Easy Chicken Fingers Recipes

I love making chicken fingers for dinner or even for a special weekend lunch. My daughter loves them and it is easy to make extra to use in sandwiches or to serve with some different sides for dinner another day. If I have extras, I refrigerate them for up to 2 days and reheat them in a toaster oven.

You can use chicken breast that’s cut into strips, or you can use chicken tenderloins. Those can often be found less expensively at the grocery store (unless chicken breast is on sale).

Traditional Chicken Fingers

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves-cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk *
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• oil for frying

Mix your egg, butter milk and garlic in sealable container big enough to add your chicken strips (I use an square plastic container with lid). Add your chicken strips and refrigerate for at least an hour. The chicken fingers will be better if you leave it in for 3 to 4 hours.  If you are in a big hurry you can also just dip the chicken in there and move on to the next step. It will still be good, your chicken fingers just won’t be quite as tender.

Get out your fry-daddy or a large sturdy pot and fill it with oil. Heat the oil to about 375F.

Next, pour your flour, bread crumbs, salt, and baking powder in a large resealable bag. Take the chicken strips out of the buttermilk mixture (letting excess drip off) and move them to the flour bag. Close the bag and shake the chicken around to coat every little strip well with flour.

Carefully dip a few chicken fingers at a time into the hot oil and fry them until they are golden brown. Cut one open to check if it is all the way done. There should be no pink and juices coming out of the meat should run clear. Otherwise return to the fryer and fry a little longer. Keep frying the chicken fingers up until they are all done.

As you take them out of the deep fryer, put them on a plate covered with an old (but clean) kitchen towel or a layer  of paper towels to get some of the excess oil off.

If you like spicy chicken fingers, add some hotsauce to the buttermilk mixture and some cayenne pepper to the flour mixture.

* If you don’t have buttermilk on hand,  take 1 cup milk with 1 tbsp of lemon and let sit for 10 minutes

Healthy Chicken Fingers

If you want to cut some of the fat and calories, give this healthy baked version a try.

• 12 ounces chicken strips
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 2 cups cornflakes, finely crushed
• Dash of black pepper

Start by preheating your oven to 450 F. Combine the egg, honey and mustard together. Pour the cornflakes into a shallow bowl or container and mix in the pepper.

Dip the chicken strips into the egg mixture, then roll it in the cornflakes to coat. Transfer the chicken strips to a baking sheet. I like to use some parchment paper on it for easy cleanup when I’m done.

Bake your chicken strips for about 12 minutes until they are golden brown. Again, cut one open and make sure the chicken is no longer pink. If it is, just return all chicken strips to the oven for a few more minutes.