Easily make homemade chicken tenders by breading the chicken with a few seasonings and frying to golden perfection in 15 minutes.
Jump to RecipeI’ve mentioned before that chicken is a favorite in our house. Sometimes we do really elaborate chicken meals (such as Chicken and Dumplings). Other times, I want something quick and easy.
The boys love when we buy frozen chicken tenders, but those get expensive. And, I like having control over exactly what goes into our food.
So, we set out to make our own homemade chicken tenders. We made plain and spicy chicken tenders. Justin prefers them to be spicy. For his, we just added some red hot seasoning into the flour mixture.
We have many recipes that include breading the chicken, but then we go on to do other things with it. This recipe is breading the chicken and frying. That’s it. Very simple, but delicious!

Homemade Chicken Tenders Step by Step
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 lb chicken tenderloins

Preparation
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
Whisk the flour in a shallow bowl with the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, and salt. If you are making spicy chicken tenders, add the red hot seasoning with the other seasonings.

In another bowl, beat the eggs. Place the bread crumbs in a third bowl. Coat the chicken by dredging in the flour mixture, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs, then back to the eggs, and finally in the bread crumbs again.

Fry in the prepared oil for at least 3-5 minutes on each side, making sure the chicken is cooked through. Place the chicken strips on a wire rack to let the excess oil drain. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce. The boys like to dip theirs in ketchup. I like ranch dressing. Justin likes blue cheese dressing with his chicken tenders.

Leftovers
Store any leftover homemade chicken tenders in a container in the refrigerator. To reheat, bake for about 10-15 minutes at 350F, until the chicken is warm through.

Recipe
Originally Published On: October 16, 2020
Last Updated On: September 15, 2023

Homemade Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 lb chicken tenderloins
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat
- Whisk the flour in a shallow bowl with the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, and salt
- In another bowl, beat the eggs
- Place the bread crumbs in a third bowl
- Coat the chicken by dredging in the flour mixture, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs, then back to the eggs, and finally in the bread crumbs again
- Fry in the prepared oil for at least 3-5 minutes on each side, making sure the chicken is cooked through
- Place the chicken strips on a wire rack to let the excess oil drain
- Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce
Notes
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
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- Homemade Chicken Tenders
These chicken tenders are so delicious and easy to make! My kids just loved them…can’t wait to make them again!!!
That’s awesome! My boys love them, too 🙂
This looks so nice. Very yummy and crunchy. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Will try to prepare at home.
It’s so easy, and fun to be able to make them at home. You can change any seasonings to make them your own!
I love to eat chicken tenders, especially the homemade ones. You’re making me hungry 🙂
Homemade is the best 🙂
I imagine these tenders are very tasty. I remember chicken (and I’m tempted to peek at your chicken and dumplings recipe). I went vegan.
They are tasty, and you can add anything you want to adjust the flavor since making from home.
My kids would love these. Homemade always taste so much better and are so simple to make.
My boys devour them when I make it. They love chicken tenders, especially when they are homemade.
My family loves chicken tenders…such a delicious meal and makes for great leftovers too! These look perfectly crispy!
Having leftovers to quickly reheat is the best 🙂
We love making our own chicken tenders but it’s quite an art to get them perfectly crispy, these look super tasty x
It took us a few tries as well. Just have to make sure there’s plenty of breadcrumbs since some will inevitably fall off while cooking.
I make these for my kids often. They are so much better than the store bought ones. They are so yummy.
I agree, much better and you have more control over the quality of the ingredients you use.
This is one food that I will never be tired of eating. I can have this for breakfast, lunch, snack nor dinner!
Definitely! And cold chicken for leftovers can be great, too.
I am such a big fan of chicken tenders. I’ve never made homemade chicken tenders before, but I’m definitely going to have to try this out.
I hope you like the homemade ones, too! It’s fun to make your own so you can control the flavor.
Those look delicious, my daughters would love them since they love chicken. I can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for sharing!
My boys love chicken tenders, too. They had fun helping me make them.
I love love love chicken tenders, they’re so good!!! I can’t wait to make your recipe, it looks delicious!
Awesome! I hope this recipe lives up to that love of chicken tenders 🙂