The perfect crispy Baked Chicken Fingers recipe! Chicken tenders coated in panko breadcrumbs and baked until crispy and delicious.
I have been searching for the perfect baked, breaded chicken recipe for years now. It seems like even when I would find one that was perfectly crunchy it wouldn’t get brown enough. Or if I would leave it in the oven until it was beautifully golden, the chicken would be dry and gross. Well y’all, I have found the perfect recipe!
Before breading these chicken fingers, you toast the panko breadcrumbs in some oil! Seriously, how did I not think of this before?! The chicken was perfectly crunchy and brown but still moist and delicious on the inside.
This will definitely be my new go-to for baked chicken and I’m excited to play around and see how it turns out with some cheese mixed into the breadcrumbs!
Ingredients
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1½ lb chicken tenderloins, or boneless, skinless breasts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475F. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick spray.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the breadcrumbs and canola oil. Toast the breadcrumbs, stirring frequently, until they’re a deep golden color. Transfer the breadcrumbs to a wide, shallow dish and set aside to cool.
- In a separate dish, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, and cayenne. In a third dish, whisk the egg whites, water, dijon mustard and thyme to until the mixture is foamy.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Working with one strip at a time, dredge the chicken in the flour mixture (shaking to remove excess) then dip in the egg whites making sure to coat both sides completely.
- Place in the toasted breadcrumbs, turning to coat both sides. Transfer to the wire rack.
- Repeat with the rest of the chicken. Spray the chicken lightly with cooking spray.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Equipment Needed
- Rimmed baking sheets
- Wire cooling racks – your tenders are going to cook on this so the heat hits all sides of the chicken and the breadcrumbs crisp up evenly – nothing worse than a soggy side on your chicken tenders!
- Mixing bowls
- Heavy skillet
How Long Are Chicken Tenders Good For?
These Baked Chicken Tenders will be fine for about 3 days in an airtight containers in the fridge – these airtight glass containers are my favorite for all our leftovers.
I recommend reheating in the oven or a toaster oven to crisp up the breadcrumbs again.
More Chicken Recipes
- Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs
- Chicken Marsala
- Honey Mustard Chicken Wings
- Bacon Spinach Feta Chicken
- Chicken Thighs with Creamy Rosemary Mushrooms
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Baked Chicken Fingers
Ingredients
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1½ lb chicken tenderloins, or boneless, skinless breasts cut into ¾-inch strips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475F. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick spray.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the breadcrumbs and canola oil. Toast the breadcrumbs, stirring frequently, until they're a deep golden color.
- Transfer the breadcrumbs to a wide, shallow dish and set aside to cool. In a separate dish, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, and cayenne. In a third dish, whisk the egg whites, water, dijon mustard and thyme to until the mixture is foamy.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Working with one strip at a time, dredge the chicken in the flour mixture (shaking to remove excess) then dip in the egg whites making sure to coat both sides completely. Place in the toasted breadcrumbs, turning to coat both sides. Transfer to the wire rack. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
- Spray the chicken lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 420Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 443mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 43g
Karen says
I love these so much. I never feel the need to have deep fried chicken again. I’ve been making them pretty often, experimenting with different dipping sauces and spices in the flour and the egg white mixture. I wonder if they could be adapted to use with tofu or seitan or fish… The secret truly is in the browning of the breadcrumbs. I just use a little bit of grape seed oil for that and whole wheat flour and organic breadcrumbs. Tastes delicious. Thank you!
Kathryn @ Mamacado says
This looks great. I love using chex and a topping to so many things. My gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free chicken finger post just went up! Great minds think alike!
Gale says
Found this recipe today and made it tonite. It was delicious. Only change I made was I used Sazon seasoning instead of the cayenne pepper. Toasting the panko breadcrumbs made it perfectly crunchy and I added a little less than a 1/4 of a cup of parmesan cheese. Would definitely recommend making this.
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
lol love their song
Jessica@AKitchenAddiction says
Oh, I bet these would be great with cheese!
Peter says
Isn’t the purpose of baking the chicken fingers to avoid the (fat) frying? “Toasting” the breadcrumbs in oil seems to defeat the original purpose.
amanda says
For me it’s mostly a time thing. It’s easier to put the chicken in the oven than hover over a pot of bubbling oil. The breadcrumbs would get pretty toasty without any added fat if you are concerned about that though. Thanks for reading and commenting! :)
nicole @ I am a honey bee says
HAHAHAH! such a great song. I’m sure you loved hearing that a hundred times. I can toally imagine them squawking that around. :-)
Sarah says
I love recipes like this. Easy and kid friendly. This will make a great back to school dinner one night.
Julie @ Table for Two says
these look delicious and so golden perfect! i’m posing some on friday ;) we’re on the same wavelength!
kita says
Seriously, three days all I have wanted is chicken fingers. You know what does not count? Chicken nuggets from Wendys. Gross. I am making these SOON.
Tracey says
Oh wow, yours look so perfect! I could totally go for a plate of these for lunch today. I have a recipe for chicken nuggets on my menu this week I’m looking forward to – though it’s fried so way less healthy!