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Baked Cheez-It® Chicken Tenders

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Dinner, Main Course, Side, Appetizer, Lunch – American
By Adapted from Diane Morrissey – Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 15 Minutes, plus an overnight marinate – Cooking Time: 15-25 Minutes – Total Time: ~40 Minutes

In only a few simple steps you can have Baked Cheez-It® Chicken Tenders for dinner! A fun cooking project for kids – they will love it!

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. Chicken Tenders (or 4-6 chicken breasts sliced lengthwise into 2-inch strips)
  • Buttermilk (enough to cover chicken tenders in bowl)
  • A Few Dashes of Hot Sauce, like Frank's Red Hot or Tabasco
  • 1 box Cheez-It® Crackers
  • Olive Oil
  • Minced Parsley for garnish
  • Dipping Sauces

Instructions

1

Place Chicken Tenders in a bowl and pour on enough buttermilk to cover. Add a few splashes of Frank's Red Hot Sauce, Crystal or Tabasco. Stir to coat all the tenders with the buttermilk, cover and refrigerate overnight or for a few hours.

2

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a large sheet pan with cooking spray. If you're worried about the tenders sticking to your sheet pan, lay a sheet of parchment on the sheet tray and spray the parchment with cooking spray. Set the tray aside.

3

Add Cheez-It® Crackers to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the crackers are a coarse sandy texture.

4

Transfer the Cheez-It® breading to a rectangular baking dish and set up your breading station with the buttermilk chicken tenders, the Cheez-It® breading in the center and the tray to catch the breaded tenders on the right.

5

Work with a few chicken tenders at time; lay the buttermilk coated tenders in the Cheez-It® breading, turn a few times to evenly coat the tender and place the breaded tenders on the sheet tray. Repeat with the rest of the tenders.

6

Then drizzle olive oil over the tenders. Now bake the tenders for 15-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (temped at 165 degrees F) and the Cheez-It® coating is golden.

7

Let the tenders sit for several minutes to let them cool and the Cheez-It® coating will crisp up a bit more. While you're waiting for that, you can chop up some parsley to sprinkle over the top. Once they've cooled and crisped up a bit, transfer the Baked Cheez-It® Chicken Tenders to a serving dish. Serve with your favorite dipping sauces.