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Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe

5 from 2 votes
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posted: 06/06/19

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy
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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

This Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe needs to be part of your weeknight dinner line up! This chicken tender recipe is so delicious and lighter than traditional fried chicken tenders.

These would be amazing with my Homemade BBQ Sauce!

Need another easy chicken dinner? Make my Butter Chicken!

overhead view of baked chicken tenders on a white rectangular plate with fresh parsley on top

WHY WE LOVE THESE OVEN BAKED CHICKEN TENDERS

I am ALWAYS on the prowl for easy dinner recipes that my kids will love and these oven baked chicken tenders top the list. These baked breaded chicken tenders get their perfect flavor from a delicious breading recipe that comes together in a snap in your food processor. My kids love the flavor of these so much, their eyes light up when I make this recipe. They tell me how much better these homemade chicken tenders are than frozen chicken tenders every time I make them!

Though I am a notoriously lazy chef, even I don’t mind the time it takes to bread the chicken in this recipe. The mixture comes together fast and from there it’s only a few minutes of breading before popping it all in the oven. I love that we can skip all of the frying and oil when it comes to this recipe. This recipe ends up being about 30 minutes to make, which makes this a perfect weeknight meal!

The Baked Chicken Tenders are piled in a basket and one of them is cut in half showing the tender and jucyu inside.

THE KEY TO HOMEMADE CHICKEN TENDERS

The key to making chicken tenders without frying them is adding a little olive oil to the breading mix! It makes the coating on these chicken tenders crisp up perfectly in the oven. You can skip the frying while still getting great crunchy chicken tenders that are full of flavor

HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN TENDERS

There are three easy layers for these chicken tenders.

  1. Flour
  2. Egg Mixture
  3. Breading Mixture

After they are breaded they go into the oven for only 15 minutes! Which is perfect for you to make an easy side dish to go with these.

GREAT SIDE DISHES FOR THESE CHICKEN TENDERS

I’ve been busy bulking up the side dishes on Simple Joy over the last few years and I have a few that would be great with these because of how easy they are. Perfect to throw together while the chicken tenders are baking in the oven.

The Backed Chicken Tender is being dipped in the homemade dipping sauce

PERFECT FOR LEFT OVERS

These Baked Chicken Tenders are delicious hot or cold and at only 80 calories a tender, you are going to want to make them all the time to have some for salads throughout the week. These would be great in a wrap for lunch the next day, but I especially love them on my Apple Bacon Salad and my Strawberry Spinach Salad.

An overhead photo of the Baked Chicken Tenders has a golden brown crispy exterior.

This Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe with Easy Dipping Sauce need to be part of your weeknight dinner line up!  This chicken tender recipe is so delicious and way lighter than traditional fried chicken tenders and barbecue sauce.
5 from 2 votes

Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe with Easy Dipping Sauce

Serves: 4 people
(tap # to scale)
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
This Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe with Easy Dipping Sauce need to be part of your weeknight dinner line up!  This chicken tender recipe is so delicious and way lighter than traditional fried chicken tenders and barbecue sauce.

Ingredients

For Chicken Tenders

  • 2 lbs chicken tenders
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 TBSP milk I used skim
  • 2 cups corn flakes cereal
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 TBSP sweet paprika
  • 1 TBSP chicken stock base
  • 2 TBSPs grill seasoning see note
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

For Dipping Sauce

  • 1/2 cup Yoplait nonfat yogurt
  • 1 1/2 TBSPs hot sauce
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a food processor, to make the breading mixture, combine the cereal, bread crumbs, paprika, chicken stock base, grill seasoning, and vegetable oil.
  • Pour the flour out onto a large plate. Whisk the eggs with the milk in a medium sized bowl and put it next to the flour. Finally pour the breading mixture on a large plate next to the eggs. Place a large baking sheet next to the breading mixture.
  • Season the chicken tenders lightly with salt and pepper and working in batches dip them in the flour, then the eggs, then the breading mixture and place them on the baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
  • While the chicken is baking, mix together the yogurt, hot sauce, garlic, salt, and Worcestershire sauce.

Notes

What type of grill seasoning you get greatly impacts the final taste of this recipe, so make sure you get one you like!
Please note that the nutritional information on these does not account for the dipping sauce and it does account for all of the breading, eggs, and flour, though you do not use all of it.
Calories: 592kcal (30%) Carbohydrates: 44.1g (15%) Protein: 55g (110%) Fat: 19.7g (30%) Saturated Fat: 3.3g (21%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 9.9g Monounsaturated Fat: 4.4g Cholesterol: 280mg (93%) Sodium: 890mg (39%) Potassium: 94mg (3%) Fiber: 2.5g (10%) Sugar: 3.1g (3%) Vitamin A: 1295IU (26%) Vitamin C: 9.2mg (11%) Calcium: 41mg (4%) Iron: 6.1mg (34%)
Author: Lisa Longley
This Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe with Easy Dipping Sauce need to be part of your weeknight dinner line up!  This chicken tender recipe is so delicious and way lighter than traditional fried chicken tenders and barbecue sauce.

did you make this

Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe with Easy Dipping Sauce

I'd love to see what you made! Tag me @lisasimplejoy and hashtag it #simplejoyrecipes!

Looking for other great dinner options?

Taco Stuffed Peppers

Oven Baked Chili Cheese Dogs

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Italian Sloppy Joes

baked chicken tenders on a white rectangular plate and garnished with fresh parsley

collage of photos of oven baked chicken tenders

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Yoplait®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Hi! I'm Lisa Longley, and I am committed to giving you simple dinner ideas and recipes that are easy to make; recipes that will fill your home with joy. I am the owner and author of SimpleJoy.com and I'm so glad that you are here.

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  1. Jessica says

    Hi! Love you site. I would like to make this for my two boys. What kind of grill seasoning do you typically use? Also, what exactly is chicken stock base? Is it like bouillon cubes? Thanks for a response!

    • Lisa Longley says

      Thanks Jessica! I use McCormick Grill Seasoning, but it has a black pepper kick that is a little too much for my kiddos (though I love it!) and I use a loose poultry seasoning that is next to the bouillon cubes but isn’t in cube form. It’s great to keep on hand to make stock as it is much less expensive than buying it by the box or can.

  2. Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts says

    5 stars
    These look so crispy and amazing!! Love that dipping sauce too!

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