You probably love chicken tenders. I know I do! Chicken tenders usually come from the part of the chicken called a tenderloin which is found beneath the chicken breast. Chicken tenderloins are boneless which makes them great finger food.
The cuts are handy and family-friendly because of the many ways you can prepare them for people of all ages. Depending on how you cook your chicken tenderloin cuts, you can get a quick delicious snack, a fancy dinner, or anything in between.
Additionally, chicken tenderloins take a short time to cook which is ideal for time-strapped people. Chicken meat is low in fat, low in cholesterol, and high in protein.
There are many ways to prepare your chicken tenderloin cuts to maximize these benefits. Before we begin, here’s a handy video on how to use a fork to easily remove the tendon from your chicken tenderloin cut. Let’s dig in !
1. Super Crispy Chicken Tenders
Chances are you have fond memories of enjoying chicken tenders during your childhood. These super crispy chicken tenders are very family-friendly.
Follow this quick simple recipe to make chicken tenders that rival those at your favorite restaurant. Simply marinate your chicken tenderloins in buttermilk, coat them in flour and eggs, and fry to perfection.
2. Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders
You can make this dish in less than 20 minutes using simple ingredients. These garlicky tenders are juicy and delicious.
Dice your chicken tenderloins. Marinate them for a few minutes in salt, black pepper, and flour before frying them in cooking oil until golden brown.
Separately, fry minced garlic in butter. Add chicken broth to the mixture and then add your fried tenderloin pieces.
3. Cheesy Chicken Strips
If you love Cheez-Its, you’ll probably love this recipe. You can infuse your favorite crackers into your chicken tenderloin cuts for an exciting culinary experience. It will take you less than half an hour to make this dish.
Although the recipe says that you should use chicken breasts, it’s easy enough to substitute them with chicken tenderloins. Other ingredients include cheddar cheese and eggs.
4. Fried Honey Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders
This great new recipe is easy to follow. The sweet yet spicy taste is simply amazing.
The key to making it work is seasoning your chicken tenderloin pieces well to create harmony between the sweet and spicy palettes of the dish. Apart from the honey and garlic, you will need salt, black pepper, paprika, and cayenne.
5. Thai Peanut Chicken Noodles
Apart from chicken tenderloins, this great-tasting meal only needs three more ingredients. These are noodles, peanut sauce, and sriracha. All the other ingredients are optional. What’s more, you can whip up this meal in less than 30 minutes! It’s a family-friendly staple.
You can use either store-bought or homemade peanut sauce. If you want to make the peanut sauce from scratch, the recipe shows you how.
6. Oven-Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders
Follow this lovely recipe to perfectly bake your chicken tenderloin pieces. Baking is generally healthier than frying.
Buffalo chicken tenders are perfect for Game Day. Just whip these up to impress your friends as you enjoy watching a game together.
The main ingredient in this meal is buffalo sauce. You can make buffalo sauce at home for that extra touch, or you can simply buy it in the store.
7. Lime-Ginger Chicken Tenders
This recipe is a great way to add refreshing citrusy flavors to your chicken tenderloins. It takes only 30 minutes to make.
Mix lime juice, lime zest, garlic cloves, fresh gingerroot, ground cumin, fresh cilantro, and jalapeno pepper together. Marinate your chicken tenderloin pieces in this citrusy marinade before baking them.
8. Grilled Chicken Mango Salad with Mango Salad Dressing
This summery filling salad is healthy, delicious and easy to make. This recipe is amazing because the salad dressing doubles up as the chicken marinade. Once you use your blender to make your marinade, put aside part of it to later use as mango salad dressing.
Dip your cubed chicken tenderloin pieces into the marinade before grilling them. Put the grilled pieces in a salad to enjoy with the dressing.
9. Simple Chicken Tenderloin Piccata
Chicken tenderloins are perfectly shaped when it comes to piccata. Although chicken breasts are often used to make picatta, you have to pound them to get the desired flat shape. With chicken tenderloins, you can make large servings of the dish without taking too much time.
Lemon caper sauce will complete your chicken piccata. Follow the recipe to use fresh lemon juice, white wine and butter to make it.
10. Hoisin Chicken Wraps
The star of this dish is the hoisin sauce, a thick flavorful sauce commonly used in Cantonese cuisine. It’s made from soybeans just like soy sauce but is much thicker and sweeter.
This recipe is inspired by a traditional recipe called Peking Duck Pancake. Substitute duck for your chicken tenderloin pieces. Make a marinade for them using hoisin sauce as the main ingredient. After cooking, wrap them and enjoy!
11. Pineapple Chicken Fajitas
This is a sweet take on classic fajitas, which contain grilled meat served in a wrap along with vegetables. When frying the chicken, add honey and pineapple to the vegetable mix. Add in your pineapple pieces last because they shouldn’t get too tender.
Although the recipe says to use chicken breasts, you can easily substitute them with chicken tenderloins.
12. Moo Shu Chicken Stir Fry Recipe
Moo Shu chicken is best known as delicious takeout. Try making your Moo Shu chicken at home! Cut your chicken tenderloins into strips. Mix with cornstarch, egg white, sesame oil, and salt. Fry with egg, wood ear mushrooms, cabbage, onions, and carrots.
Wrap the stir fry in wraps called ‘Moo Shu Shells,’ also known as Peking duck wrappers. You may choose to use tortilla wraps as a substitute.
13. Honey Dijon Chicken Salad
This lovely chicken salad takes only 30 minutes to make! It goes perfectly with fresh bread rolls to make a healthy sweet-tasting sandwich.
In a bowl, mix cooked shredded chicken, celery, dried cranberries, mayo and Dijon mustard. Chill the mixture. Serve with bread rolls or regular sandwich bread.
14. Chicken Quesadillas
Follow his quick and easy recipe for some yummy chicken quesadillas. You can use any part of the chicken to make your quesadillas. However, chicken tenderloins are perfect because they take on seasoning better.
Marinate your chicken tenderloins in seasoning for an hour for that extra touch, although you can cook it straight away.
15. Skillet Plum Chicken Tenders
This recipe is a lovely take on classic chicken tenders. Use this recipe to add plums to your chicken tenderloins for a great meal.
This sophisticated dish will impress you as well as your guests. The touch of white wine that the recipe calls for adds that special touch. This meal’s five-star quality is unforgettable.
14. Honey Sriracha Fried Chicken Bites
These delicious tiny bites are perfect for finger food or children’s parties. Whip a few of these up and watch everybody chomp them down! Their size and sweet and spicy taste makes them nearly addictive to people of all ages.
Your chicken tenderloin cuts are perfect for this quick and easy recipe because they are boneless. To begin, simply cut them up into small bite-sized pieces.
15. Honey Lemon Chicken Tenders
This easy 15-minute recipe is perfect for a quick delicious dinner. To begin, bread your chicken tenderloin pieces using flour, salt and pepper. Sautée the breaded chicken until it’s completely cooked on all sides. Allow the chicken to simmer in minced garlic and then chicken broth.
Make a honey lemon mixture using honey, lemon juice, cornstarch, soy sauce and water. Coat the simmering chicken with this mixture.
16. Creamy Garlic Chicken Tenders
This dish is easy to make yet very delicious and sophisticated. It will only take you 15 minutes to make.
Apart from your chicken tenderloin cuts, you will need parmesan cheese, heavy cream, dry white wine, chicken bouillon and a few kinds of seasoning including garlic. These ingredients are rather affordable. Enjoy a five-star meal on a budget!
17. Popcorn and Pretzel Chicken Tenders
This lovely recipe is completely original. As they snacked on popcorn and pretzels during a movie, a mother Suzanne Clarke and daughter Alivia were inspired to popcorn and pretzels for their chicken tenders.
Simply crush popcorn and pretzels to use as breading your chicken tenderloin pieces! Unique and delicious!
18. Honey Chipotle Chicken Tenders
Perfect for Game Day! This recipe is a great way to make honey chicken tenders. Thoroughly season your chicken tenderloins using dry chipotle powder.
Marinate the seasoned tenderloins in whole buttermilk. A great trick in this recipe is to add more seasoning to your buttermilk marinade to make your tenders even more flavorful.
Summary
People love chicken because it takes up flavors and seasoning extremely well.
Of all chicken cuts, chicken tenderloins are simply amazing. They are juicier than chicken breasts. Unlike wings and drumsticks, they are boneless. They cook quickly and are adaptable to chicken recipes made for other chicken cuts.
Bon Appétit!
