Breaded Chicken Tenders

OK, so yeah, you can buy chicken strips on a bag at your local grocery store in the frozen section.  Bring them home and cook them up.  They taste fine and they're somewhat easy when you're in a hurry.

But they are NOWHERE NEAR as good as homemade.  Why? Well, first, you don't know the grade of chicken that was used to make them.  They meat doesn't have to be as good as the chicken breasts you buy off the butcher block.

Second, you don't have control of the contents.  Take a look at the ingredient list on that bag.  There are enough preservatives and chemistry in there that eating them on a regular basis is a little frightening.  And for someone monitoring their salt intake, these are definitely not an option.

Third, the ones warmed up in the microwave or oven just don't taste the same as when they are fried up fresh.  The flavors are stronger, the texture in your mouth is better and the smell that remains in the house afterwards is wonderful

Sure, this recipe may take longer than the 35 minutes it takes for the bagged strips to go from freezer to oven to dinner plate, but not much more.  Invest 10 extra minutes into making your own and you'll never want to eat flash-fried strips again.

If you have picky little kids, you can also cut the strips up into nuggets and cook them up that way too.

Breaded Chicken Tenders

Serves 4-6

2 quarts of oil (almost any type will work)
2 pounds sliced up chicken breasts or tenders

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon  paprika

1/2 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon Montreal chicken seasoning (optional)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Place a large saucepan, stockpot or saute pan on the stove and fill it with enough oil so it comes at least 2" up the sides of the pan.  Put it over medium heat so it can heat up while you prepare the strips.  Use your thermometer and don't let the temperature go over 330 degrees.  If it's getting close and you're not done preparing the strips, drop the heat to low until you're done.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and milk together.  In another large bowl, add the flour and all of the spices together and whisk them all together, so the spices are interspersed throughout. 

Now the coating.  Using a pair of tongs, grab the very end of a chicken strip and dunk it in the egg wash.  Next, lay it down in the flour mixture and use a fork to scoop the flour on top until it's coated.  Lift it up and shake off the excess flour.  Take that same strip and repeat the process: dredge through the egg wash, cover in the flour and shake off the excess.  This gives the strip a nice even coating all over.  Place the strip on a cookie cooling rack and let it rest there while you coat the rest.  Letting them rest will solidify the coating so it doesn't float off while you fry.

When they're all coated, start frying.  Check your oil to see if it's around 330 degrees.  Using the tongs, place the strips you coated first into the oil.  Don't crowd the pan too much.  Allow them to cook for 5-6 minutes until they are golden brown.  Evacuate the cooked strips to another cooling rack with some paper towels underneath to soak up the mess.  Move onto the remaining strips until all are cooked.

When they're all done, serve with any type of dipping sauce you'd like: barbecue sauce, hot mustard, sweet and sour sauce, ketchup, fry sauce, marinara, etc. 

So fry up a batch today, eat until you're stuffed and avoid the frozen bags from now on.