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Baked Parmesan Chicken Tenders
This crispy, healthier version of Baked Parmesan Chicken Tenders is a sure winner!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (sub: gluten-free breadcrumbs)
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (sub: paprika)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 large egg
- 12 (1 1/2 – 1 3/4 pounds) raw chicken breast tenders
- Salt and pepper
- Cooking spray (recommend: avocado cooking spray)
- Optional for serving: Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce, Homemade Ranch Dip, or Homemade BBQ Sauce
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 425°F. Generously spray a sheet pan with cooking spray.
- Set Up Stations: Add the Panko, Parmesan, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne to a blender or food processor and pulse several times until breadcrumbs are a finer texture and everything is well combined. Pour this mixture into a shallow dish. Add the egg and a splash of water to a second small bowl or shallow dish. Whisk with a fork until very smooth.
- Trim & Season Tenders: Trim off any tendon that is sticking out. Season both sides of the tenders evenly with salt and pepper.
- Bread Tenders: Dredge each tender in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing it in on both sides. Place tenders on the pan and spray the tops with cooking spray.
- Bake: Bake on the lower third of the oven for 7-8 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Using a spatula, carefully flip over and bake another 5-6 minutes, until golden on top.
- Serve: Season with a little more salt right out of the oven, if desired. Let cool slightly and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Freeze for Later: Dredge the chicken tenders in the breading mixture. Place breaded tenders in a freezer container or gallon sized bag in single layers divided by parchment paper. Alternately, flash freeze the breaded tenders on a sheet pan for 1-2 hours until solid and toss into a freezer bag. Squeeze out any excess air, seal, and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Adjust the oven racks so one of them is in the lower third section. Preheat oven to 425°F. Generously spray a sheet pan with cooking spray. Place the frozen chicken tenders on the sheet pan and spray the tops with cooking spray. Bake on the bottom oven rack (in the lower third section of the oven) for 10 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip over and bake another 5 minutes, or until cooked through.
Notes/Tips
- If You Don’t Have a Food Processor/Blender: In all my tests, the blending step yielded the most perfectly golden and crispy tenders. However, if you don’t have a blender or food processor, use plain breadcrumbs instead of Panko and be sure to stir the mixture very well until combined.
- Recipe Updates: This recipe was retested multiple times and updated on 2/12/24. If you’d like the old version, you can download and print it here.
- Gluten-Free Version: Use gluten-free breadcrumbs instead of Panko.
- Dairy-Free Version: Replace the Parmesan cheese with more bread crumbs (and a pinch of salt) or try using nutritional yeast in place of it.
- Be sure to season the tenders generously with salt and pepper to infuse flavor.
- While covering the pan with foil or parchment really helps with clean up, I found that it just wouldn’t get hot like the pan by itself. So your chicken tenders may not brown up as nicely.
- Kitchen shears are very helpful with the task of trimming off the excess tendons.
- It’s safest to only use one hand to touch the chicken in a recipe like this, leaving the other one clean to season the chicken, open the oven, etc.
- Baking on the bottom third of the oven is imperative to the success of this recipe.
- To cut your own with chicken tenders: Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create two cutlets. Then, cut those in half vertically to create chicken tenders.
- I created this recipe with picky kids in mind. These are not very spicy at all. Feel free to kick up the paprika and cayenne some.
- My favorite way to enjoy these is with our Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce. (Sooo good!)
- Variations:
- Use 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning or Old Bay seasoning in place of paprika for more heat and complexity. Omit cayenne pepper.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed in hand, to the breading mixture.