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chicken fingers with almonds and muffin and broccoli

Grown-Up Chicken Tenders

5 from 1 vote
This Grown-Up Chicken Tender recipe is inspired by the Almond Chicken Tenderloins recipe in the first Magnolia Table cookbook. They are relatively quick to prepare, and wonderful on their own, or chopped up in a salad the next day.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1-1.5 lbs raw chicken tenderloins
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour*
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter (8 tbsp)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ cup sliced almonds**

Method
 

  1. In a shallow pie dish or plate, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and pepper.
  2. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the chicken tenders, then coat each tender evenly in the flour/spice mixture. Set aside in a single layer***.
  3. In a large, heavy-bottom skillet melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. When you barely wet your hand with water, and sprinkle it over the butter/oil it should pop and sizzle. This is when you know it's hot enough to begin cooking the chicken.
  4. Cook the chicken in small batches**** until golden brown on both sides. Roughly 3-4 minutes per side.
  5. In between each batch of chicken, replenish the skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil.
  6. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in the skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted, stir in the almonds and cook until golden (about 1 minute), stirring often. Pour nuts over finished chicken tenders. Enjoy!

Notes

*The original Magnolia Table recipe calls for half almond flour and half all-purpose. This is also delicious!
**Pecans or walnuts would also work wonderfully. 
***My favorite method I've found is to place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  I put all of the raw, uncooked tenders on one side, and leave one side open for the cooked tenders to drain any excess oil. 
****I can usually cook the 1.5 lbs of chicken tenders in 3 batches in a large cast-iron skillet.