Go Back
–+ servings
crispy chicken tenders with sauce
Print Recipe
5 from 8 votes

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.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Krissy Allori

Equipment

Ingredients

honey mustard sauce

chicken tenders:

  • 2 pounds chicken tenders
  • 1/2 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

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