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Chicken tenders with garlic butter is one of the best chicken tender recipes. Made with garlic, butter and spices on skillet. Juicy and easy chicken dinner made in 15 mins!
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
This recipe is only 311 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders
Serve this dish with side dishes. For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this exactly as it’s supposed to be made and it was amazzziiinnggggg! Definitely making it again!!
I tried other recipes for tenderloins marinating overnite in Panera poppy seed salad dressing and frying on an electric skillet 4 minutes each side and they were too mushy. I tried marinating two hours cooking the same way and they were too dry. I will try your method next time but can you tell me why the other methods didn’t work?
Just try my recipe you won’t go wrong!
I had thawed the tenders for another dish. So glad I waited. These were perfect for tenders and so delicious and easy! Served with asparagus and roasted potatoes. So quick and easy! Now on my go to list.
Thanks!
Couldn’t find any video of instructions for the Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders.
The video is there. You won’t see it if you use ad blocker.
Made this a few times, excellent, juicy, delish!!
Very delicious! I was looking for a healthy recipe for chicken tenderloins and happened upon this. I served hubby’s with rice, mine with riced cauliflower. I’ll definitely make again. So much flavor! :)
Thanks.
Thanks!
Love it, so easy and delicious. Made her butter roasted carrots and also creamy garlic Parmesan fettuccine for sides. Will be making again, everything was so yummy!
Thanks, Mary.
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
I loved it so much I made it twice, week after week.
I caramelize onions on the cast iron on medium heat with butter and a little bit of brown sugar, remove it when it’s ready and start this recipe. I mix it all together in the final step of the dish and the flavors are heavenly! Love it and absolutely recommends everyone to try :)
It was so delish! My kids loved it and I have one picky kid. Will be making as a weekly regular. Thank you
Thanks, Lissette!
Thaaaaank you for this amazing recipe! The hubs and I loved it!
So easy and delicious! I was distracted, so my first attempt was medium-well done, but the butter and lemon sauce saved the dinner. Next time I’ll have ALL the ingredients at hand and stay right by the cast iron pan when I start cooking so the chicken comes out moist and tender.
Thanks for your support.
This recipe was delicious and super quick! Perfect for an evening where I was very short on time. This will be going into regular rotation. I served it with roasted broccoli. Next time I’ll make some rice or bread to soak up the lemony garlic butter. Thanks for this!
Thanks for trying, Moira.