Buttermilk Chicken Tenders

I haven't posted in SO long!!!! My apologies! I got really burned out and life has a funny way of sorta just taking over and getting in the way. But I have been missing my blog and documenting my cooking and reading! And I'M BACK!! I have been cooking this entire time and I feel as though I have become quite the chef! I got on Pinterest and find most of my new recipes on there now. I have found some amazing recipes!! I feel I have grown in my cooking abilities and stretched myself as far as the recipes I will try. I always prepare these new recipes and think I have to share this with everyone its delicious! So....here we are. Today I am going to be covering buttermilk chicken tenders. They are as yummy as they sound. Who doesn't like things cooked in buttermilk?? I made these tonight and quite frankly I wanted to eat them all not share any. They were very good!

First off....the recipe calls for "chicken tenders" I personally couldn't find any that weren't already breaded so I bought a bag of chicken tenderloins and those worked perfect! I also somehow missed the fact that the recipe called for the chicken to marinade over night so I just let mine sit for maybe an hour. Seemed to work fine though! For your marinade you want to combine 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp, garlic powder and 1/4 tsp paprika.

Rather than combine all this in a dish and let it marinade the recipe says to mix it all in a large Ziploc bag. I used a gallon sized bag and found that this worked really well. Stick your chicken in the bag after mushing all the marinade ingredients together and stick it in the fridge while you get the breading ready. I stuck mine in a glass baking dish just in case the bag leaked. No thanks on the salmonella mess in my fridge!

The breading is super simple which is one reason why I love making breaded chicken tenders. Very simple, tastes awesome! For the breading combine 1 1/2 cups of of flour, 1 "heaping" (I thought this was funny ha ha!) tsp of salt, 3/4 tsp black pepper, 3/4 tsp garlic powder, 3/4 tsp paprika and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder.

Whisk it all together in a large bowl until blended, then add the 3 tablespoon of buttermilk and stir with a fork until clumpy.

Are you ready to fry up some chicken tenders?! Lets do this!

Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Remove the chicken tenders from the marinade and place them in the flour mixture. Be sure to press the chicken firmly into the breading so the clumps stick! Set your breaded chicken tenders on the foil covered cookie sheet.

At this point I grabbed my baking dish that I used to keep spills from happening and lined it with paper towels. This was my cooling/ draining dish for the finished chicken tenders.

Add vegetable oil to a large high sided pot until level reaches about 3/4 inch. I am really bad with measuring stuff like this so I just kinda eye balled it. When it was high enough that it would almost entirely cover my tenders is when I stopped pouring. Heat over medium high or high heat depending on your stove. My stove runs hot so I used medium high. Once the oil is ready, using tongs, place several pieces of chicken in the pot. Make sure not to touch them together or you will have glued together chicken tenders! Trust me, I know...ha ha!

Let them cook for 3 minutes before flipping them and allowing that side to cook for 3 minutes. Once done on both sides use the tongs to pull the chicken tenders out and place them in the paper towel lined dish and let the oil drain off. After pulling the tenders out I cut them open in the centers just to make sure they were cooked entirely. You can never be too careful with chicken! Fry up the the remainder of your chicken tenders. I recommend eating them pretty quickly after frying. Cold fried food is never fun as most of us know. I served mine with a little bowl of Ranch and a little bowl of yellow mustard mixed with honey.

Now that wasn't too hard was it?! Doesn't take too much time so its perfect for a meal during the week! I made enough that there was left overs since the boyfriend loves taking the recipes I make for lunch the next day. Hope you enjoy!! Please see below for complete recipe.





Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders


2 lbs chicken tenders

3-4 cups vegetable oil, for cooking


For Marinade:

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika


For Breading:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 heaping tsp salt

3/4 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 tablespoon buttermilk



1. Combine the chicken tenders with all of the marinade ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Seal the bag tightly and smush it around to ensure chicken tenders are evenly coated with buttermilk and seasoning. Place in dish in case of leaking and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.

2. Make the breading by combining the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined, then add buttermilk and stir until evenly clumpy.

3. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Remove chicken tenders from the marinade and toss into flour mixture. Be sure to press the chicken firmly into the breading so clumps adhere to meat. Set breaded tenders on prepared baking sheet.

4. Line another baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels and set aside. Add oil to large, high sided pot until the level reaches 3/4 inch. Heat over high heat until oil is shimmering. Using tongs, place several chicken tenders in the hot oil without crowding the pan. Cook until golden brown on the bottom side (3 min) then flip and cook second side until also golden brown (3 min). Set cooked tenders on baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain. Fry remaining tenders in batches. Serve hot.