Boneless Fried Chicken Tenders

Boneless fried chicken tenders that are marinated in buttermilk, seasoned with chicken spices and then deep fried until golden brown. Serve with a side of Mac and cheese and your favorite hot sauce!

Jump to Recipe

Boneless fried chicken tenders are the ultimate picnic or party food. And the best part is, is that they can be served room temperature or even cold.

This recipe always brings me back to my childhood years when my friends would come over after school and my mom would have a mound of boneless fried chicken tenders on the table. I mean, talk about an after school snack, right? My friends still talk about this fried chicken. Let’s get to the “chicken dance”, shall we?

Ingredients for boneless fried chicken tenders

• 2 pounds Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 Cups flour, halved
• 32 oz Buttermilk, halved
• Vegetable Oil (Canola, Peanut or Corn Oil will also work)
• 1 1/2 bottles of McCormick Perfect Pinch Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning, separated

Prep for Boneless Fried Chicken Tenders

Start by cutting the boneless chicken breasts, lengthwise, into tenders. You can also buy the pre cut tenders and save yourself a step. Next, find a big enough vessel to put your tenders in and pour half the buttermilk covering the tenders. Put a lid on it (I’m not being rude..) and place in the refrigerator. Ideally, I’d like for you to marinate the chicken tenders overnight, but if you can’t, no worries. Just make sure they get a good 3 hours to hang out in the buttermilk.

Why use buttermilk?

The buttermilk acts as a tenderizer, breaking down the chicken proteins. It also has a low acidity level so it won’t make your chicken mushy or tough. Marinating the chicken in buttermilk yields a tender, juicy and flavorful fried chicken tender.

Set up for frying the boneless chicken tenders

Start by preheating your deep fryer to 375 degrees F. Next drain the chicken in a colander. Try and shake off as much of the excess buttermilk as you can. In addition to that step, put the chicken on a cutting board and pat dry and set aside. Meanwhile, combine half the flour with 1/2 of the chicken seasoning in one dish and combine the other half of the flour and seasoning in the other. Next, take the remaining buttermilk and put it into a vessel. Time to put the suspects into a line up and get to dredging. First, take your chicken, toss in the first seasoned flour dish, shaking any excess flour off. Second, coat the chicken in the buttermilk. Lastly, toss your chicken into the second seasoned flour dish and put on a tray. Repeat until all the chicken is coated.

Fry Away

Now that your chicken is prepared, double check to make sure that your deep fryer is at 375 degrees F. No matter what kind of deep fryer you have (either 2 baskets or one big one) please don’t crowd the fryer with a bunch of chicken tenders. 3-6 tenders is a good balance for either one. Fry for 5 minutes and drain on paper towels. If you are unsure if your tenders are done, use a meat thermometer and make sure the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F. Because you are fully submerging the chicken into hot oil, it doesn’t take long at all. Finish until all the chicken is fried. Let cool. By the way, I have personally burned my mouth many of times because I get impatient. Be careful!

Why did my coating not stick?

The reason why the batter didn’t stick to the chicken is because the chicken wasn’t patted dry enough. So, draining the chicken and patting with paper towels is crucial. Because once you toss the chicken tenders in the first seasoned flour dish, the seasoned flour should stick to the chicken.

I like to dip mine into a side of blue cheese and some different kinds of hot sauce. Actually, sometimes I mix the hot sauce with the blue cheese. You do you. There’s no right or wrong way to go about eating these beauties. Now take a seat and enjoy some of the best boneless fried chicken tenders you will ever have. ~Christina

Leftover Ideas (that is if you have any)

• Chicken wraps: Dice up some chicken and place it in a warm tortilla. Top with shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, salsa.
• Chicken salad: Dice up some chicken and put on top of a salad with chopped up veggies and add your favorite salad dressing.
• Chicken sandwich: Cut a chicken tender in half and place on a toasted hamburger bun. Top with shredded lettuce, tomato and mayo or top with a creamy coleslaw.
• Buffalo chicken pizza: Use a store bought pizza shell or your own. Dice up some chicken tenders and toss with your favorite buffalo sauce. Take some blue cheese dressing (or Ranch) and spread on the bottom of the pizza, top with coated chicken pieces and sprinkle on shredded mozzarella.