Sharing an easy homemade chicken tenders recipe today! My Almond Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders make the perfect quick fix snack or light dinner recipe! The kids and adults love them!
Homemade Chicken Tenders
You are in for such a treat with my Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders! My kids go nuts when I make them homemade chicken tenders. With back to school season here, I am always looking for quick and simple dinners! They could not be easier to prepare, and chicken tenders cook up quickly in a nice hot skillet. There’s no flour, no double dipping with messy fingers which is always a plus. This recipe is gluten free too!
Try my Crispy Sriracha Chicken Tenders too! Follow Picky Palate on Instagram for daily recipe inspiration.
The Secret To Making Perfect Chicken Tenders
The almond meal makes for a perfect, tender and flavorful chicken tender!
What You’ll Need
- extra virgin olive oil– You’ll use olive oil to cook the chicken tenders in a hot skillet or pan.
- raw chicken tenders– Look for the chicken tenders in the meat department. Often times it’s near the chicken breast and other chicken pieces.
- almond meal– Almond meal is ground almonds in a fine powder like consistency. Check for almond meal in the baking section of the grocery store. I’ve ordered it on Amazon as well if it’s hard to find.
- grated Parmesan cheese– Parmesan cheese adds the perfect flavor to the chicken tenders with the almond meal. You can grate your own Parmesan or find it already grated in the grocery store.
- kosher salt– Kosher salt is a more coarse salt. I prefer it in my cooking and baking.
- black pepper- Use fresh cracked pepper from a pepper mill for best taste.
- dipping sauces– Use your favorite dipping sauces for the chicken tenders. Ketchup, mustard, ranch dressing, even barbecue sauce.
How To Make Chicken Tenders
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Place ground almonds, Parmesan, salt and pepper into a shallow dish, stirring to combine. (If you have whole almonds on hand like we did, you can grind them in a powerful blender. We used our Blendtec.)
- Place coated chicken strips into hot saute pan. Cook each side for about 3 minutes, until cooked through and browned. Remove strips from skillet and let cool on a baking rack or paper towel lined plate. Serve warm with your favorite chicken strip dips. My boys enjoy ketchup, yogurt Ranch, mustard and honey.
Can I Use Other Chicken Parts For Chicken Tenders?
You can use chicken breast and even chicken thighs with this recipe. Adjust your cooking time accordingly. Coat both sides of the chicken tenders in the almond coating.
Place your coated chicken pieces in a nice hot saute pan with olive oil. A good 3 minutes each side, until golden and beautiful!
Place in a serving basket lined with parchment paper with your favorite dips. Enjoy!
How To Serve
Serve your homemade chicken tenders warm with your favorite dipping sauces. They’re great on their own for dinner or perfect appetizers too.
How To Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat as needed.
Recipe Tips For Success
- Make sure your skillet is hot before adding tenders. Crust crisps much nicer.
- Use a good quality Parmesan Cheese for best tasting results.
- Arrange your cooked tenders in a “bread type” basket lined with parchment paper
- Offer a nice variety of dipping sauces for your guests such as Ranch Dressing, barbecue sauce, honey mustard, ketchup and salsa to name a few.
Almond Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders
Equipment
- Stove
- Large Skillet/Fry Pan
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- fork for handling chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound chicken tenders
- 1 1/2 cups ground almonds or almond meal
- 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Place ground almonds, Parmesan, salt and pepper into a shallow dish, stirring to combine. (If you have whole almonds on hand like we did, you can grind them in a powerful blender. We used our Blendtec.)
- Place coated chicken strips into hot saute pan. Cook each side for about 3 minutes, until cooked through and browned. Remove strips from skillet and let cool on a baking rack or paper towel lined plate. Serve warm with your favorite chicken strip dips. My boys enjoy ketchup, yogurt Ranch, mustard and honey.
Nutrition
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Hi! Tried this recipe tonight as I have recently started an SCD diet and these were amazing! Added a bit of extra cheese plus shredded coconut and in no time they had been eaten, left wanting more. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
These were great. I used almond flour, grated Parmesan cheese, lawrys seasoning salt and pepper. I coated the tenders and fries in my small deep fryer with peanut oil for about 5 min per 3 tender batch and they turned out perfect, and very yummy. A definite keeper
Awesome! Glad to hear it 🙂
This looks like a great low carb and gluten free option! Can’t wait to try this!
My husband loves to come home and pop some frozen chicken nuggets in the convection oven for an after-work snack but I hate how processed they are – not to mention the gluten. Has anyone frozen these and if so, do you have any recommendations?
I am in process of cooking these right now. I’m soooo excited. I don’t know how they’ll taste yet, but one thing I do know is that the recipe calls for way too much almond meal. I don’t know if you really need more than 1/2 to 3/4 cup of almond meal for 1 lb of chicken tenders. Almond meal is much more expensive than flour, so it feels more painful to throw it out.
You can make almond meal in a blender or food processor. Just blend almonds til they get fine!
Could you please tell me where I can find almond meal? Thank you!
This was a delicious recipe, definitely will be making it again!
wow what a great recipe i love food and eat food all the time
Hi. You’re recipe looks so delicious. It looks like the tenders from Burger Lounge.
I tried the recipe, and all of the coating came off during fry process. Do you have any advice?
Thanks, Courtney.
Did you use a Stainless steel pan?
After I coated the tenders. I put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and my coating stayed on….my ex-MIL taught me to do that with breaded chicken.
I did use a non stick saute pan.
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