If you're looking for a tasty and easy meal to make at home, try this recipe for chicken tenders. With just a few simple ingredients and a little bit of prep time, you can create restaurant-quality chicken tenders that are sure to please the whole family. Give it a try and see for yourself!
This chicken tender recipe is extremely popular in Amish kitchens. Today's recipe comes to me from an Amish woman in Parke County, Indiana. The meat is flavorful and plentiful and on Amish farms the chicken has a different taste. Chickens running around a barnyard peck and forags at whatever they can find and that adds flavor to the meat, as opposed to the blanding effect that factory farming imposes.
Gather your ingredients and preheat your oven
Before you start making your chicken tenders, make sure you have all the necessary ingredients on hand. You'll need chicken breast tenderloins, cornstarch, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and any additional seasonings you prefer. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This will ensure your chicken tenders cook evenly and don't stick to the pan.
Amish cooks, especially those with children at home, are always looking for fun, flavorful ways to fix chicken that is quick.
I've written before about how pop culture has found its way onto Amish menus, such as breakfast burritos and Pizza Hut-style breadsticks, etc. Well, chicken tenders and nuggets are a staple of many fast food supper and lunch menus so leave it to the Amish to come up with a homemade version.
Oh and geez, if none of this enough chicken on your mind, KFC announced today that they are rolling out a super-charged chicken sandwich. It's a premium product meant to compete with the so popular chicken sandwich served at Popeye's. McDonald's and Wendy's have been rolling out new chicken sandwiches also in 2020 and 2021, so we'll see where it all shakes out. Again, though, your best bet may be to just make these Easy Amish Chicken Tenders at home!
A few tips about how to safely thaw frozen chicken:
- Thawing chicken in the refrigerator requires planning ahead. Boneless chicken breasts, chicken parts and whole chicken may take one to two days to thaw.
- Thawing chicken in cold water is done by placing chicken in an airtight, leak-proof bag. Submerge whole chicken or cut-up parts in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes. Cook chicken immediately after thawing.
Chicken that is thawed in the microwave needs to be cooked immediately. The microwave method begins to warm or cook chicken that can lead to bacteria growth.
My parents made this recipe using some pre-cooked frozen chicken breasts from the local Kroger, so you don't have to even worry about thawing them out. You'd probably get a better tasting chicken from your neighborhood butcher, but these did work fine. The `rents said you can just buy whole chicken breasts and split them in half to make the "tenders." That's a good tip!
You could probably also make these in an air fryer, for air fryer chicken tenders.
This sauce is great, but you could also do ranch, barbecue sauce, or just honey to dip into. And feel free to tweak the honey-mustard sauce to your own taste. For instance, a squeeze of lemon juice could go well. And you can cut chicken tenderloins, also, into chicken strips and use them as "tenders."
A few flakes of parsley on the tenders would add some color. A little garlic powder on the tenders would also add some nice additional flavor. Anyway, you definitely can mix and match and make substitutions.
Okay, so how do you get a taste of this amazingly, easy, flavorful chicken supper? The recipe is below. And, geez, I have to give my parents kudos on portion control. That plate above looks like it is not very filled, if that were me it'd be piled with tenders and veggies and maybe something else like bread and butter (that's a holdover of my Italian grandma, bread and butter with every meal). By the way, my parents cut back the honey in the sauce to 1 /3 from 1 /2, and used Italian bread crumbs, but you could use Panko breadcrumbs or any kind of crumbs you might have on hand to create a good breadcrumb mixture. The breadcrumbs give you good crispy chicken tenders.
Now, if it were me, I'd be tempted to skip the honey mustard sauce and use barbecue sauce, here is a homemade Amish recipe:
Chicken tenders pair well with salads or other veggies of your choice. This is a good meal with plenty of protein. These freeze well for future eating also, just freeze and fry when ready to eat.
Anyway, here is the recipe!
🍗 Ingredients
- 6 Amish chicken cutlets
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 2 Tbl fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
Honey mustard sauce
- 2 Tbl cornstarch
- 1 cup water, divided
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup prepared mustard
📋Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. In a plastic bag, mix bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese; set aside. In a small bowl, combine garlic and oil.
- Cut chicken into 1-inch wide strips. Dip strips in oil; dredge in and coat with crumb mixture. Place on a non-stick baking sheet, or spray sheet with cooking spray. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- For honey mustard sauce, dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water in a saucepan. Add honey, mustard and remaining water; bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Serve in a shallow bowl on side for dipping
🐔 More Amish Chicken Recipes
So many chicken recipes in Amish kitchens, where do we start?
One-Pan Smothered Chicken and Bacon
Good starting point!
Delicious!
Chicken Rice and Broccoli Bake
An All-in-One Meal!
So good!
Easy Chicken Tenders Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 chicken cutlets
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup canola oil
Honey Mustard Sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup water, divided
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup prepared mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In a plastic bag, mix bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese; set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine garlic and oil.
- Cut chicken into 1-inch wide strips. Dip strips in oil; coat with crumb mixture.
- Place on a non-stick baking sheet.
- Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown
.For honey mustard sauce, dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water in a saucepan.
- Add honey, mustard and remaining water; bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Serve on side for dipping
David E Wells
I have lived in and around the Amish people in Ohio for years. I now live in Georga and miss going to Amish resturants. Can't get enough of it
Dave
Kevin Williams
Dave, there is an Amish settlement with a superb Amish restaurant in Montezuma, Georgia, are you anywhere near there?