Recipe: Herbed Chicken Tenders

One thing I love to do when I'm creating recipes is to find ways to make "convenience foods" fresher, healthier and relatively quick and easy compared to their fast food or supermarket counterparts. This chicken tender recipe is right up that alley.

It will take you a little bit longer to whip these up than it would to open up a freezer bag and pop some nuggets on a baking sheet, but not much more time and the taste and quality tradeoffs make it a no brainer. The finished product has a crispy, seasoned breading with a juicy inside. Serve it with a side of roasted potato wedges and you have a delicious (and picky-eater approved) comfort food dinner.

Herbed Chicken Tenders
35 minutes (20 minutes unattended)
Serves 3-4
Adapted from Simply Recipes

• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 lb. chicken tenders
• 1/2 cup Japanese-style breadcrumbs (Panko breadcrumbs)
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper

1. Place buttermilk in a shallow dish and allow tenders to soak in it for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and spices (oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper). One at a time, roll the chicken pieces in the breadcrumb mixture until they are fully coated on all sides.
4. Place chicken on baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken breading is lightly browned.

Tips and Tricks:
If you can’t find chicken tenders (tenders are a cut of chicken like thighs, breasts, etc.), use boneless, skinless breasts and cut them down to the size of chicken strips.