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Short-Order Kitchen

Popeyes-Style Chicken Tenders, Baked

By Wes Ellis2 min read
A plate of crispy, deep-golden fried chicken tenders with a side salad and a cup of dipping sauce.
Recipe card
Servings
4
Prep
10 minutes, plus 30 minutes marinating
Cook
12 to 15 minutes
Method
Sheet pan
Heat
425°F
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 2 of the thread Drive-thru copycats, lightened up

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • The yogurt marinade matters more than the breading. Give it 30 minutes.
  • Dredge, shake off the extra, spray, and bake at 425°F.
  • 12 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway.
  • Reheat in the oven or air fryer, not the microwave.
THE RECIPE · POPEYES-STYLE CHICKEN TENDERS, BAKED

Ingredients

Marinade

Chicken and coating

You'll need

  • Bowl for the marinade
  • Shallow dish for the flour
  • Sheet pan
  • Parchment paper
  • Tongs

Directions

Marinate

  1. Stir the yogurt with a little salt and pepper.
  2. Coat the chicken and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Coat and bake

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment.
  2. Mix the flour with the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper.
  3. Lift each strip out of the marinade, press it into the flour and shake off the extra.
  4. Lay them on the pan, spray lightly and bake 12 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway.
  5. Serve hot with whatever dipping sauce you like.
Notes Keeps up to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat in the oven, toaster oven or air fryer at about 375°F; the microwave works but softens the coating. Roughly 315 calories and 39 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/popeyes-copycat-chicken-tenders/

Real fried tenders get their crunch from hot oil and their juiciness from a long buttermilk soak. You can't fake the oil in an oven, but you can absolutely steal the soak.

The marinade is doing the work

Greek yogurt is acidic and thick, and half an hour in it tenderizes the chicken and leaves a tacky coat for the flour to grab. That tacky layer is what keeps the breading on instead of sliding off in sheets when you flip.

If you don't have yogurt, milk with a spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice gets you most of the way there. The yogurt version just gives you a slightly thicker coating and a small protein bump.

Tip

Don't rush the 30 minutes. If you've got time, it's fine to set them up earlier in the day and leave them in the fridge.

Getting close to fried

Two small things help a lot. Shake off the extra flour, or you get pasty white patches. And spray the tops before they go in, because dry flour in a dry oven just stays dry flour.

If you'd rather use the air fryer, the Air Fryer Chicken Tenders go the pankoJapanese-style breadcrumbs made from crustless bread, coarser and flakier than regular crumbs. They're where most of the crunch on breaded chicken comes from.More: Air Fryer Chicken Tenders route for extra crunch. The baked McChicken-style sandwich is the other oven copycat in this thread, and it trades the flour for crushed cornflakes.

Heads up

If the coating still looks pale at 15 minutes, the chicken is done even if the color isn't. Another minute or two under the broiler fixes the color.

LINKED FROM2 notes

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