Easy Amish Chicken Tenders

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Chicken entrees, like these Easy Amish Chicken Tenders, are 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.

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 from the Michigan State University extension department about how to safely thaw frozen chicken:

1. Thawing chicken in the refrigerator requires planning ahead.  Boneless chicken breasts, chicken parts and whole chicken may take one to two days to thaw.
2. 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!

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 or any kind of crumbs you might have on hand.

Now, if it were me, I'd be tempted to skip the honey mustard sauce and use barbecue sauce, here are some Amish recipes:

AMISH BARBECUE SAUCE

Anyway, here is the recipe!

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• 🍗CHICKEN TENDERS INGREDIENTS
• 📋Instructions
• 🐔 More Amish Chicken Recipes

🍗CHICKEN TENDERS INGREDIENTS

• 6 Amish chicken cutlets
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 2 Tbl fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ cup canola oil
• Honey Mustard Sauce
• 2 Tbl cornstarch
• 1 cup water, divided
• salt and pepper
• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup prepared mustard

📋Instructions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Serve 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!

Hearty Chicken Skillet

Delicious!

Chicken Rice and Broccoli Bake

An All-in-One Meal!

Oven-Fried Chicken

So good!