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Chicken Tender Recipes
I love chicken breasts, especially chicken tenders because they are the tenderest portion of the chicken breast.
What is a chicken tender?
They are the long strips of meat attached to the underside of chicken breasts.
Every chicken has two tenders. They are often detached from chicken breasts and sold separately as tenderloins.
They are commonly used for making chicken strips, chicken fingers or chicken fillets, breaded and deep-fried or baked in the oven.
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How to Make Chicken Tenders?
This is one of the best breast tender recipes, made in a skillet with spices, garlic butter, salt, lemon juice and herb.
While I love them deep-fried, skillet cooking produces juicy and amazing results. I love a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet for this recipe.
The perfect heat to cook tenders is high heat. This is an easy chicken tenders recipe and perfect for lunch or dinner.
DO NOT overcook because the texture will turn dry and tough.
Cooking Tips
To make your chicken juicy and tender, follow the tips below:
- Use a cast-iron skillet because it heats up evenly and retains the heat well.
- Cook the tenders on high heat so they are seared to brown on the outside while retaining the juice inside.
- Add lemon juice to the chicken to make them extra juicy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Eat the Tendon (ligament) Attached to Tenders?
There is a tendon attached to the breast tender. They are like little white ligament at the end of the piece of chicken.
I usually trim it off with a knife or a pair of kitchen scissors before cooking. It’s slightly chewy in texture and it’s tasteless.
Avoid pulling off the tendon by hand as stripping away the entire tendon will make the chicken tender fall apart.
Can I Use Chicken Breasts to Make This Recipe?
Absolutely! Tenders are part of the chicken breasts but they are sold separately.
If you use regular chicken breasts, cut the breasts meat into strips similar to the tenders.
Is It Healthy?
Yes, breast tenders are very healthy because they are lean white meat with little fat contents.
They are also skinless and boneless, lower in calories because there is no skin attached to them.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 311 calories per serving.
What to Serve with Breast Tenders?
Serve this dish with side dishes. For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders (The Best!)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken tenders
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3 dashes cayenne powder
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 3 - 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon bottled Italian seasoning (Simply Organic or McCormick brand)
- salt (to taste)
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Season the chicken tenders with smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
- Heat up a cast-iron skillet (preferred) on high heat and add 3 tablespoons of butter. As soon as the butter melts and starts to sizzle, add the chicken tenders. Cook uninterrupted for 1-2 minutes, then turn over and start cooking the other side.
- Push the chicken tenders to the side of the skillet. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter follow by the minced garlic on the empty space on the skillet. Add the Italian seasoning on top of the chicken tenders and stir to combine well with the chicken and garlic.
- Add salt and lemon juice and continue to cook the chicken tenders until they are slightly charred on the both sides. Add the chopped parsley, stir to combine well. Turn off the heat and serve immediately with lemon wedges. Squeeze the lemon juice on top before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Thank you, thank you. My teenagers went from literally ‘aww, chicken again’ to ‘wow, this is actually really good.’ You’re a miracle worker.
Thanks Charlotte. Please try more recipes on my site!!
Thanks for a great, quick recipe
Every single recipe that I use of yours is outstanding!!!
Made this tonight, it came out great.
Hi! I am looking forward to trying this but wondering what you mean by “3 people” as your serving size? How many ounces would this be?
A pound is 16 ounces, so divide that by 3. Which is roughly about 5 ounces a person (5.33.. if you want to be specific) or 142 grams. :)
Yum!! Was looking for an easy tasty recipe and this did not disappoint. With ? from NYC.
— M
Hi Maggie, thanks for trying my recipe. Please try more: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
I made this for the first time six weeks ago and it immediately became a weekly dinner for my family. Delicious!
Hi Amanda, please try more recipes on my website, they are all good: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Tried this recipe for the first time tonight and it definitely won’t be the last time!!! It’s delicious thank you so very much for sharing this!!
Awww Joann, thanks so much for trying my recipe. Please try more recipes on my site, they are all good: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Hi Rasa, I wanted to tell you that the chicken recipe turned out great. I decided to use the remnants in the pan and put heavy cream, a little chicken broth, and parmesan cheese to make an alfredo sauce. I sliced up the chicken and used spaghetti noodles, it made a good alfredo.
OMG, that is such a good idea Latanya. I will have to try. I have tenders in my fridge. :)
I made this Garlic Butter Chicken Tender recipe tonight and followed the recipe exactly and it looked just like the picture but had no taste, my son grabbed the bottle of hot sauce to flavor it….I had 5 pretty thick chicken tenders instead of small and thin ones, that’s the only reason I can think of that made a difference….they were rubbery also. What do you think went wrong?
Sorry to hear that, if you have 5 pretty thick chicken tenders, it’s equivalent to double the recipe, so I would double all the seasonings. My son really loved this dish when I made it for him.
Could I make this with ghee/clarified butter? We don’t do dairy but they look so yummy!
Yes.
I made this last night for me and my son, came out great!!! I used my grill pan and looks just like picture!!! Thanks
Hi Karen, that’s awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Super kid friendly recipe! Stumbled on this recipe as I am running out of ideas for dinner! We all loved it! Super tender and juicy! Paired with Mac N Cheese and Roasted Parmesan broccoli! Delish!!!
Hi Dani, that’s awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/. Other kid friendly recipes are: chicken patties, https://rasamalaysia.com/spaghetti-with-meat-sauce/