Oven baked chicken tenders are lean strips of poultry that are healthy and flavorful – all with no flour breading or panko breadcrumbs! This chicken tenderloins in oven recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make, and kids love them. Add your favorite veggies to the pan for a quick, easy weeknight dinner.
Are tenders, strips, and tenderloins the same thing?
Curious about the difference between tenders and tenderloins? Read What to cook with chicken tenderloins
Chicken tenders, or chicken fingers or strips, are a classic dinner staple kids and adults love. If you’re a fan of using this small and easy-to-cook poultry cut, check out our chicken tenderloin recipes for a whole lot of dinner inspiration!
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Why We Love This Recipe
- Our simple dipping method delivers an ideal high-protein entree that kids love!
- You can easily double the recipe – and have plenty of tenders for lunches, snacks, or quick dinners.
- Have them on the table in minutes – from start to finish, dinner is ready in under 30 minutes!
These unbreaded oven-baked chicken tenders are naturally gluten-free, keto, and paleo-friendly. But they are more than just a low-carb option – you won’t believe how delicious they are!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Melted butter – swap this for any vegetable oil with a neutral flavor. Great options include avocado oil, coconut oil, and sunflower oil.
- Seasonings – paprika, garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper.
- Tenderloins – use tenderloins or cut your strips of breast meat instead. We have a post if you want to learn how to cut chicken breast into strips.
Recipe Variations
- Mix up the spices – use your preferred spices. Feel free to swap or add spices, like Italian seasonings, chili powder, cumin, or cayenne pepper for some heat.
- Air fryer chicken tenders – the instructions are in the recipe below!
🎯 TFN Pro Tip
Dry the poultry before dipping! This allows the butter and seasonings to adhere better and gives our oven-baked chicken tenders a crispy exterior but are tender and juicy inside – with no breading.
How to Make Baked Chicken Tenderloins
Step One: Mix and Dip
Mix the seasonings in a shallow bowl. Shake or dip the chicken breast tenderloins in the butter or vegetable oil to coat. Then coat the strips by dredging them through the seasonings.
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Step Two: Layer them on your baking sheet.
Layer them in a single layer to allow the heat to circulate and crisp them on the tops and sides.
Add your favorite fresh or frozen vegetables like green beans, asparagus, bell pepper, broccoli, or small diced potatoes to the baking sheet for an easy sheet pan dinner.
Below, we prepared our chicken tenderloins in an oven recipe and added asparagus spears. Using a lined sheet pan is genius because there’s little cleanup!
Step 3: Bake or Air Fryer.
Oven bake at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes or air fry at 325ºF for 10-15 minutes. Garnish with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or fresh parsley.
Serving Suggestions – Yummy Dips and Sides
We recommend serving them warm with kid-friendly dipping sauces like ketchup, ranch dressing, our 3 ingredient BBQ sauce, yogurt-based chicken shawarma sauce, honey mustard sauce, or homemade In and Out sauce recipe.
A great side dish would be our cilantro lime rice brown rice or add these easy veggies sides to the oven: oven roasted green beans and potatoes or roasted carrots and asparagus for a complete meal.
This entree pairs perfectly with our healthy salads, as a topping or a side dish. Check out our favorite salads like Tex Mex cowboy salad or Panera goddess salad.
Recipe FAQs
Since they’re small, thin slices of chicken, baking chicken tenderloins from frozen is easy! Just add 3 minutes of baking time and check the internal temperature of the chicken to be sure it is 165ºF.
Bake them at 350ºF or air fryer them at 325ºF for tender, juicy poultry.
Bake for 15- 20 minutes, or air fry for 10-15 minutes. Check the internal temperature in the center chicken strips to ensure they are 165º internally before serving.
Put cooked and cooled chicken strips in a sealed container and keep them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. They also freeze very well! Seal in an airtight bag or storage container and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Chicken tenderloins are small, triangular-shaped cuts of meat attached to chicken breasts. They are ideal for quick cooking methods like grilling, broiling, or stir-frying.
Chicken breasts are much larger than tenderloin. They are popular and versatile, but they have longer cooking times. If you do not have tenderloins on hand, an easy substitution is to cut a chicken breast into finger-size strips.
More Easy Chicken Recipes Recipes To Consider…
- Cajun Chicken Fingers
- BBQ Baked Chicken Tenders
- Smoked Chicken Thighs On A Traeger
- Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs And Vegetables
If you tried making our chicken tenders recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Baked Chicken Tenders Recipe
Equipment
- shallow baking dish - or rimmed baking sheet
- dipping trays - Ziploc bags, or plates
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or cooking oil
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1½ pounds chicken tenderloins fresh or frozen *for frozen, see Notes below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF or Air Fryer to 325ºF. Prepare the shallow casserole dish or baking sheet by spraying with cooking oil or use parchment paper.
- Add seasonings to a ziplock bag, dipping tray, or plate. Use a separate bag, tray, or plate for the melted butter or oil.
- Dry the chicken pieces before dipping, dip the chicken strips in the butter or oil to coat on all sides. Let excess butter slide off before dipping them into the seasoning.
- Place dipped chicken on the prepared casserole pan or baking sheet in a single layer. Add fresh or frozen green beans, asparagus, broccoli, or small diced potatoes (see below) to the sheet, if desired.
Baking Instructions
- Bake for 15- 20 minutes, until the chicken tenders reach an internal temperature of 165ºF in the center. Serve the chicken tenders warm with your favorite dipping sauces like ranch, BBQ, or honey mustard.
Air Fry Instructions
- Air fry the chicken tenderloins for 10-15 minutes. Check the internal temperature of the chicken strips to ensure they are 165º internally before serving.
- Serve the chicken tenders warm with your favorite dipping sauces like ranch, BBQ, or honey mustard.
Previous
Krissie Franco says
Easy and quick to make. The only modification I did was add a Goya package in the seasons because I cook a lot with it. And didn’t use vegetables (because I didn’t have any). I made mashed potatoes as a side inside. The chicken came put juicy and tasted great!
Donalyn says
This was a great alternative to breaded chicken and the added veggies made it so easy to get a meal on the table. Thank you for this!
Patricia says
I love it! So simple (and tasty!) and its’s so easy to pull a meal together with so many options to serve on the side!
Lima Ekram says
Ready in 25 minutes? I am so in! I need fast recipes for weeknight dinners and cant wait to try this one.
Nikka says
The chicken came out so tender and juicy, and the coating was crispy and flavorful. It was super easy to make and my whole family devoured them. Definitely a new favorite!