Juicy seasoned Baked Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders – perfect for serving with your favorite dipping sauces for dinner or a tasty appetizer.
Try these other pretzel inspired recipes next! Like my Pretzel Dogs, Cheddar Jalapeño Pretzel Bites, and Pretzel Crust Pizza.
Welcome to this week’s episode of Confessions of a Chicken Tender-aholic! For real though. I have an addiction to chicken tenders. And it goes way, way back.
When I was younger I ordered chicken tenders probably 90 percent of the times I ever ate out with my family. We didn’t go out very often, because hello – nine children, scary. But when we did, I wanted chicken tenders with allllllll the dipping sauces. Ketchup, BBQ, honey mustard, ranch, sweet and sour….
YES PLEASE.
I even ordered chicken tenders when we went to iHop. People…. the house of pancakes. I ordered chicken tenders. Numerous times. I told you, chicken tender-aholic. These days I usually don’t order chicken tenders when I go out to eat, but not because I love them any less than I did as an eleven year old. I order something else because chances are I’ve recently had my chicken tender cravings quenched when I made a batch at home.
Personally, I really hate frying food. Health reasons are closely followed by the fact that it makes me, my house, and my mile-long hour-to-blow-dry-hair smell to high heaven and too many of my favorite t shirts have been ruined by a rogue splatter of grease.
So for those reasons I bake my chicken tenders and here’s the thing…. I don’t miss the fried version. (gasp!) Seriously though, I can’t remember the last time I had fried chicken tenders and my craving are 100 percent in check you guys. Plus with a healthier baked version I feel less guilty about dunking them in a gallon of honey mustard sauce.
This is my latest and greatest chicken tender love affair: pretzel crusted chicken tenders. SO good. Even my husband, who doesn’t even like pretzels (I know. weird.) asked for seconds! So easy to make, and super yummy.
Plus I made another video for you guys! Side note: I realized about three seconds ago that it has a little hiccup with the titles – they kind of appear and disappear a little quicker than intended but, you get the gist and I’m still figuring out this whole video thang. Thanks for understanding!
What people are saying about these Baked Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
“Loved these! Tried them a couple weeks ago and totally fell for that pretzel flavor. I’m a complete pretzel addict lately so these suited my cravings perfectly!” – Rachel
“Made these for my husband and I – they were really easy to make and turned out great! I added some Parmesan to the pretzels just to experiment and it was heavenly!” – Katie
Baked Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts - pounded to ½ inch thickness
- ½ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups pretzels - (sticks or twists), crushed
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- sauce for dipping - (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking sheet.
- Slice chicken into 1 1/2 inch strips. Place pretzels in a medium bowl. Whisk together eggs and water in a second bowl. In a third bowl stir together flour, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Toss chicken strips in the flour mixture to coat, then dredge in the egg mixture being sure to coat all sides. Lastly, roll chicken pieces in the crushed pretzels and place in a single layer on the greased baking sheet.
- Bake chicken for 15-20 minutes until cooked through and browned. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
How would you recommend reheating leftovers after refrigerating to keep the crust from getting soggy?
Reheat in the oven on parchment paper for best results 🙂
Do you have the recipe to your Honey Mustard Sauce?
Yes 🙂 Whisk together;
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
My son is allergic to egg…can I use something different for that part? Thanks!
You can try water and cornstarch, milk, flour and water, melted butter, heavy cream, mayo, or buttermilk.
I just lightly coated in (vegan) mayo!
I made this with gluten free pretzels. I had some larger pieces of pretzel and also pretzel ‘dust’. Turned out so crunchy.
When i made this time it went really really well..but this time i tried in air fryer and it became so so hard and dry that it was almost inedible..what to do to keep it soft?
It could’ve been how high the temperature of your air fryer was and how long you cooked them. I would do around 370 for 8 minutes or so on each side. Hopefully that will help keep them tender.
Hi Tiffany, second time making these. They appease my picky kids, which is hard to do. 🙂 can leftovers be frozen? If so, how long will they keep? Thanks!
So glad to hear your kiddos love these! They freeze just fine but as leftovers the pretzel crust can soften and totally depends on personal taste (or your kids taste) if they mind or not. I would freeze up to 2 weeks and reheat in the oven on parchment paper for best results.
These were so good! Rather than egg, I dipped them in a mayo/honey mustard mixture. These were great!
2nd time making them and this new years eve made them again for supper. they were just great.
I made these and they were FANTASTIC!!! Very quick and easy!! I used Dots pretzels probably a little harder to crumble up but super yummy!! Thank you for your great ideas Tiffany!!
These were delicious! A great alternative to frying. very quick and easy to make. thank you!
Super excited to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks 🙂
Do you think i can make these the night before and REFRIGERATE and then put them in the oven when ready to cook?
Hi Amanda- I am afraid that the pretzel coating will get soggy sitting on the chicken for that long! I don’t recommend letting them sit that long before cooking!
Made these for my husband and I – they were really easy to make and turned out great! I added some Parmesan to the pretzels just to experiment and it was heavenly!
Loved these! Tried them a couple weeks ago and totally fell for that pretzel flavor. I’m a complete pretzel addict lately so these suited my cravings perfectly!
Do you know the nutritional value of these?
This recipe sounds great, and the videos you’ve made have all been awesome! I really like them.
Thanks so much Andrea! I think I’m starting to get the hang of the video thing so there will be lots more coming! I’ll always include the written recipe but videos can be so helpful when you want/need to SEE what’s supposed to be happening. 🙂 thanks again!
These look really yummy! And keep up the great work on the videos! 😀