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KFC Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken Tenders
Prep Time
15m
Cook Time
25m
Total Time
40m
This KFC Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken Tenders recipe creates perfectly seasoned, crispy chicken tenders without the deep frying. The secret is in the KFC spice mix, buttermilk marinade, and a combination of flour, panko breadcrumbs, and cornmeal for a crunchy coating. A healthier, homemade alternative to fast food.
Ingredients
Steps
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
Servings:
4
Scale:
Scale
0.25
0.5
1
2
3
4
5
6
Kfc Spice Mix
Chicken
Steps
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Nutrition Facts
Nutrition facts are based on 1 serving. If servings is not specified, 6 is assumed for the total
recipe.
-
Calories598kcal29%
-
Fat20g1%
-
Saturated Fat6g0%
-
Carbohydrates72g3%
-
Fiber3g0%
-
Sugar7g0%
-
Protein31g1%
-
Cholesterol91mg4%
-
Sodium1,221mg61%
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Notes
1. Celery salt is common in America but not so well known in Australia. But you can find it in the herb section of Coles and Woolworths! It is also easy to make your own - just bake celery leaves until just dried (not burnt), crumble and combine equal amounts of the celery leaf dust and salt in a jar.
If you can't find celery salt, just substitute with 3/4 tbsp ordinary salt.
2. You can substitute with chicken breast cut into chicken tenderloin size strips. It will also work with small boneless thigh fillets - around 100g/3.5 oz each - or any other cut of chicken that will cook in 20 to 25 minutes.
3. If you don't have time to marinate, use 1 to 2 eggs instead (just enough to coat all the chicken). Add 1 tbsp of the Spice Mix, dredge the chicken in the egg mixture, then drain and follow the recipe directions.
4. Cornmeal are small, fine yellow grains and is also known as yellow corn. It's also sold as "polenta" at supermarkets though that is not technically correct because polenta is actually a dish that cornmeal is used to make! The cornmeal adds extra crunch to the coating but if you can't find it, then it's ok to skip it, it's still quite crunchy.
5. I find that using a bit of oil (instead of all butter) stops the butter from browning and burning which can sometimes happen, depending on the strength of your oven.
6. This does not have the wrinkly, thick, craggy coating like deep fried KFC and southern fried chicken. To achieve that, you need to deep fry or bake in loads of oil! But the crust of this is pretty close! It's crunchy and really does taste just like KFC!
7. Honey Mustard Dipping sauce - whisk together equal amounts of Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and honey, plus salt and pepper to taste.
If you can't find celery salt, just substitute with 3/4 tbsp ordinary salt.
2. You can substitute with chicken breast cut into chicken tenderloin size strips. It will also work with small boneless thigh fillets - around 100g/3.5 oz each - or any other cut of chicken that will cook in 20 to 25 minutes.
3. If you don't have time to marinate, use 1 to 2 eggs instead (just enough to coat all the chicken). Add 1 tbsp of the Spice Mix, dredge the chicken in the egg mixture, then drain and follow the recipe directions.
4. Cornmeal are small, fine yellow grains and is also known as yellow corn. It's also sold as "polenta" at supermarkets though that is not technically correct because polenta is actually a dish that cornmeal is used to make! The cornmeal adds extra crunch to the coating but if you can't find it, then it's ok to skip it, it's still quite crunchy.
5. I find that using a bit of oil (instead of all butter) stops the butter from browning and burning which can sometimes happen, depending on the strength of your oven.
6. This does not have the wrinkly, thick, craggy coating like deep fried KFC and southern fried chicken. To achieve that, you need to deep fry or bake in loads of oil! But the crust of this is pretty close! It's crunchy and really does taste just like KFC!
7. Honey Mustard Dipping sauce - whisk together equal amounts of Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and honey, plus salt and pepper to taste.