There is something really comforting about a crispy chicken tender. A good tender is salty and crunchy on the outside and juicy inside. Dipped in some ranch or ketchup and I am in heaven.
This recipe is really easy and will give you crispy chicken tenders to enjoy with fries, over a salad or in a wrap. Are you craving chicken tenders yet?
Let’s get started…
This recipe works with 1 1/2-2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken tenders, but can easily be doubled or tripled for bigger batches.
Start by combining 2/3 cup of all purpose flour, 1/3 cup of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt, 1 teaspoon of paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder in a shallow bowl that will be easy to dip your tenders into.
In a second shallow bowl, whisk 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons of milk and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Keep the bowls close together and grab a silicone cutting board or sheet of parchment paper to place your coated chicken onto as you work.
Dip each tender in the flour mixture to lightly coat then transfer the tender into the egg mixture and make sure that the entire surface is coated. Return the tender back to the flour mixture and generously coat. Set the coated tender onto your parchment paper and repeat the process with all of the tenders.
Allowing the chicken to rest a bit between coating and frying will help the breading stick during the frying process.
Once the tenders have been coated, add about 2 inches of canola oil into a large skillet and place over medium to medium high heat. You are looking for the oil to be right around 350 degrees, but if you do not have an oil thermometer, drop a tiny bit of breading into the oil and if it sizzles, you are ready to add the tenders…
When the oil is ready, carefully place the coated tenders into the oil. Depending on how large your skillet is, you should be able to fry 5-8 tenders at a time. Avoid over crowding the oil. If you add too many tenders into the oil, it will drop the oil temperature low enough that it wont be able to crisp your breading. This is one of the main reasons that breading is gummy or falls off of the chicken. The oil needs to be able to stay hot in order to create that crispy, crunchy texture that we all love.
Once the tenders are deeply golden brown, crispy and cooked through (no pink inside with an internal temperature of 165 degrees), transfer them onto a cooling rack or paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
Note: If you have cooling racks, use them for these tenders, especially if you are making a big batch. Paper towels will help remove excess oil, but if they sit too long on the paper towels, they will become soggy. They can sit on cooling racks for much longer and stay nicely crunchy.
This breading is crunchy, salty, flavorful and exactly what you want from a crispy chicken tender.
Whether you are looking for a simple mid week dinner idea or are looking for a great crispy tender to top your salads or fill your lunch wraps with, give these crispy chicken tenders a try!
Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken tenders
- 2/3 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- salt and black pepper
- canola oil
Instructions
- Whisk 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of will in a shallow dish and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper
- In a separate shallow dish, combine 2/3 cup of all purpose flour, 1/3 cup of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt, 1 teaspoon of paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
- Place a large skillet over medium to medium high heat and add enough canola oil so that there is approximately 2 inches of oil throughout the skillet
- While the oil is warming, bread the chicken by dipping each tender into the flour mixture, then into the whisked egg and milk mixture and then finally back into the flour mixture
- Set breaded chicken tenders on a sheet of parchment paper until the oil is warm enough that a breaded tender will begin sizzling as soon as it is dipped into the oil (about 350 degrees)
- Carefully place breaded tenders into the hot oil without crowding the skillet (5-6 tenders at a time)
- Fry until the chicken is deeply golden brown all around and cooked through to a temperature of 165 degrees - 8-10 minutes for average sized tenders
- Transfer fried tenders onto a cooling rack or paper towel lined plate and season with a pinch of salt
- Repeat process until all of the tenders are fried
