11/16/11

Naked Chicken Tenders

Pan-fried chicken tenders with NO BREADING with twice the flavor and half the work of traditional fried chicken tenders seasoned with a rotisserie style spice blend recipe called 'Chicken Scratch' - recipe included!


I use my chicken seasoning (Chicken Scratch) each and every time I cook chicken.

Whether I’m baking it, grilling it, frying it, sautéing it or putting it in ice cream, it gets a good coating of the seasoning.

My very favorite way to use it is to coat chicken tenderloins and pan-fry them without breading… kind of like a naked chicken tender. Once cooked, you can use the tenderloins in so many dishes.

Naked Chicken Tenders! Pan-fried chicken tenders with NO BREADING with twice the flavor and half the work of traditional fried chicken tenders seasoned with a rotisserie style spice blend recipe called 'Chicken Scratch' - recipe included!

My very favorite way to serve these is in a Big Fat Salad (thankyouverymuch, Seinfeld) but they're also great with fettuccine alfredo or on their own with bleu cheese or ranch dressing for a dipping sauce.

Here are my two favorite salads to serve these with:

Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Diced tart apples
  • Roasted pecans
  • Red Onions
  • Dried Cranberries
  • Bleu Cheese
  • Naked Chicken Tenders
  • Bleu Cheese Dressing

Our Big Fat Salad
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Cucumbers
  • Boiled eggs
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Homemade Croutons
  • Naked Chicken Tenders
  • Ranch or Honey Mustard Dressing

This is an awesome recipe for anyone following a low carb or keto diet because you get all the yumminess of chicken tenders without the breading!


Naked Chicken Tenders


Yield: 3-4 Servings
Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 8 Mtotal time: 18 M
Pan-fried chicken tenders with NO BREADING with twice the flavor and half the work of traditional fried chicken tenders seasoned with a rotisserie style spice blend recipe called 'Chicken Scratch' - recipe included!

ingredients:

Chicken Tenders
  • 1-2 tablespoons Chicken Scratch (recipe below)
  • 1 pound chicken breast tenderloins
  • 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Chicken Scratch
  • 3 tablespoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons paprika
  • 3 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder

instructions:

How to cook Naked Chicken Tenders

Chicken Tenders
  1. Using kitchen shears, cut the white tendon from each tenderloin. Or don’t. I just do it because they skeeve me out. Season tenderloins with Chicken Scratch.
  2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use enough oil so that the bottom of the skillet is thoroughly covered. Once your oil is good and hot, place about half the tenderloins in the skillet. Do not overcrowd the pan. These cook quickly so you’re not going to miss Christmas if you have to cook two batches. Cook about 4 minutes or until lightly browned on each side then remove from heat.
  3. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before cutting. I mean it!
Chicken Scratch
  1. Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. I keep mine in a large used spice container that still has its shaker top for easy use. Season chicken or other poultry LIBERALLY with mix (this is made with less than 25% salt so you can rock it out!)
naked, chicken, tenders, no breading, without breading, low carb, keto, gluten free, fried, grilled, easy, recipe, best
Created using The Recipes Generator


Here's another recipe I LOVE to use the Chicken Scratch seasoning on!


This recipe was featured at the Weekend Potluck!


Keep up with my latest shenanigans by following South Your Mouth!

NAKED Chicken Tenders! Pan fried chicken tenders with NO BREADING with twice the flavor and half the work of traditional fried chicken tenders. #keto #glutenfree #lowcarb

41 comments:

  1. Thank you for the Pinterest challenge! It led me back here... I knew I had seen you use the Chicken Scratch recipe before! LMAO with your comment about getting ad's based on "pimping"!

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  2. I am going to try this SOON!
    Best,
    Gloria

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  3. Oh these look fabulous! Thanks so much for linking up (& linking back!) to Weekend Potluck!

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  4. I used bacon drippings instead of vegetable oil. One word... AWESOME. Thanks for the recipe! :)

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    1. Oh, it totally was! :)

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    2. oh, another use for bacon grease!!!

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    3. I prefer to call it bacon lotion

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  5. How do you cut that white part out? Yuck, that always freaks me out, but I've never been able to cut it without messing up my whole tenderloin. Do you buy your meet from Aldi?

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    1. OK, I'll try to describe it as best I can. Pick the tenderloin up by the white skeevy thing. Using your kitchen sheers, start cutting "down the skeevy thing", cutting under it, between it and the tenderloin. The weight of the tenderloin will help. I can usually get about an inch off, which is enough for me, since it gets smaller as it goes. I might get the onions to video me the next time I cook them so you can see what I'm talking about.

      Yes, I LOVE the Aldi fresh meat department! They sell Kirkwood (I think it's Kirkwood... it's Kirk-something) fresh chicken tenderloins for like $3.00 a pound. The frozen ones are so-so... but then again, most frozen chicken breast products are just so-so to me.

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    2. That actually makes sense! I always lay it on the cutting board and mangle the chicken all up trying to cut it out. A video would be awesome! I was going to buy chicken tenderloins today, but put them back because of that white yucky thing!
      I have recently started shopping more and more at aldis. You really can save some money! I was curious about their meat. I do think it's kirkwood. I will be trying that and that frozen pizza!
      I just found your blog yesterday, through the weekend potluck and am so glad I did! I love it so far!

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  6. Yum! I need to cook me some of these. The "Chicken Scratch" sounds delicious.

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  7. LOVE LOVE LOVE the chicken scratch! I've got some chicky boobs I've put it with a little bit of olive oil marinating in the fridge (don't have time to cook it tonight as it's pretty late). I do use chili powder in place of the cayenne (just keep forgetting to buy some from the store).

    I've also made a few of your other recipes from this site and have LOVED them all!!

    I didn't grow up with the hamburger vegetable beef soup but I DID grow up eating PB&Honey! When I made the soup I wasn't brave enough to dip my sandwich BUT I did have an excuse to make the sandwiches on fresh homemade bread! hehe

    I'm curious, have you ever had a PB, mayo and pickle sandwich?? I have people in my family (and extended family) that LOVE them! There is just no way I could eat that... Now deep fried pickles.. yes please!!

    Thanks so much for sharing your yummy recipes!!!

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  8. oh my heaven! Just found this website and the chicken scratch and ADDICTED!! Made my Alfred with the progresso recipe starters as I was short on time today and the chicken was amazing!!! Sharing with all of my friends!!!

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    Replies
    1. LOL! Maybe we should call it Chicken CRACK! Thanks for your comment and for sharing!

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  9. Squat Blossom8/21/13, 5:35 PM

    I know this will be a random comment to follow your Chicken Scratch recipe(which I will try), but just want to say I love your posts! I'm gluten free and dairy free, so I can't use all your recipes, but sometimes I can tweak them to work for me. It's just fun to read your stuff! Thanks for awesome recipes and making me smile when you share them! And yea, I think I'll leave the name my daddy called me when I was a little girl.. it's about as southern as you can get.

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    1. Squat Blossom! LOVE THAT NAME!! Thank you so much for writing this. I'm still reeling from a comment someone left the other day saying the meanest things (I mean, seriously, who DOES that?). So, thank you!

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    2. Squat Blossom8/21/13, 10:20 PM

      Thanks, I love it too. He's been gone for about 30 years, but I can still hear him call me that.

      I'm sorry about the horrible post. We should all just be kind to each other... or keep our mouths shut. That's what my mama taught me.

      When you find your niche, you go with it. And you, my friend have found yours. I for one, think you're pretty awesome.

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  10. Cant wait to try this, since besides pizza & steak, my son only eats chicken. Please please get the onions to video you getting rid of that nasty white thing that makes me buy breast instead b/c I start thinking about it!

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  11. I was out of onion powder, paprika and cayenne. I substituted smoked paprika and hoped for the best. I went heavy on the spice mixture as suggested, and was glad I did, because it it ROCKED!!!

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  12. It was AWESOME! Too spicy for the kidlets, but even the mildest of spices usually are. That's fine though, MORE FOR ME! Thanks for the great recipe & even greater tip on that tendon thingy!

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  13. I had everything on hand for the chicken scratch except for the paprika. I substituted it with Cajun creole seasoning - I hope that's going to work out. I'm making fettuccine alfredo for dinner and decided to add this chicken on top. It looks so good, we'll see.....

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  14. I liked this recipe, but found the salt content way too high. I ended up dumping out half of the seasoning mix and adding about a cup of bread crumbs to the remaining seasoning. I would make it again, but only add about one teaspoon of salt as opposed to 3 tablespoons.

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  15. I use granulated garlic rather than garlic powder. Should I still use the same amount?

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  16. SO DELICIOUS. Thanks so much for this recipe. I'd say it was probably a bit salt heavy, but knowing in advance and making sure that I don't season the side dishes will do just fine until I run out. I can't wait to start using the chicken scratch recipe on EVERYTHING :D

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  17. Love love love LOVE this rub. We use it in scrambled eggs, roasted cauliflower, pot roast, you name it. Plus, the tenderloins fry up with a gorgeous crust and are fabulous by themselves or in dishes. THANK YOU!

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  18. Love that you cut that yucky thing out, too! My husband thinks I'm nuts. Oh yeah, he thinks I'm nuts anyway.

    Love your site. I'm making this tonight.

    I can't wait to try your Shrimp and Grits. It's the best recipe I've found. It looks just like the dish served at a favorite restaurant in FL.

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  19. OMG! Pickle, mayo and PB sandwich?? And I wasn't raised in the south. I thought I made that sandwich up myself. I used to make those when I was a teenager. White bread, PB, Miracle Whip and Bread and Butter pickles. Used to call it a Garbage Sandwich for some reason. I'm going to have one for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the memory.

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  20. I made these last night- very good. Thanks for the recipe!

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  21. Awesome recipe. First go was an absolute success with kiddos (and me). Thank you so much for the recipe and the directions: 4 minutes and rest for 10. So juicy!

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  22. I made these for dinner tonight but I went 1/2 paprika and 1/2 sodium-free blackening seasoning from my favorite spice shop in town. Absolutely delicious. I only needed about 2.5-3 minutes per side though on the tenders. They were perfect with a romaine salad with homemade caesar dressing. Yum.

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  23. I went googling for a "no-breading chicken tenders" recipe and found yours. So glad I did! Had concerns that the spice mix might be too strong, but it was outstanding! I would probably cut back on the salt next time but that's just personal preference. Thx for this great recipe and for the laughs reading your commentary. :-)

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  24. most chicken or turkey you buy from the grocery store was brined during processing so if you're on a low sodium or no salt diet or heart healthy program, don't add the salt to the spice mix. most meat doesn't need the salt anyway.

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  25. Been a while since I "fried" chicken, but with the Chicken Scratch seasoning, the tenders came out great! And I am not a good cook. I didn't have as much as the recipe called for on a couple of the ingredients, but it still turned out great. I will probably keep some these in the freezer, ready to thaw and use.

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  26. can you bake these? i hate standing over the stove - just want to pop it in the oven

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  27. I LOVE these naked chicken tenders. I have it saved as a favorite on my browser and a few folks have asked about it over the last few years, so I've spread the word. Over the years, I've adjusted some of the herbs to my own taste but essentially...it's the same.

    The kids love them, they are also Keto-friendly for my husband.

    These are the juiciest chicken that I've ever tasted. And they cook so quickly. Amazing.

    Thank you so much for sharing.

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  28. I am not a big fan of thyme, is there another herb I could use to substitute the thyme?

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    1. You can use rosemary or just leave it out.

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  29. Excellent recipe!!! Thank you!!! =)

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  30. This recipe is great. I made a small modification by adding corn starch to a small batch of chicken scratch and rolling the tenders in the mix before placing them in a deep fry, then sprinkling chicken scratch on the tenders after removing from the oil. Pairs SO well with a sriracha aioli! As a novice homecook I appreciate this awesome recipe. Thank you!

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  31. This seasoning is AWESOME. I omit the salt entirely because I prefer to control the salt depending on the dish but overall this blend is fantastic for so many things. It's particularly lip smacking on pan-fried chicken hearts!!

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Hi there! While I’m not able to respond to every comment, I try hard to answer any questions that haven’t been addressed in the post, recipe or in other comments.

I can tell you now 1) I have no idea if you can substitute Minute Rice or brown rice in my recipes because I’ve never used them and 2) If I know how to convert a recipe to a Crock Pot version, I will make a note about it (otherwise, I don’t know).

And though I may not respond to them all, I do read each and every comment and I LOVE to hear from you guys! Thanks, y’all! - Mandy