Crispy Fried Battered Chicken Tenders With Puffy Craggy Wet Batter
By Emma Collins
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Total
25 min
Servings
4
Level
Easy
For family and tailgating meals, fried chicken strips taste and feel much like fair-style fried chicken. Seasoned chicken pieces are coated with a cold-water batter and fried until golden brown and crispy on the outside, with juicy chicken tenderloins on the inside, not a dry coating.
Garlic powder, seasoned salt, onion powder, paprika, and black pepper are combined with chicken. Flour, baking powder, and baking soda are combined with chicken. Water is added to create a batter similar to pancake batter. Bubbles from the baking powder and baking soda create a puffy coating on chicken during frying. A batter coating, rather than breadcrumb coating, gives fried chicken tenders their texture.
At 350°F, the batter should rise and brown when fried. Using a wire rack when frying tenders keeps the bottom of the tenders from absorbing too much oil. Other issues you may encounter include crumbling and spilling of the batter. Ways to prevent crumbling and spillage include patting dry poultry products, coating them in the flour mixture before adding water, and avoiding overcrowding the pan. Some clumping of the batter may occur.
For informal dining events, provide honey mustard, ranch, barbecue, and hot honey dips along with ketchup. Chicken tenders are most delicious served immediately after frying; leftover chicken tenders can be cooled, frozen individually, and then bagged.
Why this recipe works
- Serves four family members in 10 minutes of preparation time and 15 minutes of frying time. Chicken fingers for dinner is an easy meal to make.
- Kids and adults like to choose honey mustard, ranch dressing, BBQ sauce, hot honey, and ketchup. Enjoy preparing this recipe to accommodate your guests' tastes.
- The same bowl is used for the seasoning, flour, and water mixture. This reduces work and equipment needed for breading.
- A wet batter creates a bumpy, cake-like coating on the chicken instead of bread crumbs, which some people like because it tastes similar to chicken found at carnivals.
- Using a wire rack to drain fried foods helps maintain a crispy bottom on fried foods, improving the appearance of the tenders and freeing up the pan to fry additional batches.
- Fried tenders can be frozen after cooling in a single layer. Freezing fried tenders is one method of using leftover fried tenders instead of discarding uneaten chicken.
Ingredients
- •1 pound chicken tenderloins
- •¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- •¼ teaspoon seasoned salt
- •¼ teaspoon onion powder
- •¼ teaspoon paprika
- •¼ teaspoon black pepper
- •1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- •1 teaspoon baking powder
- •½ teaspoon baking soda
- •1 cup cold water
- •peanut oil or vegetable oil (for frying)
- •kosher salt (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- 1
Pat the chicken tenders dry and place them in a large bowl.
- 2
Add the garlic powder, seasoned salt, onion powder, paprika, and black pepper, then toss until every piece is coated.
- 3
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl and toss until the chicken is coated.
- 4
Pour in the cold water and mix by hand until a batter forms; a few lumps are fine.
- 5
Add a splash more cold water if needed until the batter is about as thick as pancake batter.
- 6
Heat 2 to 3 inches of oil in a deep heavy skillet over medium heat to 350F.
- 7
Add the tenders one at a time so they are not touching.
- 8
Fry for about 4 minutes, flip, and cook until golden, 8 to 10 minutes total.
- 9
Transfer the tenders to a wire rack set over a sheet pan and sprinkle with kosher salt right away.
- 10
Serve immediately while crispy with honey mustard, ranch, BBQ sauce, or hot honey for dipping.
FAQ
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
274
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