To a bowl, add buttermilk or if you don’t have buttermilk, substitute - Mix 1 cup Whole milk and 2 tbsps vinegar. Leave this alone for 15 minutes.
Add hot sauce to buttermilk. Add chicken tenders to buttermilk, mix well and set aside for 2 hours.
Heat up a pan with enough vegetable oil to deep fry tenders.
For the crust, to a bowl, add all purpose flour. Crack large eggs in another bowl and put Panko bread crumbs in another dish. To the flour, add salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika and cayenne powder, mix well. Add 1/2 tsp salt to the eggs and whisk well. Add 1/2 tsp salt to the bread crumbs and mix well.
First we dip the chicken in flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs. Have a plate to put the coated chicken on and a plate or pan lined with paper towels for the fried chicken. You can also drain the chicken on a rack over a sheet tray.
Let the excess buttermilk drip off each piece of chicken. Put each piece in the flour and coat well. Dip in the eggs next, let the excess drip off and put the chicken in the bread crumbs. Use your other hand to press the bread crumbs on the chicken. Set the coated chicken on a plate.
Test your oil temperature with a ball of the mixture stuck to your hands or a thermometer, it should be 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees celsius. Gently drop the chicken in the oil and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. The pieces of chicken are not thick and cook very quickly. Drain and serve hot. If you like things a bit on the saltier side, sprinkle a little coarse salt on the tenders right after you take them out of the oil.
These tenders are great served with ketchup, honey mustard or sriracha mayo. The outside is crunchy and the inside is soft and juicy. Marinating the chicken in buttermilk really makes a difference in the texture of the meat. Give these tenders a try and let me know how you like them.
Recipe Notes
2 Comments
Phillip
on August 22, 2020 at 3:51 pm
Should chicken and buttermilk be just “set aside for two hours” or refrigerated for two hours?
Should chicken and buttermilk be just “set aside for two hours” or refrigerated for two hours?
Hi, if your house is cool, it’s fine to leave outside. If your house is warm, it’s safer to place in the refrigerator 🙂