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These Oven Fried Chicken Tenders are nice and crispy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. Perfect for dipping in your favorite sauce and ready in about 30 minutes.
I’m the type of person that goes in spurts with foods.
For example, I never order chicken tenders at a restaurant…until I do. And then that’s all I order for months at a time until suddenly, nope. I never order chicken tenders at a restaurant.
Anyone else do that?
The same goes for home cooked food and I’m currently on a chicken tender trend.
These Oven Fried Chicken Tenders are seriously so good – they taste like they were fried with that crispy exterior that has just the perfect hint of greasy goodness to it. No, I’m not saying these are greasy at all. I’m just saying they have that perfect crispy coating that tastes like it was deep fried!
Our chicken tenders recipe is a definite kid favorite. Partially because what kid doesn’t love chicken and partially because you can serve these with allllll the sauces for dipping. My current favorite is this honey mustard dressing recipe or copycat Chick Fil A sauce!
Our Favorite Dips for Chicken Strips:
There are an endless number of dip recipes out there and probably most of them would go well with chicken strips! You can check out all of my dip recipes, or try a few of my favorites from below.
Oven Baked Chicken Strips
Ingredients
- 1.75 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 1 teaspoon pepper divided
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 8 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter and pour it on to a large rimmed baking sheet, such as a sheet pan.
- If using chicken breasts, slice into strips, each about 1 inch wide.
- Add the flour, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and half of the salt and pepper to a shallow dish. Add the eggs to a second shallow dish and beat well. Add the panko and remaining salt and pepper to a third shallow dish.
- Dip the chicken strips in the flour, then egg, then Panko. Press the strips into the Panko to ensure the chicken is evenly coated.
- Add the chicken strips to the pan with the melted butter.
- Bake for 10 minutes and then flip each piece of chicken over. Continue baking for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Ingredients Notes:
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Chicken – You can either use a couple of chicken breasts that you’ve cut into strips or you can purchase chicken tenderloins. Both work great!
Panko Bread Crumbs – Panko is a Japanese bread crumb that is light, airy, and crispy. This produces a much more crispy final product than traditional breadcrumbs.
Butter – Baking these in a bit of melted butter is the secret for making your oven fried chicken tenders taste like they were deep fried. Don’t skip this vital step!
Seasoning – We keep it simple here with garlic, onion, paprika, salt and pepper, but you can get as creative as you like with these baked chicken strips. Tony’s is a great seasoning blend that we often use on chicken.
What is Panko?
Panko is a Japanese bread crumb that is light, airy, and crispy. It can be found in most any grocery store. We highly recommend using Panko over traditional bread crumbs in any breading recipe where you want a crispy finished product.
How To Bake Chicken Tenders in Oven:
Breading: You’ll need three shallow dishes for the breading. One to stir together the flour + seasonings, one to whisk the eggs, and one to stir together the panko with salt and pepper.
Coat: Dredge each piece of chicken first in the flour, then egg, and finally the panko. Make sure you coat the chicken fully for the best breading.
Butter: Melt some butter and pour it over your baking sheet. This is the key to making these chicken tenders taste like they were fried!
Bake: Pop the chicken on the pan in the butter and bake for 10 minutes. Flip carefully and bake for another 10 minutes until they appear crispy fried and golden!
Tip: I know this is a baked fried chicken recipe, but you could easily turn this into an actual fried chicken recipe! Or even better, an air fried recipe! Just follow all the steps to coat the chicken in the Panko mix and then cook in a deep fryer or air fryer with your choice of oil.
These air fryer chicken tenders are looking pretty good too!
What To Serve With Baked Chicken Tenders:
Obviously, you’ll want one (or two…or thirty) of the dipping sauces I mentioned up above, but beyond that there are so many options!
My kiddos love when I make chicken strips and this crockpot hashbrown casserole. It’s hard to go wrong with cheesy potatoes and I love how easy they are in the crockpot.
Loaded mashed potatoes, ranch roasted potatoes, and baked potato salad are more tater favorites around here.
The family also loves our crock pot macaroni and cheese and broccoli cheese casserole.
How Long To Bake Chicken Tenders:
We bake these crispy oven fried chicken tenders at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through cooking.
The higher heat allows the breading to crisp up nicely while the chicken stays moist and tender.
Helpful Tip!
Air Fryer Instructions:
- Bread the chicken as directed.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Arrange chicken tenders in a single layer in the basket and spray liberally with cooking spray.
- Air fry for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.
FAQ:
They key to breading chicken is to use a 3 part method. First, you’ll dredge the chicken in flour. Next, you’ll dunk the floured chicken in beaten egg. Finally, place the chicken in your breadcrumbs and press lightly to make sure the chicken is fully coated.
Frying food is a method of cooking food in hot fat. We pour melted butter onto our sheet pan and place the chicken directly into that melted fat and then bake. This cooks the chicken in hot fat, just like it would if you were to deep fry, but you’re able to use much less fat this way and clean up is much easier.
This post was originally published in November of 2013. It was updated with new photos in February of 2020.
Candyce Couey says
Will this recipe and method work with onion rings?
Karly says
I have never tried, but I bet it would!
Candyce Couey says
I tried it with onion rings 2 weeks ago. I made one pan of chicken strips and one pan of onion rings. I used separate bowls of flour, eggs, and panko so I would not cross contaminate. Delicious! Tender and very flavorful, both the chicken and the onion rings.
Last night I decided to try more veggies. I did onion rings (because they were so good the first time), green beans, dill pickles, and mushrooms. I may never do these any other way. Each was amazing and so flavorful. I had 4 guests over and they all LOVED the veggies. They all said they have wanted to order fried dill pickle slices at restaurants but they did not want to spend the money on the appetizer so they have not ordered them. This was a way to experiment and find out that they are amazing! The butter is key, adds so much flavor to the veggies and they crisp up nicely. Try it! You will not be disappointed!
Karly says
I’m so happy you enjoy the recipe and love hearing about all of your experiments! I’ll have to try this with pickles…we usually toss them in the air fryer but this is a great idea!
Annette Rainesalo says
Hi Karly,
This recipe was a hit! I loved your tip on using that thin layer of butter. It absolutely made the chicken tenders crispy and flavorful. All the ingredients and seasonings you mentioned made this dish delicious.
I did make a few yummy additions: Added freshly grated parmesan cheese to the Panko breadcrumbs. Seasoned the raw chicken and added a nice shot of Frank’s RedHot Wings Sauce to marinate for a few hours beforehand in the ‘fridge. For the eggs, I added 2 tablespoons of half n’ half to get a nice thick, creamy, well-blended egg mixture. Lastly, once I laid out all the coated tenders on parchment paper, I let them sit for about 10 minutes before putting them on the buttered sheet tray and popping them into the oven. The taste was phenomenal! Light, crispy, evenly cooked, tender and juicy with just the right amount of heat and seasoning in every bite. Thanks for helping me “crack the code” to bake perfect oven-fried chicken tenders.
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing how you made it! Sounds delicious!
LINDA BARTELS says
Best oven fried chicken I ever made!
Karly says
Oh wow, love to hear that! 🙂
Sam says
So delicious!! I’ve been using the recipe for a few years now and never disappoints! Her honey mustard sauce is delish as well!!!
Karly says
Thanks so much, Sam!
Kathi says
Great recipe – will try it tonight in my Air Fryer. Thanks for posting.
Karly says
Hope you love it!
Noemi says
Absolutely amazing! This was a big hit. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Karly says
Yay! Love to hear that!
Andrea Charles says
I never imagined that Chicken strips can be made so crisp and delicious by baking. I always thought it can only be fried and thus not very kid friendly. Thank you dear Karly for sharing with us this wonderful recipe along with your experience baking them through that well-detailed video. A big thank you from me as a mother and my children who are head over heals for it.
Andrea Charles says
They look so delicious and perfectly cooked with extra crisp. You are the best to bring out something so delicious with the right proportion. I am going to try your recipe soon and I guarantee my family will be all praise for it. Can you please give the recipe for your dip as well? And what dip is it exactly?
Karly says
Hi Andrea! Hope you love the chicken strips! The dip is honey mustard.
Shelly says
Has anyone tried this in an air fryer? If so, what temperature and for how long?
Dena Tucker says
Hi Karly, I just had to tell you, After browsing for a good recipe I came across these n made these chicken tenders later night for dinner. My husband who is picking in his compliments but eats most everything actually loved them, especially the dip n told me that he loved them! He saved the leftovers for lunch today n kept the remainder of the dip. The only difference was I didn’t have any Panko bread crumbs so I crushed up Keebler Club Crackers in it n it worked just fine! I added another tbsp of honey to the dip, what a hit it all was! So I wanted to let you know to thank you so much for the recipe!
Karly says
Yay! So glad to hear this! 🙂
Melodie says
So freaking good! Thank you for that hilarious post and the delicious recipe! My kids and I thank you, Karly!
Karly says
Thanks, Melodie! 🙂
Marguerite says
Thank you for your quick reply
Marguerite says
I’m Gluten free could I use something else for the flour and Panko? These look delicious and would like to make them.
Karly says
I would think you could use whatever you normally use as breading – some sort of GF baking mix, perhaps?
sly bandit says
Waking up before 8 am is only done because corporations want their workers to do more at the workers expense so they get more profit =/ No way any CEO’s have to get up before 12.
Liz says
Yum to all your nice recipes. Thank you Karly.