Baked chicken tenders

It always seems such an effort to make breaded chicken strips. Crazy suggestion.... it's not. 

This recipe doesn’t involve any deep or shallow frying, so it’s not only much quicker and easier than most, there's less washing up, it's healthier and it’s fun for kids to help with.  

I've tried out all sorts of spice mixes in the crumb, but this basic recipe is hard to beat and doesn’t have you measuring out loads of spices or trying to work out the colonel's secret blend.

Serves: 2 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

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Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts

½ cup of grated parmigiano regiano

1 cup of breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1 large egg

Method

Turn the oven on and up to 200°c.

Lay out the chicken breasts on a board and give them a little tenderising bash with a rolling pin to flatten them out a touch. Cut them into strips and set aside.

Crack the egg into a large bowl, add the Dijon mustard and whisk together.  In another large bowl, add your breadcrumbs, paprika, salt, pepper and grated cheese and mix together well with your fingers.

Line your three bowls up next to each other - chicken, egg then breadcrumbs – and add one more empty bowl at the end of your production line.

Dip a strip into the egg, shake off any excess, place into the breadcrumbs bowl and toss around until it's completely covered.  Shake off any excess, place the strip into the final bowl and repeat for all the chicken.

Whack it into the oven for about half an hour, until a dark golden brown.

Serve with chips, salad and your favourite dipping sauce.

TIPS

  • Normally you'd want to get meat to room temperature before cooking, but chill these in the fridge right up until they go into the oven. It allows you to take the outer crumb to a really crispy point without drying out the chicken in the middle.

  • If you've got fresh or stale bread in the kitchen, make your own breadcrumbs by blitzing 2 slices. Fresh breadcrumbs work just fine.

  • Cover the chicken breasts with a layer or two of cling film before giving them a little bash... it saves the raw chicken touching the rolling pin.