Oven Fried Chicken Tenders

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders coated with a crispy Cheerio parmesan crust and served with honey mustard dipping sauce is a quick and easy dinner recipe.

Why this recipe works:

This is a super easy chicken dinner recipe that everyone in your family will love! What kid doesn't like chicken tenders, right? 

• The chicken pieces are extra tender because of the buttermilk brine
• Cheerios, parmesan, and herbs make a crusty and flavorful coating
• These chicken tenders are baked in the oven and not deep fried in oil
• The honey mustard dipping sauce adds a ton of flavor

Here's how to make them:

1. Chicken tenders are soaked in buttermilk. This can be done in as little as 15 minutes, but the longer they soak, the more time the buttermilk has to break down the protein structures in the chicken, thus creating a more soft and tender piece of chicken.
2. Next you will make the crumb coating. Cheerios are perfect for coating chicken tenders because they crush nicely into a great crumb and they have just a bit of sweet which pairs beautifully with the honey mustard. To make the coating, just process the Cheerios with grated parmesan and fresh thyme. Sprinkle in a little smoked paprika and garlic powder and a delicious coating for your chicken is created.
3. The chicken pieces are removed from the buttermilk and covered in the Cheerio parmesan coating. A thin layer of olive oil is added to the bottom of a baking sheet and the coated chicken is placed in a single layer on the baking sheet and baked for about 15 minutes.

Cooking tips:

• For the most tender and moist chicken, soak the chicken tenders in the buttermilk for a full 24 hours in the refrigerator. A quick soak works, but a longer brine will tenderize the chicken more.
• Freshly grated parmesan always tastes best, but you can easily use pre-shredded parmesan in this recipe.
• Fresh herbs are recommended but if fresh thyme isn't available, replace the tablespoon of fresh thyme with one teaspoon of dried thyme.

Our entire family loved these and thought the honey mustard dipping sauce was perfect as well. 

What to serve with this recipe:

I served this up with some corn on the cob and a green salad - both of which I made while the chicken was cooking. The entire dinner was prepped and cooked in 30 minutes!

Other side dish recommendations:

• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Wilted Garlic Spinach
• Garlic Parmesan Oven Roasted Asparagus
• Green Beans with Bacon

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders coated with Cheerios and parmesan and served up with some honey mustard dipping sauce make for a kid friendly 30 minute dinner.

5 from 7 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Hover to scale: 6 servings

Chef: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

honey mustard sauce

• ▢ ⅛ cup spicy brown mustard
• ▢ ⅛ cup honey

chicken tenders:

• ▢ 2 pounds chicken tenders
• ▢ ½ cup buttermilk
• ▢ 2 cups Cheerios
• ▢ 1 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

• To make honey mustard sauce, mix together mustard and honey. Do this ahead of time to allow flavors to develop.
• Rinse chicken and add to shallow dish. Cover with buttermilk and allow to soak for at least 15 minutes while you make the coating. A longer buttermilk soak is preferred (at least 24 hours refrigerated is recommended), but you can get away with 15 minutes if needed.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In food processor, blend together Cheerios, parmesan, and fresh thyme for 30 seconds to create a crumb topping. Add to gallon size plastic bag. Add paprika and garlic powder to the mixture; shake to blend well.
• One at a time, pick up each piece of chicken and allow excess buttermilk to drip off. Add buttermilk coated chicken pieces to bag with crumbs. Seal bag and give it a good shake until all of the coated has covered the chicken pieces.
• Spread olive oil over bottom of baking sheet. Lay chicken pieces in a single layer on top and cover with any additional crumb coating from bag.
• Cook in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until chicken is a golden brown. Serve with honey mustard dipping sauce.

Notes

Cooking tips:

• For the most tender and moist chicken, soak the chicken tenders in the buttermilk for a full 24 hours in the refrigerator. A quick soak works, but a longer brine will tenderize the chicken more.
• Freshly grated parmesan always tastes best, but you can easily use pre-shredded parmesan in this recipe.
• Fresh herbs are recommended but if fresh thyme isn't available, replace the tablespoon of fresh thyme with one teaspoon of dried thyme.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 564mg | Potassium: 674mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 659IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 264mg | Iron: 3mg

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This recipe was originally published in June 2014 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!