Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

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This week we celebrated that most esteemed of days, National Fried Chicken Day. Not wanting to miss out on the festivities, I searched my Pinterest pins for a Fried Chicken recipe. I realized that most of my fried chicken pins are healthier versions that oven-bake rather than fry in oil. Normally this is a good thing for our diet. However, for National Fried Chicken Day I went with this Pin for Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders by Mandy of South Your Mouth. You won’t get any drumsticks or wings, but it’s frying AND the chicken tenders will cook more quickly than whole chicken pieces.
Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders - ORIGINAL PIN

Chicken tenders, no matter how good, need a dipping sauce. Since Mandy recommended a mixture that tastes like Chick-Fil-A sauce, I am doing a second Pintesting on this pin for a Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce recipe by Serene Herrera of House of Yumm.

The Pintesting:

The ingredients include chicken tenders, seasoning mixture, milk mixture, and a flour mixture. My grocery didn’t have chicken tenders so I got chicken breasts and sliced them into tenders. This seemed a lot easier than running from store to store in search of the same thing.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Start by making a seasoning blend that Mandy calls “Chicken Scratch” and says is good for seasoning “anything with feathers.”

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Season the chicken tenders with part of the Chicken Scratch.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Then blend the milk mixture. It calls for a fair amount of hot sauce. The recommended amount will give a bit of heat; adjust this to your own taste preference.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Mix the coating with flour, seasonings, and more Chicken Scratch.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Dip the seasoned chicken tenders in the milk mixture.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Then coat it in the flour mixture.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Pan fry them in about an inch of hot oil.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Turn the chicken to cook evenly; about 5-6 minutes total.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

Drain the cooked tenders on paper towels or on a cooling rack. I put a cooling rack over paper towels – just to be safe.

Pintesting Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders

These fried up to a nice golden brown without losing their coating. As I said, they do have a kick of heat to them – a bit more than is my personal preference but not more than what I would call medium hot. The chicken was fully cooked without drying out. These Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders were a great way to celebrate National Fried Chicken Day.

Pintesting National Fried Chicken Day

I made the Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce recipe to serve on the side and paired it with a salad.

Click Here to go to the Copycat-Chick-Fil-A Sauce Pintesting.

The Pintesting Results:

Overall Results: 4.45 Pins

Pintesting Seal 4 Pins

Accuracy:  The Pan-Fried Chicken Tenders turned out just like the recipe and post said except for one thing – the heat. I understand that heat levels can be subjective and what one person considers flavor might be fire to another. In this case, however, it wasn’t the opinion of just my HH and me. I had a few people at work try them and they all mentioned that they “have a kick” or “have some heat on the back end.” Other than that, the chicken tenders were moist, crispy, and had all the yum of fried chicken. 4 Pins

Pintesting Rating - 4 Pins

Difficulty:  There is a level of danger that accompanies frying in oil. Anyone who’s been splattered can attest to the pain. All the prep work of mixing the dry rub, milk wash, etc. is easy. I went back and forth between giving this a 3 or a 4, but since this is pan-frying instead of deep-frying I’m giving this 4 Pins.

Pintesting Rating - 4 Pins

Time:  The whole recipe took less than 30 minutes from start to finish; even with the dipping, coating, resting, and frying. This is a great recipe for busy weeknights. 5 Pins

Pintesting Rating - 5 Pins

Cost:  All of the ingredients are normally in my kitchen. The chicken was $3.99/lb and my package was $4.45. The Chicken Scratch rub makes a lot and can be used for “anthing that has feathers.” I estimate the total cost at $5.75. Since this served supper and leftovers for lunch that’s less than $2/serving. 5 Pins

Pintesting Rating - 5 Pins

Practicality:  You just can’t go wrong with homemade chicken tenders. They beat frozen every time – plus you know what’s in these. I prefer no mystery ingredients in my food. I like that you can adjust the level of heat to your preference by adjusting the amount of hot sauce in the milk mixture AND if you prefer a “Southwest vibe” you can adjust the Chicken Scratch per her instructions. My lunch leftovers heated well in the work toaster oven so I’m guessing that you could make these ahead and bake in the oven, but since they take less than 30 minutes it’s just as easy to make them fresh. 5 Pins

Pintesting Rating - 5 Pins

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Pinterest addict, award-winning baker, and cookbook contributor - I'm Anne and I'm so glad that you've found Pintesting. This is where we test, review, and rate Pinterest pins on a weighted 5-point scale and sometimes share our own recipes, tips, and tricks.

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