baked chicken fingers

Tender, juicy chicken fingers coated in crunchy toasted pecans. The flavor is amazing and they are faux-fried in the oven!

Baked Pecan Crusted Chicken Fingers

chicken breasts or tenders

pecan halves

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)

salt

black pepper

smoked paprika*

eggs

parsley

Set out 3 medium size bowls. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat/parchment paper or coat heavily with nonstick spray. Set aside.

If using chicken breasts, pound down and cut into strips. If using boneless, skinless chicken tenders (chicken tenders are the lean strips of meat found attached to the underside of chicken breasts &#8211; they can also be purchased separately.) &#8211; cut in half lengthwise. Set aside.

Pulse 1/2 cup of pecan halves in a food processor or a blender until fine crumbs are formed. Be careful not to pulse into a nut butter, just a few pulses until they are ground up. See photo above in this post for a visual. In one of the medium bowls from step 1, mix the pecan crumbs with flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Set aside.

Pulse the remaining pecan halves into coarse crumbs&#8211; larger pieces than the ground pecans from step 3. Pour them into another medium bowl. Finally, whisk the 2 eggs until beaten in the 3rd medium bowl.

Coat each chicken strip in the flour/ground pecan mixture, shaking off any excess. Then, dip in egg and let any excess drip off. Then, generously roll in the coarsely chopped pecans, shaking off any excess. Place the chicken strips on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn each piece over and continue baking until the outside is crisp and the centers are cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Baking times may vary, just make sure yours are cooked through. If you like them more brown, bake longer. Careful, you don&#8217;t want to burn the nuts.

Serve chicken fingers with a garnish of parsley, some honey mustard, and/or your favorite condiment. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. 

What do you recommend for re-heating these amazing chicken tenders from the fridge? I don't want to dry them out. 350 degrees for 10 mins?

Recipe video above. Fun and delicious! Tacos stuffed with crunchy chicken fingers coated in a Mexican seasoned crumb. Wouldn&#39;t discourage skipping the tacos and just munching on the chicken sticks :)Handful of my &quot;great golden baked crumbed things&quot; tricks on show here - oven toast the panko first (it will never go golden in the short bake time to cook the chicken), a streamlined single extra-strong dredge batter, a touch of mayo (replicate &quot;frying&quot;),  left-hand-right-hand crumbing technique (clean fingers!) and Taco Slaw (triple duty sauce / veg quota / perfect crunchy chicken bed).

Crunchy chicken taco fingers (baked!)

chicken

panko breadcrumbs ((Note 2))

Olive oil spray

cumin powder

tsp paprika ((regular

garlic powder ((sub onion powder))

onion garlic

oregano

cayenne pepper ((optional))

tbsp flour (, plain / all-purpose)

mayonnaise (or 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil)

tortillas ((Note 4))

Taco Slaw

avocado (, sliced)

Sriracha (, for drizzling (Note 5))

tbsp roughly chopped coriander/cilantro leaves

Toss panko with seasoning, oil spray, bake 7 min at 200°C/400°F (180°C fan). Coat fingers in dredge then crumb, spray generously, bake 12 minutes on rack. Use for tacos - or munch dipped in Avocado Sauce!

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced).

Mix and spray - Mix the panko and Taco Seasoning in a bowl. Pour onto a tray, spray with oil, spread out, then spray again (from height, directly down, so the panko doesn&#39;t blow off).

Bake for 7 minutes, mixing once, until golden brown. Scrape into a 20cm/8&quot; pan (or similar, ease for crumbing multiple pieces).

Toast panko:

Rack - Put a rack on the used tray and spray the rack with oil (Note 6).

Dredge batter - Whisk the Dredge ingredients in a bowl until lump free (it will seem too thick at first, trust, it will thin to maple syrup constancy). Add all the chicken, toss to coat.

Crumb - Pick up a piece of chicken with one hand, let the excess batter drip off. Lay it down in the crumbs. Repeat with 2 - 3 more pieces. With your clean hand, cover with breadcrumbs, press to adhere, lay on rack. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Warm tortillas - Separate tortillas into 2 stacks, wrap with foil.

Bake - Spray generously with oil. Put in the oven with the wrapped tortillas. Bake for 12 minutes  - thin strips cook fast! (Note 7).

Serve - Serve, stuffed in tortillas with fixings of choice. My assembly order: take a warm tortilla, pile in a generous amount of Taco Slaw. Top with 2 avocado slices, crunchy chicken finger, drizzle with sriracha, sprinkle with coriander. BITE!

Crumb and bake:

Oh, these look so oomphy ! (Is there such a word?)  But you know I am one of those who does not use mayo etc et al and does not usually crumb !!! In this case I just have to try - they look so inviting AND you did bake and not fry!!!  AND your point 6 above makes these irresistible!  Yes!  Thank you!  Oh, AND, hello to Dozer and I just love your handbag :) !

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Baked Pecan Crusted Chicken Fingers

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Top 2 baked chicken fingers recipes from across the web

The most viewed baked chicken fingers recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Baked Pecan Crusted Chicken Fingers

Crunchy chicken taco fingers (baked...

The most viewed baked chicken fingers recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine