Easy pan fried chicken tenders are a simple favorite to please the whole family! They pair nicely with honey mustard dip and french fries!
Easy Pan Fried Chicken Tenders2 cups water
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
⅓ cup flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp basil
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp black pepper
¾ tsp paprika
¾ tsp garlic powder
¾ tsp ground ginger
⅓ cup cornmeal
⅓ cup milk
1 egg
Vegetable oil
First, make a brine by dissolving 2 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp sugar in 2 cups of water.
Cut chicken breast into 4 strips then submerge strips in brine and allow to soak for at least 2 hours but no longer.
Mix flour, salt, thyme, basil, oregano, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder and ginger in a small bowl. Then place cornmeal in a separate small, shallow bowl. In a third small bowl, whisk together milk and egg.
Remove tenders from brine and dry with a paper or kitchen towel. Allow them to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Dredge each chicken tender in the flour mixture, dunk in egg mixture and coat with cornmeal. Lay coated tenders in a single layer on a flat surface and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Pour 1” of oil into a heavy skillet and heat on medium until a drop of water sizzles when dropped in (5-10 minutes).
Carefully place chicken tenders into hot oil and fry for 10-12 minutes, turning once. Tenders should be golden brown and have an internal temperature of 160℉.
Let cooked tenders rest for 5 minutes before eating. Serve with honey mustard dip and oven-roasted french fries, if desired.
185 calories per tender
Hack: Chicken tenders can be cooked in air fryer set at 400℉ for 9 minutes, flipping once.
So simple, yet so delicious! I can now officially say that I know how to make chicken tenders from scratch! No microwave needed at all, that’s the best part haha. Just had to come down here to the comment section and leave a comment of appreciate for this recipe because I know there are a lot of people looking for simple ones like this one and you have provided it for them, including me
Thank you for your kind comments! I hope you try this recipe and let me know how it went for you!
Hey, thank you for sharing this delicious receipt! I like to eat a lot lol, so this is very interesting to me. Easy pan chicken fried is my favorite! And only 185 calories per tender are great to hear!
Kind regards.
I hope you enjoy it!
I love fries chicken, doesn’t matter which part of the bird, as long as it is fried I love them all. However, I do not like frying a lot of stuff at home, it is messy and certainly bad for my health. But, your recipe looks nice, I have everything and I also love frying with my skillet. Will give your recipe a try, now I gotta go to the store.
I have to agree with you that too much fried food is unhealthy and making it at home can be messy so I save this particular recipe for a special treat! I’m sure it would work well in an air fryer as well.
Now this is what I call real wholesome food.
I love chicken and could eat it every day of week.
What I love about this recipe is that it is simple to make, yet it will be so tasty. I think the addition of the ginger will really add to the flavour.
I will be making this on Saturday evening with chips and peas.
Thanks for bringing this to us.
I hope you enjoy it, Geoff!
Reading this recipe has reminded me of something. I would like to share with you the secret to crispy fried chicken. To achieve this use egg whites, alcohol, and cornstarch for a crispy coating. Egg white adds structure in the form of protein. Aditionaly, it helps the flour coating stick to the chicken like culinary glue. Alcohol evaporates quickly in the frying oil. Cornstarch in the flour makes the crust crispier.
Thank you for sharing this coating method! I use a similar in my Crispy Ginger Beef recipe and find it to be very tasty and a nice change from what I would consider to be the usual fry coating (at least here in the US). What kind of alcohol do you use?