Back in the day, I would feed my family frozen chicken nuggets in the belief that I was serving them a healthy meal. After all, we weren’t eating out at the local fast food joint, so those chicken nuggets had to be a healthier option, right?
I won’t ruin your appetite, or my recipe for baked chicken tenders, by sharing what’s really in those little pieces of “chicken.” You can read all about it in this article on Huffington Post.
Suffice it to say, there isn’t a whole lot of 100% chicken meat in each bite.
These days I’m a much savvier consumer when it comes to the foods I purchase and serve to my family.
With a little creativity, I can make my own version of chicken nuggets that are far more appealing, and definitely healthier.
All I need is a box of panko bread crumbs, fresh herbs, and roasted pecans to make a crunchy coating for the chicken breast tenders I’ve dredged in Greek yogurt and a squeeze of tart lemon.
It’s true that these baked chicken tenders take 15 minutes more to prep and bake, but I can promise you, each bite is 100% chicken breast. No fillers, no preservatives, and the before mentioned ingredients you don’t want to know about.
If you have zucchini growing out your ears like I do, you can add a light and lemony zucchini salad on the side to use up what’s left of your toasted pecans.
Enjoy, and have a terrific weekend fellow healthy food lovers!
~Kristi
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Serving Size: 4
Shake It Up! You can use a variety of herbs in the mix. Fresh rosemary or fresh oregano are lovely with chicken. If you don't have fresh herbs on hand, try a dried Italian mix.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Panko bread crumbs, lightly crushed
- ¼ cup pecans, pieces, roasted and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons thyme, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ⅛ cup water
- ½ medium lemon juice
- ½ medium lemon zest
- 1 pound chicken tenders, 8 large tenders
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and top with a cookie rack sprayed with cooking spray.
- Combine panko, pecans, thyme and salt on a plate.
- Combine yogurt, water, lemon and lemon zest in a larger bowl.
- Dredge chicken tenders in yogurt and shake off excess.
- Press into panko and place on cookie rack.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- If you'd like a more browned tender, turn on the broiler for the last minute or two.
Notes
Food energy: 332kcal Saturated fatty acids: 2.10g Monounsaturated fatty acids: 7.52g Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 3.85g Total fat: 13.47g Calories from fat: 121 Cholesterol: 74mg Carbohydrate, by difference: 19.51g Total dietary fiber: 2.53g Protein: 29.85g Total lipid (fat): 15.19g Water: 127.81g Ash: 2.88g Total sugars: 4.18g Calcium: 114mg Iron: 2.05mg Magnesium: 63mg Phosphorus: 358mg Potassium: 605mg Sodium: 446mg
2.5http://motherrimmy.com/recipe-baked-chicken-tenders/Mother Rimmy�s Cooking Light Done Right by Kristin A. Rimkus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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