Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders
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One of my most popular recipes, these chicken tenders are marinated in seasoned buttermilk and pan-fried to crispy, crunchy perfection.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Like most kids, my daughter prefers “kid food” to “grown-up food” any day of the week. Occasionally, it works to my advantage—a trip to McDonald’s makes excellent bribery—but most of the time I’m just dealing with a picky eater. Rather than desperately trying to coax her into eating dinner every night, sometimes I just make her favorites. These chicken tenders, marinated in seasoned buttermilk and pan-fried to crispy, crunchy perfection, are at the top of her list. They’re delicious plain, dipped in honey mustard sauce, or perched on top of a salad. And they’re not just for picky kids—everyone loves them.
What you’ll need To Make Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders
Step-by-Step Instructions
To marinate the chicken: In a large sealable bag, combine the chicken tenders with the buttermilk, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. Seal the bag tightly and massage the chicken until it is evenly coated with buttermilk and seasoning.
Place in a bowl (in case of leakage) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to cook them, make the breading: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
Whisk until well blended.
Add the buttermilk and stir with a fork until the mixture is evenly clumpy.
Remove the chicken tenders from the marinade a few at a time and toss into the breading mixture.
Be sure to press the chicken firmly into the breading so clumps adhere to the meat. (It’s a messy job: use one hand to remove the wet tenders from the bag and the other to toss in the breading.)
Set breaded tenders on a foil-lined baking sheet.
To fry the chicken: Line a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels and set next to the stove. Add oil to a large, high-sided pot until the level reaches about 3/4-inch. Heat over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering (about 350°). (If a cube of bread sizzles when you drop it in, it’s ready.) Using tongs, place several chicken tenders in the hot oil without crowding the pan. Cook until golden brown on the bottom side, a few minutes, then flip and cook until the second side is also golden, a few minutes more.
Set the cooked tenders on the paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
Fry remaining tenders in batches adjusting the heat as necessary (if the tenders are browning too fast, lower the heat). Serve hot with honey mustard sauce.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
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Video Tutorial
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders
One of my most popular recipes, these chicken tenders are marinated in seasoned buttermilk and pan-fried to crispy, crunchy perfection.
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 2 pounds chicken tenderloins
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
For the Breading
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 heaping teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
For Cooking
- 3-4 cups vegetable oil, for cooking
Instructions
- To marinate the chicken: In a large sealable bag, combine the chicken tenders with the remaining marinade ingredients. Seal the bag tightly and massage the chicken until it is evenly coated with buttermilk and seasoning. Place in a bowl (in case of leakage) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
- To make the breading: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Whisk until well blended, then add the buttermilk and stir with a fork until the mixture is evenly clumpy.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Remove the chicken tenders from the marinade a few at a time and toss into the breading mixture. Be sure to press the chicken firmly into the breading so clumps adhere to the meat. (It's a messy job: use one hand to remove the wet tenders from the bag and the other to toss in the breading.) Set breaded tenders on the prepared baking sheet.
- To fry the chicken: Line another baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels and set next to the stove. Add oil to a large, high-sided pot until the level reaches about ¾-inch. Heat over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering (about 350°). (If a cube of bread sizzles when you drop it in, it's ready.) Using tongs, place several chicken tenders in the hot oil without crowding the pan. Cook until golden brown on the bottom side, a few minutes, then flip and cook until the second side is also golden, a few minutes more. Set the cooked tenders on the paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Fry remaining tenders in batches adjusting the heat as necessary (if the tenders are browning too fast, lower the heat). Serve hot.
- Note: I find that it's hard to tell how golden the chicken is when it's immersed in the oil. It may only look lightly golden, but it's actually a perfect fried chicken golden brown. If you're unsure, simply pull a tender out of the oil and rest it on the paper towels to see the true color.
- Note: Nutritional information was calculated assuming that approximately ¼ cup of the oil is absorbed into the chicken tenders when frying.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooked chicken tenders can be frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, put the frozen tenders on a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and warm in a 350°F (175°C) oven until heated through and crisp, about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 925
- Fat: 51
- Saturated fat: 1
- Carbohydrates: 75g
- Sugar: 5g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 41g
- Sodium: 1866mg
- Cholesterol: 96mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I’m planning to make this soon. I just wondered if salt is table salt or kosher salt. Thank you, can’t wait to try!
Hi Pia, When a recipe of mine says salt in the ingredient list, I am referring to regular/table salt. If it calls for something else like kosher salt, I will specify that in the recipe. Hope you enjoy these if you make them!
Excellent chicken tenders! Thank you for the great recipe! We live in Germany and we all miss the chicken tenders from the US. Thanks for this recipe that took us all back home!
It says temp and time to reheat but not for cooking first time in oven.
Hi Robbie, I don’t recommend cooking these in the oven. If you’d like chicken tenders you can bake, I’d recommend this recipe. (While I do prefer them fried, if you want to bake them I’d put them in a 350-degree oven for 15 – 20 minutes.) Enjoy!
I couldn’t believe how easy this was to make and how good they turned out. Chicken was perfect and very popular with the kids! I am definitely bringing this into the dinner rotation going forward!
This was a huge hit in my house. AMAZING!!!! Love how easy it was…. and I let them soak in the buttermilk for close to 24 hours. This will be a favorite for sure.
Incredibly delicious!!! And such a creative mix of spices. I was suspicious of the cayenne and paprika at first, but these are amazing! I think these might be a weekly indulgence.
This was my first time making homemade chicken tenders, and I’ll do it this way from now on. It was so simple and delicious!!!
Love this recipe!!! I have made it twice now and it is definitely a hit with my family!! I have 5 kids so eating chicken out isn’t cheap and the kids all love chicken tenders. I decided to look up a recipe and landed on yours. I am SO a glad I found it!!! The chicken is tasty, crispy and altogether amazing!!
I made these for dinner tonight and they were AMAZING. I didn’t have any buttermilk so I just did the old lemon juice trick (1 tbsp juice mixed into 1 C milk). Honestly the best chicken fingers I’ve ever had. Will most definitely make again.
My family LOVES this recipe and the honey mustard sauce. Your original sauce link doesn’t work anymore, do you mind reposting it somewhere? The one with the apple cider vinegar too? Thank you, love your recipes!
Hi Ali, Although they have red wine vinegar — not apple cider vinegar –I think you must be referring to the honey mustard sauce that accompanies the pigs in a blanket. And so glad to hear you like the tenders!
I made this a couple weeks ago and it was delicious. Came out great. I am gonna try it today with chicken breasts and make sandwiches out of it.
Now I’m annoyed because I had a whole review typed out and it disappeared because of the advertisement mess. Definitely need to scale that down. 😳 However, the strips were awesome and I recommend them. That’s all I’m saying now. Lol
Do it you won’t regret it! Wife and three boys said best homemade fried chicken they ever had.
Made twice and both times delicious, crispy, juicy chicken. I have been intimidated by fried chicken but followed this exactly with cast iron pan and it is a keeper for me. I used 1 large chicken breast cut into tender strips and it was perfect for the recipe. As stated, do not linger with the frying – it is done before you think it should be with the size of the tenders!
613 comments 5 stars?! This recipe is trash. The breading fell off the chicken, doesn’t clump right and turned into paste. Giant waste of time and money. Furious
Interesting, mine started to fall off too. But it was delicious!