Super Crispy Chicken Tenders

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

184 Comments

4.92 from 37 votes
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Crispy Chicken Tenders marinaded in buttermilk then fried (or oven baked!) golden brown are juicy and flavorful with southern seasonings.

We love recreating fun family favorite American restaurant meals at home and these tenders are great served with Cole Slaw, Baked Beans my famous Baked Mac and Cheese and Macaroni Salad.

crispy chicken tenders
 The Best Ever Chicken Tender Recipe

I literally cracked a secret code in making chicken tenders crispy, juicy and flavorful. These Homemade Chicken Tenders are soaked in buttermilk and fried crisp are super flavorful, moist and extra crispy on the outside. Plus with spices like the kinds you’d get at KFC they are perfect for replacing fast food cravings and even game day parties. Plus I have directions for an oven baked version too, so there can be no feeling guilty about indulging in this awesome chicken fingers recipe.

The addition of the KFC spices that I use in my potato wedges recipe takes these chicken fingers over the top. KFC always said their chicken was finger licking good, you will want to because this chicken, like my Ultimate Fried Chicken Recipe (oooh, or my Oven Fried Chicken) is that good.

They’re golden brown fried chicken tenders made with either chicken breasts (make sure you use skinless chicken breasts) that you can slice into thinner chicken strips or you can use chicken tenderloin pieces and skip an extra step in the preparation.

If you’re using a chicken breast you will cut it along it’s long side to make chicken strips the right length for these chicken tenders. If you cut the chicken strips the shorter way they’ll be about 2-3 inches long and be closer to the size of an average fish stick.

Want some different seasoning ideas for next time?

  • Italian Chicken Tenders: Swap out the paprika for grated parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.
  • Cajun Chicken Tenders: Add 1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning and double the garlic powder.

How to keep Chicken Tenders Crispy once fried:

Once fried you can keep the chicken tenders crispy on a baking sheet or a cookie sheet in a low oven at 250 degrees while you finish frying the remaining chicken tenders or keep them warm until your even starts.

The low temperature will ensure the chicken fingers stay juicy too, it isn’t hot enough to dry them out unless you leave them in there for hours. Do not cover the chicken though as it will create steam which will ruin the texture of the crispy chicken.

With the big game coming up we are looking for fun finger foods and chicken tenders are the perfect finger food. If you’re looking for more game day food look no further!

Game Day Recipes:

chicken tenders platter

Dipping Sauces for Chicken Tenders

Why Marinate in Buttermilk?

The buttermilk acts as a tenderizer which makes the chicken juicy. Even just a half an hour soak will help with flavor and it also acts as a binding agent for the first coat of seasoned flour.

Even if the chicken tenders are going to be oven baked they should still be marinaded in buttermilk before baking.

Panko Breadcrumbs and Regular Breadcrumbs

If you would like to use panko breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs in this recipe to add more of a texture or crunch, like in a tempura recipe, you will have to reduce the flour to make up for the additional coating. Using breadcrumbs also allows you to bake this recipe instead of frying it (see baked chicken tenders recipe below).

If you fry the recipe with the use of the panko be aware the fat content (and saturated fat) of the recipe may be slightly higher as breadcrumbs tend to absorb more total fat than a flour based coating.  Serve this meal up with some roasted vegetables for some additional dietary fiber to make up for it! 😉

Oven Baked Chicken Tenders (Healthy Chicken Tenders)

  • After the buttermilk marinade add the spices to panko crumbs or breadcrumbs instead of flour.
  • Dredge the chicken from the buttermilk into the breadcrumbs then add to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
  • Brush with just 2 tablespoons of melted butter or spray with cooking spray (melted butter will give better flavor).
  • Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Looking for some more fun fried chicken and sides?

Tools Used In This Recipe:
Deep Fryer: Easy for keeping temperature on point and kind of fun to use!
Accent Seasoning: The x factor in the original KFC copycat recipe (use 1/2 teaspoon) (this is MSG, so use at your discretion).

Chicken Fingers

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Chicken Tenders
4.92 from 37 votes
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Super Crispy Chicken Tenders

Super Crispy Chicken Tenders made with a buttermilk marinade that makes them really tender and the crispiest crust with KFC flavored spices.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Super Crispy Chicken Tenders
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 16 Servings
Calories 138 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts boneless skinless
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • canola oil for frying
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  1. Cut the chicken breasts into four tenders each and soak them in a bowl with the buttermilk and hot sauce for 30 minutes.

  2. Add the eggs to one bowl and the flour and spices to a second bowl.
  3. Dip each piece of chicken from the buttermilk bowl to the flour mixture.
  4. Dip it into the eggs then back into the flour mixture.
  5. Shake excess flour gently off and put the chicken onto a baking sheet.
  6. Repeat with all the pieces.
  7. Heat the oil (three inches deep) in a dutch oven on medium high heat to 350 degrees.

  8. Fry the chicken in small batches for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.

Nutrition Facts
Super Crispy Chicken Tenders
Amount Per Serving
Calories 138 Calories from Fat 18
% Daily Value*
Fat 2g3%
Cholesterol 58mg19%
Sodium 459mg20%
Potassium 256mg7%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Protein 14g28%
Vitamin A 80IU2%
Vitamin C 0.8mg1%
Calcium 27mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Super Crispy Chicken Tenders

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Made this for the fam and they tore into them like they hadn’t ate in months. A good and easy recipe. Thumbs up to Dinner for Dessert

    Reply

    1. Let’s troubleshoot. Were you measuring the temperature of the oil? Was there enough oil in the pot? Usually if it blackens too quickly your oil is running too hot. Would love to help out, this is a family favorite recipe we use often.

      Reply

  6. I made these last night. It was kind of bland tasting and the batter was not crunchy, except for the edges. The batter did stay on the chicken well, but it was just kind of soft, not the crunchy recipe I’m looking for.

    Reply

  8. Great recipe, easy to make and very tasty! I grabbed vindaloo spice instead of the paprika by mistake lol!! It still tasted great tho! 🙂

    Reply

  9. Super easy to make and tastes sooo good. This was my first attempt at making fried chicken. I bought a new deep frier and wanted to try it out.

    Reply

  11. Part of the breast is the tenderloin. You can buy a pack of all tenderloins in the chicken section of the meat dept fresh!

    Reply

  12. Constantly making this! The chicken is so flavorful I haven’t bought fried chicken since discovering this recipe. Thank you very much for sharing !

    Reply

  14. Sounds like a great easy recipe. One question..what kind of hot sauce do you recommend ? Tabasco? Tapatio? Thanks sop much!??

    Reply

  15. I love this recipe so much! I used my air fryer, and it was very successful. 380 for 10 minutes, flip the pieces, then cook for 10 minutes longer. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply

  17. Seen this recipe just after I had cooked mine and seen yours is exactly the way I cook mine. Nut while family love them. There are never any left. The only difference is I do use the Panko. It gives that extra crispy everyone loves. And the buttermilk makes all the difference in the world and didn’t know this til just recently. But grateful I did. But I didn’t know you could add lemon juice 96th vinegar to regular milk to get the same result. Thanks for that tip. But just wanted to say I was glad to see the same recipe already in writing that I use. Only difference is I use different spicies. But Its all just a matter of taste of the person that is making them and who they are making them for. So everyone out there. Use whatever spicies you want. Just make sure you marinate in buttermilk. Then go into the floor then the egg. Then into the panko. They’ll come out great every single time. And make sure your oil is good and hot before you out in the chicken. I always get alit’l water on my finger and fling it into the oil. If it pops. Its ready to go. Happy cooking everyone.

    Reply

  18. Remember everyone who reads this. To let your chicken sit in the fridge for at least 15-20 mins. Before frying or baking. This will give the chicken a chance to bind with the breading.

    Follow this formula and you will succeed every time.

    Marinate chicken for 3 hrs in buttermilk/ or cream. Make sure to season the mixture.
    Then when ready to try. Mix eggs with cream until perfectly blended. Then follow this step below:

    From the marinade into all purpose flour with seasoning…

    Then into the egg wash

    Then into the final coating be it flour or bread crumb.

    Let the costed chicken sit for 15 minutes in the fridge without touching it.

    Then Cook

    Enjoy

    Reply

    2. I never thought abt letting out sit so the seasonings could bind. Thanks for the tip. I’ll be trying that the next time. But I kinda disagree abt adding cream to my eggs. Cuz I want the gooeyness of the eggs cuz it makes the panko or flour stick so much better. Its really more of a quick dunk than actually submerging. But everything else you said makes alot of sense. So I’m gonna try it. Thanks so much.

      Reply

  19. I just cooked this using bite size pieces of chicken tenderloin and it was the best fried chicken! I work at a chicken restaurant and my homeade was so much better! I will definitely be using this recipe again!

    Reply

  20. Hi Sabrina,

    Though I followed your recipe to a T. , my chicken did not come out with a crispy skin such as the ones in the pics. The outer part came out more like a thin flour covering – even though I used so many eggs in the end; the last few pieces of chicken took alot of eggs because by then the egg bowl had so much flour in it, that it was just absorbing the eggs. Another thing – towards the middle, the oil became a frothy mess . I was sooo disappointed – my ‘crispy’ chicken nuggets came out like soft covered chicken nuggets – I really need to understand what to do about the crispiness, the oil & the eggs.

    Thanks

    Donna

    Reply

    1. It sounds like you might need to dredge less or not make it as thick when dredging…does that make sense? That would cause too much coming off in the egg and making the oil frothy. Try and have a lighter hand or make a few batches to swap out in between if that happens again. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  21. First time frying chicken in over 25 years. It was easy and delicious. I probably could have gone a little more golden, but they were still good

    Reply

  22. I have a 10 year old who will only eat chicken strips from KFC. I googled “KFC chicken strips” and this recipe popped up in the results, so I gave it a whirl. Like others have said below, I cranked up the paprika and garlic powders as I thought 1/8 tsp would leave it quite bland. Otherwise, I followed it and used my little deep fryer to cook them in (minus the suggestion of using “Accent”).

    He took one bite and excitedly shouted “These taste just like KFC!”, so this recipe is going into the favorites.

    Thanks for sharing it!

    Reply

  23. After reading this recipe because I wanted to try the oven baked version, I was really disappointed because there were no directions about the breading with breadcrumbs for the baked version. I was always taught never assume when writing a recipe, Confused in Ohio.

    Reply

    1. In the post, there are directions for the oven baked version. Hope this helps clear up any confusion.

      Reply

  24. Good recipe. I used more garlic and paprika then the recipe called for, also added a little onion powder. I normally season my chicken and the coating but in this case, followed the recipe. The chicken was not as rich as i would have liked. Next time, I’ll try that. Also, the store had 0 buttermilk. I googled a substitute, milk and for each cup add 1tsp of vinegar. Turned out great and you couldn’t taste the vinegar. Also, great idea placing the fingers in the oven. All and all, happy with the recipe and fingers came out nice, tasty and crispy.

    Reply

  25. My kids (17, 13 & 7) all loved these! I did add a few extra dashes of Tabasco to the buttermilk and a bit more of each spice and finished with a little salt after they came out of the oil. They turned out just like the photo and none were left behind. Will be making again soon.

    Reply

    1. You can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  28. I didn’t have buttermilk. Measured 1tsp lemon juice and filled the rest of the cup with milk. Turned out amazing!

    Reply

  29. Hi Sabrina,
    I made them and they were tasty however, they didn’t turn out to be like the ones in your photo. They were crispy but I was hoping they would turn out just like the ones you made. I used everything in the recipe. Did you use breadcrumbs to give them the texture like the ones in the photo?

    Reply

  30. Why don’t you try to substitute yogurt instead of buttermilk it’s delicious as well some allperpus seasoning, crushed garlic

    Reply

  31. I made these for my family and they loved them! I tossed them into buffalo sauce to give them more flavor and they were delicious! The only thing I would say is add a little more spices or what not to give it that extra flavor.

    Reply

  32. Made this recipe today!! Worked out great tenders were so crispy , only thing was I tripled the recipe but found could of used a little more seasoning, but ground some black pepper and salt ontop and they worked out so good! Definitely adding to my recipe book , family favourite!!

    Reply

    1. The strips came out good for the most part. However, I honestly don’t see the point in adding hot sauce to the buttermilk, the breading all fell off with the first bite, and if anyone wants more of a kick I suggest added crushed red pepper to the flour mix.

      Reply

  37. You cannot cut a chicken breast into tenders.
    They are called “tenders” because they are made from chicken tenderloin.

    Otherwise, recipe is good 🙂

    Reply

    1. This is the funniest comment!
      Please, please tell me where the chicken tenderloin is on the chicken so the next time i can make these properly.

      Reply

      1. He’s actually correct. It is a part of the breast. That is why some places serve chicken tenderloins or tenders and others serve chicken strips. Some don’t know any better and call it whatever they want to. Chicken tenderloins are premium in my opinion. I absolutely prefer them. But a sliced chicken breast aka chicken strips go a lot further when feeding a crowd, on a budget or just don’t care. I do both, but I prefer tenders.

        Reply

  38. When I make chicken tenders I like to add many spices from the cabinet. As well as some salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.. I also like to add a little onion powder, ground mustard…**Also** I add a packet of ranch dressing seasoning to the dry flour mix and it really adds a LOT of good flavor to your chicken tenders. A lady I worked with for years that makes great soul food recommended this to me and I’ve been making them this way ever since. Happy frying! 🙂

    Reply

      1. I don’t know what I did wrong as followed the recipe to a t but my super crispy chicken nuggets weren’t that crispy

        Reply

    3. Hello Courtney, about how much of a portion do you put of the ground mustard? If you don’t mind me asking. for years I try to look for a good recipe and tonight is the night I think I’m going to try it finally. Wish me luck and thank you to all and Sabrina very much for all of this yummy cooking to be so delicious & to be possible for me to make.

      Reply

  39. Really nice but the seasoning wasn’t flavoursome enough. But really nice and crispy. Will make again. Any ideas on what else could be added to the seasoning?

    Reply

    1. Depending on how much spice and heat you like, you can always add in some red pepper or chili powder. Also, feel free to up the amounts of the other spices, especially the garlic powder and the black pepper.

      Reply

  40. These were delicious! Super crunchy and cooked well. I soaked a little longer than suggested in buttermilk and loved the taste! Will definitely use again.

    Reply

    1. So sorry you feel that way. I use universal measurements that the majority of home cooks are comfortable with. If you are comfortable around using a scale, I say feel free to convert the measurements 🙂

      Reply

      1. Wow, you handled that rude comment from Paul very well. Even if he had legitimate suggestion to make, he definitely should have started with “Thank you for the recipe” and then offering his suggestion respectfully. Well done, and thank you for the recipe!

        Reply

    2. “Crazy” and “Should be” are pretty rude and pointless judgments. One gram weighs one milliliter. Same same as far as a recipe is concerned. Whether you put a bowl or measuring cup on a scale and weigh liquid in grams or flour in milliliters you’ll get the same amount. Find something legitimate to complain about.

      Reply

  44. I’m unable to have casien, so instead of buttermilk, I added a tablespoon melted ghee to 2 cups soy milk. It worked great and was very delicious! Even my sister, who hates chicken, LOVED it!

    Reply

  45. Hi Sabrina, this recipe looks delicious! But I have a quick question for the oven recipe. Since your adapted directions don’t reference the eggs (but it does direct to dredge) can you confirm whether I would still use the eggs? Thanks in advance! I can’t wait to try this recipe!

    Reply

    1. So sorry I missed this! I would leave out the eggs, too much moisture will keep them from getting crispy. Let me know how it turns (turned) out!

      Reply

  46. Made these for dinner. I did let the chicken breast slices soak in the buttermilk overnight. They were so tender. Now, mine did not look like the photo, but they were crunchy and tender. I tried to keep the oil as close to 350 degrees as possible, which was hard to do. I would love to see a video of the preparation of this recipe, as I never know if I am breading the chicken correctly. I will try the baking option next time, as I typically only fry about once a year! Great recipe!

    Reply

    1. Glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for the feedback, hopefully we can get more videos out to you in the future! Let me know how the baking option goes!

      Reply

  47. As I don’t like canola oil, would I be able to use peanut oil instead? Or would that alter the flavor? Thanks for all the great recipes!

    Reply

    1. You need to use buttermilk but can make your own combining 1 cup of milk and either 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Stir and then let sit for 5 minutes before using. Good luck!

      Reply

      1. Thank you! I don’t have buttermilk, but I do have lemon juice and milk, I am trying this tonight!! Thank you for a great recipe!!

        Reply

  49. Tried your Black Pepper Chicken for dinner last night. Delicious. Better than Panda Express!! Healthier too.
    Thank you. Love your recipes.

    Reply

  52. This recipe is delicious and something my whole family loves! I just wanted to mention Sabrina, your recipes are so easy to make and most of the ingredients are already in our kitchens ?. I enjoy and look forward to getting your new recipes each week. I have made so many and have so many new “favourites”. Thank you!

    Reply

  53. You can exchange regular flower with Almond flower and us baking soda instead of baking powder for more crunch. These two changes will make it Keto friendly!

    Reply

  55. Can you leave the chicken in the buttermilk longer than 30 mins? Of so, whats the longest you can leave them soaking?

    Reply

  56. These were absolutely wonderful!!! My husband’s favorite! Thank you so much for this recipe.

    Reply

  57. Loved it!! Only change was I added pickle juice instead of vinegar to my milk to make the buttermilk. It gave it a distinct dilly flavor and extra saltiness. Awesome recipe. Leftovers were great in the air fryer the next day.

    Reply

  59. You don’t address the hot sauce, which is a liquid. Probably wouldn’t work well here, you might want to use simple cayenne pepper powder.

    Reply

    1. Not quite sure what your question is but I used the hot sauce with the buttermilk in this recipe (step 1).
      Hope this clears it up.

      Reply

  60. These were very good, very flavorful. I did double the spices to the flour as well as pre seasoned the chicken. It’s always nice to find a recipe the kids will enjoy.

    Reply

  61. I just found this recipe and want to try could I use whole milk if I don’t have any buttermilk? Please reply

    Reply

    1. You can make your own buttermilk by taking 1 cup of milk and adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

      Reply

    1. You need to use buttermilk but you can make your own by combining 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon on either lemon juice or vinegar. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  63. Hi just wanted to know if i can make a big batch and freeze? I can then defrost and crumb to put in the oven. Will this work?

    Reply

    1. Yes, I would flash freeze them in a single layer after they’ve been made and then store them in a freezer safe container. To reheat, place it in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!

      Reply

  64. Hi! Me again… wondering if you get better results if the flour coating stays dry or if it becomes batter like from resting before frying?

    Reply

    1. I think you’ll be good either way. You can always try it both ways and see if it makes a big difference for you.

      Reply

  65. Thank you!! This is the closest we have come to restaurant quality fried tenders. The seasonings were perfect. I marinaded the chicken in buttermilk and salt before I found this recipe so I cut down the salt in the flour and it worked. I halved the recipe so basically just threw in dashes of the seasoning and it was perfect. It takes a lot to get added to our rotation so thank you!!

    Reply

  66. Hey,

    I wonder which breadcrumbs you used in the picture. Was it Panko? As it seems soo crispy but I can’t imagine it that crispy with only flour!

    Reply

  67. I couldn’t get my chicken to come out as crispy as yours. The colour wasn’t right either. Any tips?

    Reply

    1. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan while frying. That’ll help to get them crispy. Also, make sure the oil temperature is hot enough. Hope this helps for next time.

      Reply

  69. This was a super good recipe. The buttermilk does the trick for moist chicken. I only wished I would have put less chicken in the oil. A few at a time is the key. Otherwise it’s too crowded & the crispy flakes come off. Sorry no pictures, mine was not pretty. But TASTY

    Reply

  70. I have always done all the cooking at home. I made these tonight and my wife said I had overdone myself this time. She vowed to never eat chicken tenders from any where else again other than mine.

    Reply

  71. Just tried this recipe for the first time last night. It was AMAZING!!!! WE used 64 oz of oil in a dutch oven and it was the perfect amount of oil. At 350 degrees they cooked very quickly 3-4 minutes but the cutlets were super thin. This is a winner and we’ll be making again!

    Reply

    1. Hmm, popcorn chicken would probably work but breading such small pieces might be a challenge. As far as fried wings go I think because the meat is hidden in between the bone, it won’t be cooked before the outside gets to dark. I’m not sure it would work. Sorry.

      Reply

  73. I found the addition of dipping in egg and the inclusion of baking powder in the flour made the coating more bread than crust and separated from the meat…I would keep the baking powder but skip the eggs…if crunchier coating desired just double dip between buttermilk & flour.

    Reply

    1. Yes, I would recommend freezing them after they’ve been made. Flash freeze them completely in a single layer and then store them in a freezer safe ziplock bag. To reheat, place in the oven at 375 degrees 20-30 minutes. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  76. Were these really spicy on 1-10 scale! Or should I leave hot sauce out! They look really good just was wanting to know spicy factor!

    Reply

  77. If we were to decide to add the accent seasoning do we replace the salt with it or add that on top of the salt the recipe already calls for??

    Reply

  79. I made these for 4th of July- while the rest of the country was BBQing we fried! It was my first time deep frying anything and I’m so glad I picked this recipe they came out really good and everyone loved them. Thank you

    Reply

    1. Haha, nothing wrong with frying on the fourth!! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!

      Reply

    1. Yes, you’ll just want to make sure that it’s deep enough to be able to fry the chicken. I like using a dutch oven because the sides are high which means less splattering and clean up.

      Reply

    1. This recipe doesn’t require the accent seasoning. The original KFC recipe does and I wanted to include it in case others were interested in it.

      Reply

    1. I didn’t use it for my recipe because it’s MSG. I just wanted to give the information if others wanted to use it.

      Reply

  86. From the reviews, I’m assuming the amount of spices indicated are enough to give the tenders that KFC flavor…My husband doesn’t like spicy & I do, so he would probably like that amount of spices in the recipe.  

    Reply

    1. It really won’t be as crispy in the oven. You might be able to do just a light breadcrumb coating and try it in the oven that way.

      Reply

      1. I’m definitely making these for my picky grandchildren one night this week. They are always at my house on Thursday nights. I know they will go nuts for them. I’m also looking forward to them, they look SO good.

        Reply