Mayonnaise Chicken Tenders

I love homemade chicken tenders. You won’t catch me buying any premade. I just don’t like the flavor. Making them yourself is so easy! It just takes a few steps and if time is an issue a little prep work ahead of time and you will be ready to roll. Your family will appreciate something homemade with flavor versus something frozen and rubbery.

I love making these tenders with mayo. The mayo takes the chicken to a new level because it makes the breading light and crispy and even adds a nice extra flavor.

I always use Dukes light Mayonnaise but that is my personal choice. I love the lemony flavor and of course I don’t mind saving a few calories either, but it’s up to you.

Ingredients:

1 lbs. of boneless chicken breast cut into tenders
½ mayonnaise
3tbs + milk
1/3 container of Italian bread crumbs
Vegetable oil

Directions:

In a bowl mix the mayonnaise with one tablespoon of milk at a time. You are looking for a creamy drippy paste consistency. I don’t want to tell you exactly how much milk to add because it will depend on the consistency of the mayonnaise you use. If you add too much milk you can add more mayo and vice versa. I do suggest adding the milk one tablespoon at a time or it could turn into a very bad never ending circle. 😉
Once your paste in ready set it aside for a moment. You will need an additional bowl or plate for your tenders and one for your bread crumbs. An assembly line process works really well for making tenders. If you have kids that like to help in the kitchen now is the time to recruit them!
Place each tenders one at a time into the mayo milk mixture then dredge it through the bread crumbs. I like to use a fork and smash the chicken into the bread crumbs a bit to insure the chicken is well coated.
Once you chicken is well coated on both sides set it aside on a plate or on a pan. Repeat until all your tenders are covered.
Now your chicken tenders are ready to fry.
Heat your vegetable oil on medium high, but watch your oil so it doesn’t get too hot.
Throughout your frying process you may need to turn it down a bit, so that the oil doesn’t get too hot, and also because you may have bread crumbs at the bottom of your pan and you don’t want them to burn either.
As you are frying up your tenders slide them into a pre-heated 200 degree oven. This will keep your tenders warm, but won’t dry them out.
Fry in small batches and keep an eye on your tenders because they do cook fast and you don’t want to over cook them because they will be tough and dry.
Serve warm