.
Conclusion
For an extra tasty snack, you can try different types of bread. You can use parmesan cheese or other types of cheese. Another option is to use cajun seasoning. The best way to prepare these is by using olive oil and garlic powder. After that, you can either bake the chicken for a few minutes or keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The chicken should be cooked for at least five minutes and served hot.
