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Baked Pecan Chicken Tenders
By Amy Clark | 0 Comments | Posted 04/10/2015
Summer, to me, means simplifying the dinner hour so that I can spend as much time as possible enjoying the warm sunshine and time with my family. The easiest way I have found to create a dinner our whole family loves is to prepare a salad bar of choices for our evening meals and today I wanted to share with you an easy recipe for baked pecan chicken tenders that your whole family will enjoy!
Hi, my name is Amy and I am a new contributor to the Wild Oats team. I am so excited to share a little bit of my kitchen with you through my blog posts. I am a mom of two incredible kids and my biggest challenge is creating dishes that my kids will eat and that also happen to be gluten-free.
Finding out I needed to switch my diet, a little less than two years ago, was one of the hardest challenges I have ever tackled in my kitchen. After I got over mourning for food I couldn’t eat (yes, I have cried about pizza), I discovered that I could be more creative than I ever gave myself credit for. Replicating the things I always loved for our family, but in a way that I could enjoy them, has been a really rewarding process. Since so many families face the same challenges, it has brought me so much joy to share these ideas with others and I am going to be doing that with you here.
Take fried chicken. I loved it. Sadly, it did not love me. Thankfully, this recipe showcases that you can still enjoy that crispy crunchy chicken you always loved, but with healthier choices like a pecan crust spiced up with a generous shake of Wild Oats Paprika. This crisp pecan crust is actually two layers of nutty deliciousness. Not only are the pecans ground into a flour to incorporate in your gluten-free mixture, but it also has a coarse layering of pecans that adhere to the chicken to create that crunch we are after.
The best part about these though is that you can make them and FREEZE THEM for later. I don’t know about you, but those are magical words to this mama’s ears. How great would it be to have these on hand not only for salad topping this summer? You could also turn these into a delicious main dish with a side of rice and veggies or they can be wrapped up with lettuce, dried cranberries, and a little Wild Oats Balsamic Vinaigrette in a tortilla. The possibilities with this fast recipe are endless!
I hope you can give this recipe a spin in the kitchen and let me know what you think! I look forward to sharing more with you in the upcoming months!
Baked Pecan Chicken Tenders
- 1 and 1/2 pounds skinless chicken tenders
- 2 cups chopped pecans (this will save you time chopping)
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour (can substitute with regular flour if you do not eat gluten-free)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Wild Oats Paprika
- 2 large eggs
- Chopped parsley, for garnish
Directions:
- Set out 3 medium size bowls. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Pulse 1/2 cup of chopped pecans in a food processor or a blender until fine crumbs are formed. Mix these pecan crumbs with flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Set aside.
- Pour the remaining chopped pecans into the second bowl. Finally, whisk the 2 eggs until beaten in the third 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, approximately 10 more minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it so the pecan coating does not burn.
- Serve chicken fingers with a garnish of parsley.
- Make ahead: Chicken fingers freeze well for up to 2 months so feel free to double or triple batch these. Bake frozen for about 18 minutes, flipping once halfway, at 300F degrees.
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