These pecan crusted chicken tenders are easy to throw together, baked in the oven and so tasty! Amazing with all your favorite dips and totally kid friendly, they’re also paleo, Whole30 and keto friendly.
I was always a little skeptical about pecan crusted chicken, since I think of pecans being in SWEETS and not my chicken.
But pecan crusted chicken tenders are actually so, so tasty and super easy to make since they’re oven baked!
They have loads of flavor on their own, but they’re even better with great dips like honey mustard or ranch (paleo versions linked)
What You Need to Make These Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders
You can always experiment with different spices/seasonings that suit you for these chicken tenders.
Here’s everything you’ll need to prepare the recipe:
- boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
- pecan halves
- blanched almond flour
- arrowroot flour or tapioca
- fine sea salt
- ground black pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- smoked or sweet paprika
- eggs
- parsley, for garnish
How to Make Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders
Set out 3 medium bowls and preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
If using chicken breasts, pound to about 1/2” thickness cut into strips. For chicken tenderloins, cut in half lengthwise.
The chicken will be coated 3 times – with a ground pecan mixture, then egg, then a coarse pecan mixture. To make the first coating, pulse 1/2 cup of pecans in a food processor or a blender until fine crumbs are formed. just a few pulses until they are ground. Place them in one of the bowls and add both flours salt, pepper and spices, set aside.
Pulse the remaining pecan halves into coarse crumbs (larger crumbs than the first coating and place them in a separate bowl. Lastly, whisk the 2 eggs in the third bowl.
Coat each chicken strip in the first pecan mixture with the spices, shaking off any excess. Then, dip in whisked egg, then roll the chicken in the coarsely ground pecans.
Place the chicken strips on the prepared baking sheet, repeating with all the chicken. Spray the tops of the chicken strips with avocado oil cooking spray.
Bake for 8 minutes, then turn each piece continue baking until the outside is crisp and the centers are cooked through, about 6-8 minutes more. Check to make sure they’re cooked through as baking times will vary.
Garnish with parsley and serve with your favorite dips, such as paleo friendly ketchup, ranch, or honey mustard.
What to Serve with These Chicken Tenders
Aside from delicious dipping sauces (of course!) there are a few side dishes that would be great with these chicken tenders.
To keep the meal low in carbs, a green salad (they’re great as a salad topper!) roasted kale chips or crispy roasted broccoli would be great.
Otherwise, baked fries are the way to go! Baked sweet potato fries or white potatoes, or even these smashed potatoes would be delicious.
I hope you’re ready for these crispy, tender, flavor packed chicken tenders!
Grab your ingredients and preheat your oven because it’s time to cook – let’s go!
Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}
Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}
Ingredients
- 1.25 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts or tenders
- 2 1/2 cups pecan halves
- 2 tablespoons blanched almond flour
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
- 2 large eggs
- chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
-
Set out 3 medium bowls and preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
-
If using chicken breasts, pound to about 1/2” thickness cut into strips. For chicken tenderloins, cut in half lengthwise.
-
The chicken will be coated 3 times - with a ground pecan mixture, then egg, then a coarse pecan mixture. To make the first coating, pulse 1/2 cup of pecans in a food processor or a blender until fine crumbs are formed. just a few pulses until they are ground. Place them in one of the bowls and add both flours salt, pepper and spices, set aside.
-
Pulse the remaining 2 cups of pecan halves into coarse crumbs (larger crumbs than the first coating and place them in a separate bowl. Lastly, whisk the 2 eggs in the third bowl.
-
Coat each chicken strip in the first pecan mixture with the spices, shaking off any excess. Then, dip in whisked egg, allowing excess to drip off. Then, roll the chicken in the coarsely ground pecans and place the chicken strips on the prepared baking sheet, repeating with all the chicken. Spray the tops of the chicken strips with avocado oil cooking spray (or preferred cooking spray).
-
Bake for 8 minutes, then turn each piece continue baking until the outside is crisp and the centers are cooked through, about 6-8 minutes more. Check to make sure they’re cooked through since baking times will vary.
-
Garnish with parsley and serve with your favorite dips, such as paleo friendly ketchup, ranch, or honey mustard. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Want More Paleo and Whole30 Chicken Recipes? Try One of These!
Garlic Butter Chicken and Potatoes
Crispy Breaded Chicken Cutlets
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Made these for dinner and they were perfect. Followed the recipe exactly.
I used very thin pork chops and it came out excellent!
Any tips for keeping the breading on them? It all came off as I took it out of the pan.
Ditto for me! Would love to know how to fix this!
thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe of pecan crusted chickens tenders paleo.
Tastes like shake n bake, but better!
Is the nutrition for one serving of chicken tenders?
A single serving of chicken tenders provides 499 calories and 31.7 grams of carbs. If you want more detail than
search on youtube
Sadly, these just fell apart. How do you keep the crust on?
i couldn’t wait to leave a comment on these – i freaking scarfed several of them up last night. something about the pecan really tasted pretzel-like to me. i LOVED that. esp because i dipped with mustard.
i feel like i could have gotten away with making less of the finer mixture, i still had quite a bit of that left over – but the courser pecans were the perfect amount.
I used pork chops that were sliced extremely thinly, and the dish turned out well.
These were incredibly delicious! I used my air fryer the next day to heat up the leftovers to crisp them up – just as delicious as the night before!
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These were amazingly tasty! The leftovers were heated in my air fryer the following day to crisp them up, and they were just as good as the night before!
I felt as though the pecan had a distinct pretzel flavor. That was GREAT. Significantly since I dipped it in mustard. Although I still had quite a little of the finer mixture behind, I think I could have made less of it. However, the amount of coarser pecans was just right.
The leftovers were crisped up in my air fryer the next day, and they tasted just as fantastic as they did the night before! I could have made less of the finer mixture, even though I still had a fair amount left over. The proportion of coarser pecans, however, was just right.
These pecan crusted chicken nearest chase bank
tenders are easy to throw together, baked in the oven and so tasty! Amazing with all your favorite dips and totally kid .
The next day, I crisped up the leftovers in my air fryer, which were just as delicious as they had been the night before! Even though I still had a good bit of the finer mixture left over, I could have produced less of it. However, the ratio of pecans with a rougher texture was perfect.
This was delicious. Even my three year old son who says he doesn’t like meat gobbled it up. I ate it with Whole30 ranch and loved it.
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Pecans did not crust up well at all. Very disappointing.
These were amazingly tasty! The leftovers were heated in my air fryer the following day to crisp them up, and they were just as good as the night before!
good thank you
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After I come chicken in oven at temp. Said in recipe I put the broiler on low that crisped up the pecans nicely. It also helps if you put the chicken in a cooking rack over a cookie sheet and cook it that way it helps the breading to not get soggy and I had no issue with the breading falling off. Overall this was an amazing recipe.
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The leftovers were crisped up using my air fryer the next day, and they were just as delicious as they had been the night before! Even though I still had a sizable amount of the finer mixture leftover, I could have produced less of it.