One of my favorite quick and easy chicken tenders recipe is perfectly crunchy, effortless to make (ready in 30 minutes!), and waistline-friendly! Plus they taste just like the DORITOS we all know and love but try to stay away from for our own good .

These crunchy and delicious baked chicken tenders are SO good and so easy to make, they're sure to become a staple in your weeknight dinner rotation. This is such an easy chicken tenders recipe (ready in 30 minutes), you'll be doubling (or even tripling) the batch just to make sure you have leftovers! They're perfect lunches, too and make a great addition to a not-so-boring salad! All you need is chicken tenders (or chicken breasts cut into strips), eggs, corn flakes, and some basic seasonings. See below for the full recipe (accommodating different spice levels).

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Jump to:

• Family-friendly cooking
• What you'll need
• Why you'll love this recipe
• How to make these chicken tenders
• Adjust the spice level
• Substitutions

Family-friendly cooking

I love getting my toddlers involved with this recipe. You can have your kids measure the corn flakes, crush them up, and mix the corn flakes with the seasonings. My favorite recipes are ones where the whole family can get involved. It always makes kids feel good when they contribute to dinner, plus picky eaters are more likely to try new foods when they have a hand in preparing it!

What you'll need

• Corn flakes. The secret to this easy chicken tenders recipe are the corn flakes. They give these tenders a delightful crunch and just a touch of sweetness. It's also fun for kids because they get a kick out of their dinner having cereal in it! We love Nature's Path and One Degree, they're both organic and have minimal sugar. These corn flakes from Nature's Path are sweetened with just fruit juice! And One Degree 3rd party tests all their products for glyphosate residue. It's becoming easier and easier to find organic corn flakes at most grocery stores, but you can definitely find them on Amazon, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's.
• Eggs. If you can, always try to get organic, pasture-raised eggs ideally from regenerative farms. We like this brand, but you can also opt in to a farm-share or co-op in your area (like this one if you're from NY, NJ, or CT) to get regeneratively farmed animal products. Some may even delivered right to your door!
• Seasonings. Salt and pepper are a must. Garlic powder and paprika are strongly suggested. Cumin and cayenne pepper are not required but highly recommended to make these chicken tenders taste just like Doritos!

Why these will become a staple

• 3 ingredients. Besides basic seasonings, this recipe needs only 3 ingredients to come together.
• Minimal mess. And it's ready in 30 minutes! Win-win!
• Baked, not fried. These tenders are perfectly crunchy on the outside but are 100% baked. No excess oil or calories needed.
• Kid approved. Make this for your little ones and pair it with some homemade dipping sauce and french fries for the ultimate “fake away” meal!
• Air fryer option. If you own an air fryer, you can use that instead and cut the cooking time in half.

How to make these chicken tenders

1. In a large bowl, whisk two eggs. Place all of the chicken tenders in this egg mixture. If time allows, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This step is totally optional, it just helps to tenderize the chicken.
2. Meanwhile, make the crunchy seasoning. For 1 lb chicken tenders, crush up around 1.5 cups of corn flakes either in a plastic bag, with your hands, or with a mortar and pestle. I don't recommend using a blender or food processor for this step because you definitely still want to have relatively big pieces of corn flakes for that extra crunch factor.
3. Place the crushed up corn flakes in a bowl and add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, and cayenne and mix together thoroughly.
4. For each piece of chicken, coat both sides in the corn flake mixture and place onto a lined baking tray. I like to line my trays to make cleanup easier, but you don't have to! If you like to do this too, I recommend this eco-friendly brand.

5. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Then, flip the chicken tenders and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Adjust the spice level

You can easily adjust the spice level of this easy chicken tenders recipe depending on your preference — I included measurements for different spice level below! Measurements are for 1 lb of chicken tenders. If you are doubling the recipe, simply double the amount of each spice.

Three Alarm Hot

• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoon black pepper
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Medium Spicy

• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoon black pepper
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mild Spicy

• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoon black pepper
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or omit cayenne)

Not spicy

• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 or 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Substitutions

• Corn flakes. You can totally substitute the corn flakes for another crunchy cereal! I haven't tried it yet myself, but I would imagine it would still give it a crunch and slightly sweet factor. Although they won't be as crunchy, you can also substitute the corn flakes for 1 cup of almond flour instead.
• Eggs. I do not recommend subsituting eggs for anything else. You need the eggs for the seasonings to stick!
• Chicken. If you try this recipe with salmon or another fish, I'm sure it would be super tasty! Just remember that if you substitute with salmon, you don't need to coat the skin side with the corn flake mixture.
• Seasonings. You could omit the cumin and cayenne pepper, but it won't taste as much like Doritos! That's what makes this easy chicken tenders recipe so satisfying, in my opinion.

Let me know what you think of these and how spicy you ended up making them!! Personally, I love the three-alarm fire spice .