Let these chicken tenderloin recipes be your simple solution for creating an absolutely delicious meal in under 30 minutes! With over 10 quick and easy chicken tender recipe ideas, at least one will make your family happy.
If you’re tired of making the same dinner recipes week after week, this collection has plenty of new ideas to inspire you.
Whether you call them chicken tenders, fingers, strips, or tenderloins, we’ll help you find a way to love them even more than you already do!
Reasons to Love Chicken Tenderloin Recipes
- They help prepare stress-free dinners in a flash!
Most of these are 30-minute chicken recipes! This means, they require very little prep work, so there’s no need to stress out when you’re short on time.
- Many different ways to cook them.
It can be frustrating when you find something you want to cook, but you don’t have the special equipment or appliance the recipe calls for. After all, not everyone has an Instant Pot, Air Fryer, and Crock Pot. If this is you, no worries! This collection also includes stove top and oven recipes.
There are plenty of great ways to cook chicken breast tenderloins. Some of the most popular methods are:
- sautéing
- deep frying
- pan frying
- grilling
- baking
- stir-frying
- steaming
Frequently Asked Questions
Not exactly. Chicken tenderloins are a separate piece, attached to the underside of each chicken breast.
Chicken tenders, strips, and fingers are simply different names for slices of boneless chicken breast.
Despite the difference in names, tenders, and tenderloins both describe lean, white chicken meat. So, either one of the cuts is a good substitute for the other.
That “string” is actually a piece of connective tissue called a tendon. Tendons attach muscles to bones. They’re safe to eat, but they don’t have any flavor.
If you notice a tendon attached to chicken tenderloins, you can remove it with a pair of kitchen shears or a knife.
Using a brine or marinade can help keep the meat moist. However, not every recipe includes one. Cooking chicken tenderloins at a temperature no higher than 350° to 375°F works even better for preventing dry, tough poultry.
For more information about this versatile cut of poultry, read our post, “What is a Chicken Tenderloin?”
FYI: Turkey breasts also have tenderloins, and oven roasted turkey tenderloin is also incredibly versatile!
What To Make With Chicken Tenderloins
Using something as simple as best seasoning for chicken tacos can add flavor while keeping the meal low-carb and keto friendly.
Although marinating poultry isn’t really necessary (because the white meat is lean to begin with), using a balsamic vinegar chicken marinade is a healthy way to add flavor. Many use them as a healthy grilling option instead of coating the meat with sugar-based sauces.
Oven Baked Chicken Tenderloin Recipes
Below are our favorite chicken tenderloin recipes, separated out by cooking method. We hope you’ll find a few new ones to try!
🎯 TFN Pro Tip – Helpful Tips for Preventing Dry Poultry
To avoid overcooking poultry, we highly recommend checking the internal temperature of the meat with a digital instant-read kitchen thermometer.
Tenderloins and all other cuts of poultry are safe to eat when the thickest portion of the meat reaches 165º Fahrenheit.
Did you know you can get a reliable digital instant-read cooking thermometer for under $15? The photo below shows our favorite budget-friendly model. It works well for grilling recipes, too!
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Instant Pot Recipes
Stove Top Recipes
Other Favorite Recipe Ideas
By the way, it’s easy to use frozen chicken tenders in these recipes.
How to Make Chicken Tenders from Breasts
Grocery stores and butcher shops typically sell packages of ready-to-use chicken tenders. However, the cost per pound is much higher than buying whole breasts.
You can save a lot of money by shopping for boneless, skinless breasts. Not only will you be able to cut chicken strips from them, but underneath the breast is the most tender piece of poultry – the tenderloin!
Doing this allows you to make tasty chicken strips from the entire breast with no waste, and that’s always a plus!
- Remove the tenderloin from the breast.
Just take each whole breast and flip it over. The piece attached near the side is a chicken tenderloin. Use a knife or kitchen shears to cut it away from the breast.
- Slice the breast into strips/tenders.
Next, use your knife or scissors to cut vertical (top to bottom) strips about 2 inches wide. If the breasts are very large, slice each of the strips in half. Simply place the tenders side by side on a cutting board. Then, place your hand flat against the top of them and carefully slice horizontally through the strips.
Serving Suggestions
Meals with a sauce go well with a starchy side like white or brown rice, pasta, or noodles. Of course, you can never go wrong serving vegetables like roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, or our candied Brussels sprouts.
When making tenders or tenderloins with breading, include a variety of dipping sauces. Easy dipping sauce ideas for breaded chicken tenderloin recipes are:
- Easy Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe
- Hot Mustard Dipping Sauce
- Asian Sweet and Spicy Sauce
- ranch dressing
- shawarma sauce
- brown or make gravy for biscuits
- Cheese Dipping Sauce for Pretzels
- bang bang sauce
Please leave a comment below! We want to know which of the chicken tender recipe ideas shown here you plan to make first!
Ann says
A delicious chicken tenderloins recipe the whole family will love!