A great weeknight family meal, Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders. Make these fun and delicious chicken tenders the whole family will love in under 30 minutes!
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Pretzel Chicken Tenders
Confession time, I have totally underutilized chicken tenders and not used them as dinner options enough. They are so easy to make into a delicious meal and they come easy and ready to go at the grocery store.
So today that ends with these Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders. They have been a huge hit at my house and I now feel the urge to start coating chicken tenders in all sorts of other fun ingredients like these Baked Ranch Chicken Tenders, but today we will stick with pretzels.
This recipe comes together fairly fast with just a handful of ingredients, many you probably already have at home. I even included my super fast honey mustard dipping sauce with the recipe, that takes only about 1 minutes to whip together!
If your family isn’t a fan of honey mustard I recommend making Chicken Nugget Sauce for dipping instead!
I also happen to have a super secret that will help make these pretzel crusted chicken tenders more successful. I only discovered it with a lot of trial and error, so you will see that below!
Looking for more chicken meals? This Potato Chip Chicken is sure to be a hit! Try my Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Easy Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts, or my Chicken Cubano Bake for the whole family to enjoy.
Supplies
This chicken tenders recipe doesn’t call for anything out of the ordinary. You will need:
- Sheet Pan
- Small Bowls
- Measuring Cups/Spoons
- Something to crush the pretzels (I think a good old rolling pin works best)
Ingredients
- Trimmed Chicken Tenders
- Flour
- Garlic Powder
- Ground Mustard
- Onion Powder
- Eggs
- Pretzels
- Also if you want to make my ‘Quick Honey Mustard’, you will need Honey and Old Style/Whole Grain Mustard
For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.
The Secret Tip
What the Secret Tip BEFORE the recipe. Yes because the tip has to do with the ingredients… Okay so here it is…
CHEAP PRETZELS
Did you see that one coming?
I made this recipe several times after the first two times I made it they turned out differently even though I kept the recipe the same, the difference, the pretzels.
I continued to make and test these I quickly discovered that the bargain store brand pretzels did way better in this recipe. While store brand and cheaper pretzels are obviously going to vary where you buy them ect… I found that they stay a lot crispier on the outside and don’t get soggy, whereas the “nicer” name brand varieties tended to lose any crunch factor.
What I can gather is that the cheaper pretzels tend to be more dry in the first place, resulting in a then more crispy chicken. I searched google for a better answer for you but came up dry. So when you try this recipe, you will have to let me know in the comments if a cheaper pretzel truly does work better for you as it did me.
Instructions for Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
Preheat the oven to 400º F. Lightly grease sheet pan.
First up you will crush pretzels down into small crumbs, I find rolling a small handful on a cutting board in batches works best. You will need about 1 cup of the crushed pretzels.
Now you will get ready to coat your chicken tenders. Add flour, garlic powder, ground mustard, and onion powder to a small bowl and stir to combine. Add eggs to a second small bowl and whisk together. Add the crushed pretzels to a third small bowl.
Dredge one chicken tender in the flour until fully coated, then in the egg until fully coated, then the crushed pretzels until fully coated. Transfer coated chicken tender to the sheet pan. Repeat with the rest of the chicken tenders.
Transfer the sheet pan to the oven. Bake 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your chicken tenders until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165º F. Serve with your favorite sauce or my favorite quick honey mustard sauce below.
Quick Honey Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Old Style/Whole Grain Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
Mix mustard and honey together until combined.
tips, tricks and questions
Can I make this gluten-free?
Absolutely. Gluten isn’t a factor in this recipe so feel free to use a gluten-free pretzel and gluten-free flour as substitutes.
Can I reheat these?
Yes! This is a tricky one since the pretzel coating becomes soggy after getting refrigerated. So to turn it back to a crispy coating heat it up on a skillet on the stovetop works best! Bring a skillet to medium-high heat and then add the chicken. Cook 3-5 minutes on each side or until slightly brown and crispy again!
To help keep things clean and speed up the process when dredging the chicken keep one ‘wet’ hand and one ‘dry’ hand to keep everything from sticking to you. For example I use my right hand to touch the flour and pretzels and my left hand to tough the egg.
Variations
Yes you can use flavored pretzels!
If you like this Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders Recipe you might also like:
Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
Make these fun and delicious chicken tenders the whole family will love in under 30 minutes! With simple ingredients you proabably already have at home like pretzels, flour, and eggs!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken tenders
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground mustard
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups pretzels
For 'Quick' Honey Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Old Style/Whole Grain Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º F. Lightly grease sheet pan.
- Crush pretzels down into small crumbs, I find rolling a small handful on a cutting board in batches works best.
- Add flour, garlic powder, ground mustard, and onion powder to a small bowl and stir to combine. Add eggs to a second small bowl and whisk together. Add the crushed pretzels to a third small bowl.
- Dredge one chicken tender in the flour until fully coated, then in the egg until fully coated, then the crushed pretzels until fully coated. Transfer coated chicken tender to the sheet pan. Repeat with the rest of the chicken tenders.
- Transfer the sheet pan to the oven. Bake 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your chicken tenders until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165º F. Serve with your favorite sauce or my favorite Quick Honey Mustard sauce.
Quick Honey Mustard
- Mix mustard and honey together until combined.
Notes
To help keep things clean and speed up the process when dredging the chicken keep one 'wet' hand and one 'dry' hand to keep everything from sticking to you. For example I use my right hand to touch the flour and preztels and my left hand to tough the egg.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
2-3 chicken tendersAmount Per Serving: Calories: 685Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 171mgSodium: 1707mgCarbohydrates: 61gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProtein: 39g
Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.
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