Tangy mustard-flavored chicken tenders have a tantalizing crunch thanks to hard-baked pretzel crumbs.
It's time to free chicken tenders from kids' cuisine. Long linked to fried chicken fingers — a children's menu staple — chicken tenderloins work well in adult dishes, too.
True to its name, the chicken tenderloin is more tender than the neighboring breast meat, provided you don't overcook it. When it comes to fast-cooking meat, it's the pick of the chick.
The tenderloins are strips of muscle that run along the inside of each breast half, closest to the bone. A byproduct of the boneless-breast industry, they are often sold in 1- or 2-pound packages.
Because of their slender size, tenderloins cook in half the time as boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They even cook faster than breast meat that's cut to its same size. That's because the tenderloin is a different muscle than the breast, says chef Oona Settembre, an award-winning recipe developer and corporate restaurant consultant who lives in Denton County.
"It is not a working muscle, so it has a different structure and density than the breast, and that's also what makes it more tender," she says. If a recipe calls for marinating the meat, 15 minutes is all it takes for tenderloins, she says. "You're marinating for flavor, not tenderness, because they are already extremely tender," she says.
Chicken tenders are adaptable for recipes that call for boneless, skinless breast halves. Count on two or three tenders per serving, depending on their size.
For dishes such as chicken piccata, chicken saltimbocca and chicken marsala that require pounding the meat flat, the tenders are easier to work with than boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Nikky Phinyawatana, owner of Asian Mint, says chicken tenders are ideal for stir-fries, curries or soups, such as Tom Yum, a popular Thai soup.
"You just cut them into three or four pieces. They work well for people who are new to the kitchen, or who don't want to spend a lot of time handling chicken. And it truly is more tender than the breast," she says. Phinyawatana points out that since tenders are more porous than breast meat, they absorb more flavor from sauces or soups.
Read on for tips on how to cook with chicken tenders, and for recipes, including two from chefs Settembre and Phinyawatana.
Recipe developer and restaurant consultant Oona Settembre says chicken tenders can be used in place of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in recipes. Below are her tips for adapting recipes when using chicken tenders, followed by two of our suggestions.
Before proceeding with a recipe, cut off the small white nob of tendon that protrudes from the wide, top end of the tenderloin, since it has a gristly texture.
Cook whole chicken tenders for about half the time as boneless, skinless breast halves.
Marinate chicken tenders for only 15 to 30 minutes. Since they are more porous and smaller than chicken breasts, over-marinating will cause them to take on too much liquid. If the marinade is a salty one (such as many Asian marinades), don't marinate for more than 15 minutes, or the salt may purge moisture from the chicken.
For recipes that call for cutting chicken breast meat into chunks or fingers, reduce the cooking time by 25 percent for chicken tenders cut to the same size.
For stir-fry recipes, cut the tenders into 1-inch pieces rather than thin slices, so that the meat doesn't dry out — it cooks quickly.
Because of their size and low moisture content, chicken tenders aren't well suited for grilling.
Add bite size (1-inch) pieces of raw chicken tenders to soups at the very end of their cooking time. Never boil the tenders, or they will toughen; simmer them until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. You can buy 1-quart cartons of creamy corn, squash, red pepper or potato soup in supermarkets and use them as your soup base; add chicken and leftover vegetables for a quick soup entree to serve with bread and salad.
If baking whole tenders that are not the same size, place the larger ones toward the back end of the baking sheet and the smaller ones at the front. This makes it easier to remove the smaller ones from the oven a minute or so earlier than the larger ones, so that they don't overcook.
Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a food processor, pulse the pretzels until you have mixture of coarsely ground chunks and fine crumbs. Transfer to a large, shallow bowl.
Note: For a crisp topping, it's essential to use very hard and thick sourdough pretzels; if they are not the hardest variety, the crust will not be crunchy.
It's worth a trip to an Asian market to make this easy soup, which cooks in less than 30 minutes. Note that the chili paste with soya bean oil is different from the chile paste sold in mainstream supermarkets.
In a large pot, combine the stock, lemongrass, fish sauce, lime juice, Kaffir lime leaves and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add chili paste, stirring well to incorporate. Add tomatoes and simmer for 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook for about 3 minutes, until chicken is just cooked through (do not boil, or chicken will be tough). Remove from heat immediately; chicken will continue to cook in the hot soup, off heat.
Remove and discard the lemongrass and lime leaves as you ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish each serving with cilantro and chopped green onion. If desired, add Sriracha sauce to taste — or pass the sauce at the table for diners to add to taste.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.
In a large skillet, toss the panko with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Toast over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the toasted crumbs to a shallow dish or pie plate. Add cheese, parsley and half of the garlic; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Season chicken with salt and pepper; place in center of prepared sheet, leaving room around the edges for the romaine lettuce, to be added later.
Pat panko mixture onto tops and sides of breasts. Bake in oven for 6 minutes.
Remove sheet from oven. Place romaine hearts around chicken.
Drizzle romaine with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with remaining garlic. Season with salt and pepper. If there is any leftover panko mixture, you can sprinkle it over the romaine. Roast until chicken is cooked through and lettuce is browned at edges, about 5 to 7 minutes. Divide among 4 plates. Top lettuce with anchovies; garnish with lemon wedges for squeezing over the lettuce and chicken.
You can do most of the prep work for this dish one day ahead of time.
Cut open the sides of a gallon-size, zip-top plastic bag. Place a few tenders at a time on the bottom half of the bag, with room to spread out when flattened. Fold top half of bag over tenders and gently flatten to 1/4-inch thickness by pounding with flat of your hand (you can use a mallet if you prefer, but it's easy with the hand). Transfer flattened meat (known as scaloppine) to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tenders.
Season both sides of the scaloppine lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle tops of tenders with the sliced sage leaves.
Cut each slice of prosciutto in half across middle, on the diagonal. Place each half onto a tender to cover most of the upper surface. If necessary, trim the prosciutto to better fit the chicken tender.
Combine flour with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper. Lightly dredge each tender in the seasoned flour; shake off excess flour, handling carefully so that prosciutto stays attached to chicken.
Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until warmed. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add whole sage leaves and sauté on both sides until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. These will be used for an edible garnish. The sage will crisp up a bit as it cools.
Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to skillet, along with 1 tablespoon butter, and allow pan to heat up again. Working in batches, add prepared tenders, prosciutto sides down, and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on heat of pan; flip slices and continue to sauté to lightly color lower side of chicken, about 3 or 4 minutes. Chicken should be just barely cooked through. Do not overcook. Remove chicken to a platter or baking sheet and tent with foil.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and garlic to pan. Cook garlic lightly, but do not let it brown. Add white wine and stock cube to skillet. Mash bouillon cube onto bottom of pan with a spoon to dissolve and mix with wine. Add lemon juice to sauce and bring to a simmer. Return chicken to the pan to heat it through for a minute. Remove pan from heat to stop cooking.
Combine broth, miso, vinegar, mirin and ginger in a small bowl.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add carrots and water to the pan; cover and cook until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Stir in the miso mixture, bell pepper, peas and the chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through and sauce is slightly thickened. Serve immediately.