Crunchy Chicken Tenders {Portion Fix/21 Day Fix}

Crunchy chicken tenders are a staple for many families. Packaged prebreaded deep-fried chicken tenders usually, so not the healthiest way to serve a good clean protein. Thank goodness I was raised back in the 1960s by a mom who was always trying to lose a little weight. Or needed something she could push in the oven, set the timer, and walk away from. So she used to make oven-baked cornflake crusted chicken for us and we LOVED it! She served different little homemade sauces with them so they always seemed to taste different! 

Start with the chicken

I recently created a chicken tender recipe for the blog. (see Greek Chicken Tenders HERE.) I measured and remeasured how many average size chicken tenders would fit into my Red container would hold. 

For me, 2 was the answer every time! I urge you to put the size chicken tender that you buy into your Red and see for yourself it 1 fit. My container count/serving size is based on 2. 

Breading the crunchy chicken tenders

I have a couple of other recipes that use cornflakes as a crust. My catfish recipe can be found HERE. And I have a great spicy chicken recipe Nashville Hot Chicken HERE. In both of them, I use cornflakes and egg but in the hot chicken recipe, I add a layer of whole wheat flour for the Dry/Wet/Dry method of breading. I did not want to add it in here to keep this recipe gluten-free. 

It is not a complicated recipe at all. Chicken tenders, crushed cornflakes, olive oil spray, and a little salt and pepper is all that is needed. I buy the cheap generic box of corn flakes. They seem a little “thicker” than the name brand and so make a bigger CRUNCH to me. Smash them up but don’t pulverize them to powder. 1 cup of cornflakes counts as 1Yellow container on the 21 Day Fix, that seems to be enough to cover 4 tenders for me. You might need to add more if your tenders are any bigger than mine.

The egg wash is simple, 1 egg and a couple of tablespoons of water well mixed together. Salt and pepper the chicken tenders and then dip in egg wash on both sides and turn to coat in cornflake crumbs. There might be bare spots but after you have coated all 4 tenders then go back across and sprinkle the crumbs left in the bowl over each of them.

Cooking the crunchy chicken tenders  

My NuWave oven is big and can hold all 4 tenders at 1 time but you might have to cook yours in batches.  As I bread each tender I lay it on my olive oil sprayed rack and then after I have sprinkled the excess crumbs on them I spray a heave coat of olive oil spray over the top. We are going to count the spray as a teaspoon per serving, that is 1/2 teaspoon per tender, so don’t be stingy. This is important for the crispy part. 

Bake for 20 minutes or for how long your air fryer takes to cook a chicken tender depending on your model. If you don’t have an air fryer then 350 degrees for 20 minutes ON A RACK in a regular oven will do. If you don’t use a rack the bottom cornflakes will be soggy.

That is all there is to it! 

Dipping sauce ideas for Crunchy Chicken Tenders

Sauces are my favorite food group!! There are a number of store-bought options that I use like BBQ sauce.  This is my current favorite! 

I have some information on how to find approved condiments like BBQ sauce HERE. Maybe you want a ranch dressing? There are quite a few store-bought options for that too! You can find more information about those options HERE.

This homemade mustard bbq sauce is amazing with all kinds of meat! Find the recipe HERE.

My favorite sauce is the honey mustard sauce that is in my Copycat Alice Springs Chicken recipe HERE.