American/ Main Dishes

Crunchy Cajun Chicken Tenders

Crunchy Cajun Chicken Tenders

I am a sucker for chicken tenders. When I worked at restaurant a few years back they used to serve Cajun Chicken Tenderloins with honey mustard dressing and I swear I must’ve ordered it every other day that I worked. I recently decided to see if I could replicate them at home. For this recipe, I marinate chicken tenders in some buttermilk and cajun seasoning and then dredge them in flour seasoned with even more cajun seasoning. To top it off, I dip them in a sweet homemade honey mustard dressing. Tender chicken with a little crunch, a little spice and a little sweet, what more could you want?

Crunchy Cajun Chicken Tenders

Print Recipe
Serves 4 Prep Time: Cook Time:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning, divided
  • 1 pound chicken tenders
  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
  • About 1 1/4 cup canola oil for frying

Instructions

1

In a bowl whisk egg, buttermilk and 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning. Add chicken tenders and mix them around until they are all coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2

Mix together mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, vinegar, honey and salt and pepper together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

3

Combine flour, remaining Cajun seasoning and black pepper in a large freezer bag. Once chicken is done marinating, remove from buttermilk mixture and let excess drip off. Place chicken tenders in plastic bag and shake to coat.

4

In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot (I test this by sprinkling a little flour in it, if it fizzes, I start frying), add chicken tenders and fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. (Note: Be careful not to over crowd the pan, or the temperature of the oil will drop and your chicken won't get as crispy as you like. If your pan won't fit all of the tenders in it without over crowding simply do it in batches.) Once browned, remove from fryer, lay on paper towels or a brown paper bag and sprinkle with a little salt if desired. Serve with honey mustard dressing.

Notes

Enjoy!

February 24, 2009 By
20
About

Whether it is cooking it, eating it, shopping for it or watching TV about it, food is one of my favorite things.

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  • How funny – I made chicken tenders for dinner last night! Mine weren’t cajun but still pretty tasty. I’m bookmarking your recipe for next time. Thanks!

  • With two little ones, we are huge chicken strip eaters in our house. Great to see a new recipe to switch things up again! Thanks for sharing!

  • Michelle: How funny! I bet yours were good too! :)
    finsmom: You’re welcome! I hope the little ones like them! :)

  • That chicken and it’s dip look extremely scrumptious! Wonderful!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  • I LOVE the cajun kick to these!!!

  • Thanks Rosa and Jennifer!

  • Desmoine

    Brilliant! I love chicken tenders and I love cajun food. I can’t believe I never though to put them together before.

  • Thanks Desmoine!

  • Emily

    I made this chicken for my boyfriend who recently started to eat meat again after being a vegetarian for some years, and it was definitely enough to convince him that meat is great! the chicken was tender and flavorful with an amazing crunch!

  • Emily: I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed these! And the fact that a former vegetarian also enjoyed them is pretty awesome too :)

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  • Victoria

    I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, but do you do anything to the chicken tenders first? Or do you take them straight out of the pack and coat them?

  • No question is stupid Victoria :) I just took them out of the package and then proceeded with the buttermilk marinade.

  • Katiegurl

    I love honey mustard dressing but I have never had one as good as the one I had at a community meatball and spaghetti day on a trip to the US. It was home made and unfortunately I never got the recipe. I am so going to try this :) But Des, which vinegar do you use for it?

  • Hi Katie- I am glad to read that you are finding so much inspiration in the blog. I hope your bf enjoys the Mac N’ Cheese. For the honey mustard dressing in this recipe, I use distilled white vinegar or white wine vinegar. Hope this helps! and thanks for reading :)

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  • Joyce

    There are several cajun seasonings on the market. Which one did you use in the recipe? I am looking forward to making these over the weekend.

  • Hi Joyce, I use King of the Cajun. Enjoy these!

  • Tasha

    Today was my second time cooking these. My family love these chicken tenders. Mine weren’t cajun even though I used McCormmick cajun seasoning. But they were still very delicious. I really like this recipe.

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