Crispy Chicken Tenders

in Chicken & Turkey

Crispy Chicken Tenders

Opposites definitely attract. There are times when I want dinner to be labor-of-love impressive. Those are the times when you can guarantee that my husband will just want a sandwich for dinner. Darn.

Crispy Chicken Tenders

And then there are times when I want dinner to be the equivalent to just getting out of bed that morning. We have cereal and milk in the house? At the same time? We have dinner! And right on cue, he says, “Let’s have steak tonight.” Double darn.

Crispy Chicken Tenders

One of my husband’s favorite things to eat, chicken tenders, fall somewhere in the middle. I guess if there’s one thing a girl from the south is supposed to be able to get right, it would probably be frying chicken. Simple food, decently easy prep, and disastrously messy. There are the marinating and dredging dishes, the resting plate, the frying pan, the post-frying pan. And we’re not even counting dinner dishes and utensils yet. Or the gravy pot and baking sheet for french fries… two people, two loads of dishes. The math is simple enough, I guess.

Crispy Chicken Tenders

My husband prefers his chicken “plain” along side a bowl of cream gravy and a mountain of french fries. Me? I want those bad boys tossed in wing sauce and served with a ridiculously thick bleu cheese dressing. And hold the fries.

Crispy Chicken Tenders

Crispy, fried chicken tenders perfect for Sunday dinner.

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp vinegar
  • 1/2-1 tsp Tobasco
  • 1lb chicken tenders
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • black pepper
  • 2 tsp Tony Chachereโ€™s Cajun Seasoning

Instructions

  1. Heat ~1-inch vegetable oil in a cast iron pan/dutch oven to 350.
  2. Place chicken tenders in a shallow dish. Stir cream, vinegar, and Tobasco in a small bowl until just combined. Immediately pour over chicken (it can thicken rather quickly - and it's okay if it does). Move the tenders around a bit to ensure even coating.
  3. In a separate shallow dish, combine flour, a generous amount of fresh-ground black pepper, and Tony Chachere's and mix well.
  4. When the oil is ready, move 2-3 tenders at a time from the "wet pan" to the "dry pan." Dredge in seasoned flour, ensuring complete coverage, shake off any excess flour, and place on a plate. Repeat for as many tenders as you can fit in your frying pan.
  5. Transfer chicken to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, approximately 3-5 minutes. Flip and fry until breading is golden brown. Remove from the pan and place on a rack sitting over a baking sheet.
  6. Dredge the remaining chicken. Allow oil to reheat before adding any the chicken to the pan.

Notes

Yields: 3-4 servings

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Estimated time: 30 minutes

18 comments… add one
  • I love love love chicken tenders. Did you make those delicious looking fries, too?

  • Nikki – Ore Ida made those fries. I only baked them ๐Ÿ˜›

  • These look so good! Sometimes it’s nice to enjoy a plate of delicious chicken tenders and fries.

  • Oh man! Plain or with wing sauce I would be happy ๐Ÿ™‚ Fried chicken is something I leave to my father. When I go home for a visit he always makes me some. For some reason no matter how hard I try it never taste like his.

  • You have no idea how perfect the timing on this is! Yesterday I was trying to figure out what to feed a bunch of teens and had thought ‘chicken fingers would be great’, but alas, my Google Reader brought forth nothing of the sort.

    Of course, it’s snowing several inches in WI right now, so we may not even being having youth group this evening, but this is now bookmarked for next week. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • WOW – Those tenders look Fantab! They look like restaurant ones (which mine NEVER look like hah) I’ll definitely be trying your method and recipe! If I didn’t have dinner planned for today, it would be now! Seriously, salivating a bit!

  • Hold the fries? I could never hold the fries! But I agree with you on the wing sauce and bleu cheese dressing though. Yum!

  • i saw the first photo and was praying you had mastered the art of baked chicken tenders. i knew that photo was too good to be true. lol. they look fab!

  • Delish! My most labor of love dish is my chicken paninis on focaccia. I have to make the foccacia from scratch, bake that, meanwhile prepping the fresh pesto, cooking the chicken and slicing the mozz. Then when the bread is done, making the sandwiches and pressing them with a pre-heated cast iron pan. It uses every dish and pan in the kitchen, but it’s restaurant impressive!

  • I love this recipe for tenders and would dip mine in some honey mustard! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • These look perfect! My favorite dipping sauce is a combination of ranch dressing, mustard, and ketchup, or sweet & sour sauce.

  • Oh my, these look marvellous! My almost-husband is not a foodie in the slightest; one of the only foods we have in common is chicken. I will have to make these for us; I think he takes his chicken much like your husband – plain with a mountain of fries. I’m a blue cheese dunker myself. Thanks for the recipe!

  • I’ve nominated you for a Beautiful Blogger award!
    See details here:
    http://tastestalesandtours.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-award.html

  • Umm, yes please! These look so gooood!
    I love your blog!

  • OMG We had these the other night and seriously! BEST chicken tenders I’ve ever made! I think I’d personally add a little more spice/salt into the batter, but that’s just me.
    My 3 year old son ate them up in record time! (which is a great feat!)
    The texture was amazing. I did them in the deep fryer just to minimize the stove spatter I always get in pan frying (not to mention, I *always* heat mine on the stove too much, and have smoke pouring through the house)
    Anyway,point being, this is a new fave here! thank you!!

  • Kay Martin

    I’m trying these today….my husband saw the picture on the monitor and I thought he might like them! I’ll let you know how I did.

  • Kay Martin

    I made them for lunch in a Le Creuset dutch oven and they cooked perfectly in the time recommended. My husband loved them and luckily we have leftovers for tomorow. He even cleaned up the kitchen, so I know his tummy was happy!

  • I made these tonight and nearly died, they are so delicious! just discovered your blog and love it!!

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