Whether you call them chicken fillets, chicken fingers, chicken goujons, chicken strips or chicken tenders, chicken tenderloins are a fabulous addition to family dinners!
Chicken tenderloins are tender and flavorful, and they don’t take nearly as long to cook as chicken breasts. Don’t believe us? Try out our 18 mouthwatering chicken tenderloin recipes to see for yourself!
Chicken tenderloins are budget-friendly, sure to please the whole family, and are totally delicious. So let’s get into the recipes!
Crispy Oven Chicken Tenders
If you like crunchy food, then you’re going to love this brilliant cornflake and panko chicken tenders recipe! The chunky panko breadcrumbs help the coated tenders golden, so every bite is crunchy perfection.
These tenders have all the flavor of deep-fried tenders, but are so much healthier. Its crispy crust makes these tenders ideal for dunking and dipping.
15-Minute Garlic Honey Soy Chicken Tenderloins
The secret of these beautiful honey and soy chicken tenderloins is the garlicky and sweet sauce(see also: Potstickers With Honey Soy Dipping Sauce). The tenderloins are coated in cornstarch, oregano, pepper and salt.
The cornstarch is essential, as this is what causes the glaze to thicken and turn glossy and sticky. As the name would suggest, this dish is ready in around 15 minutes.
For a full meal, we recommend serving these tenderloins with coconut lime cauliflower rice or jasmine rice, alongside a simple green salad.
Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders
If you need a dish for game night, these incredible tender chicken strips with homemade buffalo sauce are it! What makes this dish so great?
Well, it’s the fact you drag the meat through hot sauce before you coat it in breadcrumbs. This will pack the meat with spicy heat before you even put it in the oven.
A single bite will get your tastebuds singing! As well as buffalo sauce, we recommend serving crunchy and cold celery and carrot sticks too.
Chicken Tenders With Bacon & Jalapeño Sauce
Chicken tenders and bacon… how could this recipe get any better? What if we added jalapeño sauce? Now we’re talking! Packed with bacon, peppers, onions, and a generous amount of cream, this sauce is so delicious that you’ll want to serve it with everything.
We’re sure this is going to be your new favorite weeknight meal, and it goes so well with brown rice, roasted potatoes, or sweet potato fries.
The chicken tenders are coated with a mixture of olive oil, pepper, paprika, and salt to give it color and flavor before you broil or grill it. Once they’re done, drown them in the creamy, smokey bacon sauce infused with jalapeño peppers.
The spicy, smoky goodness is sure to go down a treat!
Moo Shu Chicken
Traditional chicken tenders are crunchy and breaded, but they’re moist enough that they’re great for stir-fries as well.
The sauce in this moo shu chicken recipe contains hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce, making it the ideal combination of savory and sweet.
It’s also padded out with shiitake mushrooms and shredded cabbage, and is a super filling meal when rice or noodles are added.
Air Fryer Classic Chicken Tenders
Air Fryers cook your food with hot air, acting like a small convection oven. Popping some tenders in your Air Fryer – making sure they’re not too close together – ensures they come out golden and crispy.
Plus, you don’t need glugs of olive oil to achieve a delicious crunch! Make traditional chicken tenders in an Air Fryer once, and you won’t look back!
Baked Almond Chicken Strips
If you love crunchy chicken strips, but are less than crazy about carbs, then you need to check out this recipe for gluten-free almond chicken strips.
You just need to blitz almonds with black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, ground mustard, and paprika until they look like breadcrumbs, then you coat the strips with the almond mix.
If you don’t like almonds, you can swap them out for alternative nuts, such as candied pecans or sweet chili-spiced pistachios.
Cornflake Chicken
Another gluten-free chicken tenderloin recipe is this cornflake chicken recipe! We recommend using Honey Nut Cornflakes and serving with fried rice and sweet chili sauce.
However, baked sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes also make for a great side! This recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders that you dip in an eggs and milk mixture, before rolling in crushed, seasoned cornflakes.
Then, pop the chicken strips in the oven and bake until they’re crispy and golden brown. Serve with the side of your choice and dig in!
Potato Chip Chicken Strips
While the majority of chicken tenderloin dishes require melted butter and beaten eggs, this recipe takes things to the next level. In this recipe, you dip the meat in a mix of garlic salt, onion salt, paprika, and sour cream.
Since this mixture is a lot thicker than that of butter and eggs, the potato crust is more sticky, and makes them super crunchy.
Sriracha Chicken Strips
Sriracha is an essential ingredient for your fridge. Not only is it great in its own right, but it’s amazing when mixed with mayonnaise or yogurt if you want a light, fresh dip.
Sriracha and chicken strips are a match made in heaven! These delicious, extra spicy chicken strips are sure to make your mouth water(see also: Best 12 Chicken Leg Recipes That Will Make Your Mouth Water)! Meanwhile, the panko bread crumbs help to achieve a crispy texture without the need for frying.
Easy Baked Coconut Chicken Tenders
If you’re on a gluten-free, low-carb or Paleo diet then you need to check out these easy baked coconut chicken tenders!
It uses unsweetened coconut flakes to coat the chicken, making it not only delicious but nut-free too.
To amplify the coconut flavor, we recommend letting the meat soak in coconut milk for a few hours.
Crispy Parmesan Chicken Tenderloins & Garlic Pasta
This recipe is exactly what it says on the tin, and the star of the dish is the Parmesan cheese! While it’s tempting to reach for the grated variety, we urge you to grate a chunk of Parmesan yourself.
It really will make a difference! We adore that this recipe doesn’t use a dense sauce but a simple garlic mix and olive oil coating.
This garlic and chicken pasta dish is also a great budget friendly option, requiring a handful of simple ingredients that are staples in pantries and fridges. It can be ready in under 30 minutes too, which is ideal for a weeknight meal.
Baked Pesto Chicken Tenders
Pesto is known for its distinct flavor, and it really stands out in this dish. To make sure every bite is mouth-wateringly herby, coat the chicken before letting it rest for a few hours to really let the juices soak.
When it comes to the coating, we recommend adding grated Parmesan and pine nuts to the breadcrumbs, as we believe it adds an extra dimension of flavor.
Needing just 4 ingredients and a couple of minutes, these homemade chicken tenders are ideal for a midweek meal.
Plus, pesto and basil has a lot of health benefits, and since these tenders are baked rather than fried, they’re definitely one of the healthiest chicken tenderloin recipes on our list.
Crispy Chicken Cobb Salad
Who doesn’t love a Cobb salad with all its fun additions? Cobb salad is about to get even better with the addition of crunchy chicken tenders!
Cobb salads include bacon, blue cheese dressing, chopped boiled eggs, tomatoes, and red onions. This is the base of a Cobb salad, but you can also add extras that suit your tastes.
Baked Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Tenders
These baked bacon-wrapped chicken tenders are sure to get your family’s mouths watering(see also: Best 17 Italian Chicken Recipes That Will Make Your Mouth Water)! We recommend using Gruyère or mature cheddar since both have a nice, smokey flavor.
This meal is even more sumptuous when topped with BBQ (see also: Best BBQ In Memphis)sauce and is a match made in heaven with some mac & cheese.
BBQ Lime Chicken
BBQ sauce is more versatile than you might think. It can be smoky, spicy, sweet, and sometimes creamy, but a single dash of lime juice can take BBQ sauce to whole new levels, and make BBQ lime chicken totally mouthwatering.
This dish is coated in an incredibly delicious sauce that will have you licking your fingers clean for hours. We guarantee this will quickly become a tailgate essential.
Chicken Tender Cordon Bleu
Chicken Cordon Bleu (also known as schnitzel cordon bleu) is normally pounded chicken rolled up in ham (see also: Best 20 Spam Recipes To Make Your Mouth Water)and cheese before being breaded and fried.
Simple and delicious! But to make chicken Cordon Bleu even easier, why not use chicken tenderloins?
Breaded Chicken Tenders With Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
How can you make a hot chicken tender even better? Why, by adding a homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, (see also: Oven Fried Pickles With Low Fat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing For Dipping)of course!
Trust us, this recipe is crispy, simple to make, and delicious! What more could you ask for from a chicken recipe? To really enhance the flavor of ranch, you can add some ranch dressing to the breadcrumbs.
Not only does it cut down on time, but it really packs a flavor punch.
Final Thoughts
We hope our article has shown you just how versatile chicken tenderloins can be!
Chicken tenderloins are not just a budget-friendly, quick meal but they can be a healthy, delicious option too.
When I gave birth to my first kid, I could no longer skip dinner, or just cook easy meals.
This is what inspired me to create EatThinkBeMerry.com.
I hope you will get to find your own inspiration for your next meals and have as much fun as we do looking out for you!
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