BBQ Chicken Tenders

Hello Friends! 

I thought today I would share a fun recipe that's especially great for kids. I think I have mentioned before that when I make baked parmesan chicken breasts I coat my chicken with some light mayo. I use that instead of flour, eggs, breading kind of thing. I coat a little of the mayo on the chicken and then roll it in italian bread crumbs with some shredded parmesan mixed in with it.  It makes for a more moist, but still some crunch kind of crust. 

Well I had pinned this a while back and thought it sounded good, as my kiddos love honey mustard:

It basically involves using pretzels as a coating for chicken nuggets (or tenders) - as pretzels taste so good with honey mustard for dipping. You can find the recipe for this on my pinterest board "favorite recipes" which you can find here.  However, I make something like this with the light mayo and mix in a little honey mustard with the mayo before I put it on the chicken. And then roll the chicken in the crushed pretzels. Get that honey mustard flavor in there right away, besides just dipping.

Anyway, where I was going with this is that this recipe inspired me to make a BBQ version, as my kiddos like BBQ a lot too. 

So for this one I did the same method. I coated chicken tenders in some light mayo mixed with a little BBQ sauce and then rolled them in....get this - CRUSHED UP BBQ KETTLE CHIPS! Yep, I did that. And boy were they yummy and very....well.... BBQ-y. ;)  For those that like a more specific recipe here's what I did:

BBQ CHICKEN TENDERS

1&1/2 - 2 lbs of chicken tenders

seasoning of your choice (salt, pepper, garlic powder etc)

1/2 to 1 cup light mayo (I like Kraft)

1-2 Tbsp BBQ sauce 

BBQ kettle chips (about 2 cups)

Directions: Put mayo and BBQ sauce in bowl and mix well. Season chicken tenders if desired. Due to salty chips - I just peppered mine a bit, but feel free to add some garlic powder or whatever flavors of your choice. Coat chicken tenders in mayo mixture. Crush potato chips into a large shallow dish - or onto large flat plate. Roll coated chicken tenders in chips. Place chicken on sheet tray with wire rack insert. Bake in a preheated 375* oven for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve with extra BBQ sauce on the side for dipping. 

I think there a lot of fun possibilities for cooking chicken with this method. Think sour cream and onion chicken - with a little onion dip in the mayo to coat the chicken and roll in sour cream and onion chips. Or I've even seen recipes for chicken coated with different cereals - like Captain Crunch!  Here's a photo of that:

And this is from a recipe from the Pioneer Woman which you can find here.  Really the possibilities are endless. Use your imagination - along with your own favorite flavors! 

Annie and I have been working on her cooking skills and she is now making dinner for us one night a week (with a little help yet). And I think one of the best things I can do is teach her to have fun with it all! So go on and play with your food! ;) xoxo