These baked chicken tenders are coated in a deliciously savory crust, yet have zero breading, which makes for an awesomely low carb meal!
Eating healthy has never tasted so good! You won’t even miss the breading on these baked chicken tenders… and the flavor is crazy addictive. Who says you can’t have it all?
So for those of you with little munchkins… do they get stuck in food ruts? My kids sure do…. if it isn’t a fish stick, hot dog, or chicken nugget… they don’t want it. Sound familiar? Doesn’t it make you want to pull your hair out? Cooking a great meal for your family, working hard, and they take one look and promptly say “that looks gross, I want a hot dog”. *insert flip out moment here*
To be fair, I shouldn’t say my “kids”… because my son is the human disposal… he will eat just about anything, and in large amounts! There are some nights I swear he eats more than I do… which honestly, is hard to do… Mama likes to EAT! He is, however, picky about what he wants on certain nights. And my daughter used to be a fantastic eater, and still is, just ohhhhhh my lord is she stubborn!! I shouldn’t even complain because let’s face it, she got it from me… but I’m constantly wracking my brain to get her to eat something that doesn’t come out of a frozen bag.
Chicken is generally a safe bet, especially when I can cut it up into “nuggets” and voila… she’ll eat, especially with some dipping sauce. We eat a good deal of chicken around here 🙂
This chicken… it is beyond addictive and you’ll want it alllllll the time!
Does that look yummy or what?! But wait, it gets even better! These chicken tenders aren’t breaded… that’s right… no breadcrumbs, no panko… zero bread (bring on the low-carb!). A mix of Parmesan cheese and a variety of spices combine to make the “crust” on these baked chicken tenders. And what a delicious crust it is!!
These chicken tenders are also baked, so no babysitting them in a skillet… just pop them in the oven and relax. Okay, maybe not relax, because odds are you’re fixing something else to have alongside the chicken… but at least you don’t have to fuss with the chicken while you’re working on the side dish 🙂
Okay, here’s the breakdown… just mix up your cheese and spices in a large dish and set aside, and melt some butter in a microwave-safe dish.
Dip each chicken tender in the melted butter (seriously, how can you go wrong dipping chicken in butter first!), then roll it in the spice mixture and place in a foil-lined pan. Repeat with remaining chicken tenders and bake for 20-30 minutes. That’s it! So simple right? Plus it’s a fun one that your kids could help you with… they’ll love it! 🙂
These got gobbled up pretty quickly! It was lucky I was able to save a couple of tenders for the pictures the next day 😛
Recipe adapted from Food.com
I want to share that the original name of the recipe on Food.com was Heroin Chicken Tenders, and out of respect for that recipe creator, I originally kept the same name when I shared them. I have since re-named this recipe, but unfortunately the URL still reflects the original name. Any nasty comments pertaining to the name of the recipe will be deleted. I’m sure the original recipe creator named them before heroin was as prevalent a problem as it is today. No one is in poor taste here, just trying to share recipes 🙂
I love serving these with some 3 ingredient slow cooker ranch mushrooms, super crispy parmesan and garlic potato wedges, or a great Caesar salad with homemade dressing!
Helpful Tools for This Recipe:
- NORDICWARE HALF SHEET PANS – I’m a huge fan of these baking sheets, and own them in quite a few sizes!
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Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken tenders
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons parsley minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Line rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Melt butter in a shallow dish.
- Dip each chicken tender in butter then roll in seasoning mixture and place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
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Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Barbara says
I just made Low Carb Chicken Tenders. They are wonderful! Thank you for this great recipe.
Eve says
Hi, I was trying to add this recipe into an app on my phone -myfitnesspal because I was planning to cook them but wasn’t sure if they would show up in a food search so I was going to just save myself the trouble. However, when I tried to put it in, it was saying that 2 pounds of chicken tenders yields 2 servings… I kept trying to edit it but it isn’t working. Is there a way to enter this to get it right? I know a standard chicken breast of 4 oz. is a serving so I thought tenders would be the same. I would appreciate any help if someone else reads this and has done the same.
Kimberly says
Do you know if these would freeze well?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Kimberly 🙂 I’ve never tried, but if you do, I’d love to hear how it went!
Diane says
Hello! Was curious if you cut breasts into tenders or bought the precut tenders? Sometimes I find those to be kind of chewy. Making this tonight and can’t wait! Yummmy. Diane
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Diane 🙂 I’ve made them both ways before, but I tend to prefer using breasts and cutting them down to size 🙂
Sandy says
Was wondering if the cheese is fresh grated parmesan or grated in can.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Sandy 🙂 I prefer to use fresh
Monica says
What is the nutritional information on this?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Monica 🙂 As I’m not a nutritionist and don’t want to inadvertently give the wrong info, I don’t provide full nutrition facts here on the site. But you can copy the ingredients into your favorite online calculator and it should pull it up for you 🙂
Marilyn says
What is the nutritional info ? Carbs ?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Marilyn… as I’m not a nutritionist, I don’t provide nutritional information, but you can easily copy and paste the ingredients into your favorite online nutritional calculator 🙂
Sandra says
I want to make these, tonight, yum! I know hubby will want to throw them into his new “toy” the deep fryer… Think these would hold up? I was thinking to toss a little crushed pork rinds into the “breading”… can’t wait!!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Sandra 🙂 I’ve never fried them, but I think adding some crushed pork rinds to the “breading” would work really well!
Sandra says
I want to make these, tonight, yum! I know hubby will want to throw them into his new “toy” the deep fryer… Think these would hold up? I was thinking to toss a little crushed pork rinds into the “breading”… can’t wait!!
Follow up! Made these, they were amazing!! I must never lose this recipe, thank you!!
Lauren says
My son was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and we are having do make everything low carb. Your recipes have been great and he loves the chicken tenders probably more than he enjoyed how I used to make them. Thank you for the recipe.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Lauren 🙂 I’m sorry to hear about your son’s recent diagnosis… but I’m happy to hear that he loves the chicken tenders 🙂
Jackie says
Mine are in the oven now as smell wonderful. What would you recommend as a dip for these? New to low carb so I am excited!! Thanks!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Jackie 🙂 Hope you loved them! I like to mix some Sriracha sauce and ketchup, and add a bit of black pepper as well. But just about any dipping sauce you love best would work just fine 🙂
Sam says
Can I ask why you don’t just use a whisked egg to bind the dry ingredients /batter to the chicken tenders rather than the melted butter?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Sam 🙂 It’s just a different way to “bread” the chicken… you can absolutely use a whisked egg if you prefer.
Debbie L says
I made these last night, Oh my goodness, they were amazing!!!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Debbie 🙂 I’m so glad you loved them!!
Susan says
Could you share nutritional info? I entered on MFP and calorie count seemed very high. Thanks for sharing if you have it. We are having them tonight regardless of calories, but would love to eat more than two. LOL
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Susan 🙂 As I’m not a nutritionist and don’t want to give anyone false information, I don’t provide nutritional info for my recipes. However, these are probably higher in calories than you’d think because they’re coated in cheese and cooked in butter. You could try an alternative cooking fat (I believe some other commenters have mentioned they’ve done this successfully) 🙂
Greg says
I found that putting all the dry mix ingredients in a gallon sized zip lock bag made coating the chicken and clean up a breeze! Shake and Bake but without the carbs!
Dee says
Made these tonight . Delicious! The flavor was amazing. I had no problem with the spice mix staying on the chicken. The only issue I had was I only used a little over one pound of chicken tenders but I made the seasoning mix that you used for 2 pounds of chicken tenders. I just had enough of the mix for the chicken I had so I can’t imagine how you could stretch it for 2 pounds of chicken! This is definitely a keeper.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Dee 🙂 I’m SO happy to hear that you loved them!! I purposely wrote the recipe so there wouldn’t be a ton of the “breading” left over afterwards (as that’s a pet peeve of mine), but I guess I’m also a light handed breader lol
Jennifer says
I made these for dinner tonight. They were delicious!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Jennifer 🙂 I’m SO happy to hear that you loved them!
Gayle says
Loving this recipe! I eat chicken everyday for lunch. I make ahead on the weekend and take it work. I shock everyone if I don’t have chicken. lol I’m glad I ran across this recipe, it is amazing!! I didn’t have any parmesan so I used grated ricotta instead. I chopped it up to use on salads for dinner. My son tried a couple pieces and loved it as well. He says he wants to take some for his lunch at school. I have another pack of chicken thawing to make more as I type this.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Gayle 🙂 I’m so happy to hear how much you and your son love this chicken!!
Rachelle says
We had a similar recipe but it called for breadcrumbs too. Parmesan is a great addition and/or substitute. My family loved the spice mix you have in this recipe. What I did was mix coconut oil and butter as I didn’t have enough butter and it worked great too.
To change this up a little you can add dijon mustard to the melted butter before coating. Gives it a nice tang. If you are feeling like no spices it works great with just parmesan and dijon for flavor.
Thank you for the great recipe!!!!!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Rachelle 🙂 I love that you used some coconut oil too… I love having that on hand 🙂 Also love the dijon mustard idea. So glad you loved the recipe!
Allison says
A recipe well suited to everyone – low carb or not. Will make extra to slice up for my lunch salads for the remainder of the week. Can’t wait to try this.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Allison 🙂 Thank you! I hope you love this chicken… great idea to meal prep with it for chicken salads!
Courtney Gibson says
So I made this tonight for my husband and in-laws and it was amazing. Everyone loved it! Thank you so much!