Starting the week off with a healthier twist on a classic comfort food.
These chicken tenders dipped in honey mustard, coated in a walnut crust and served with a lighter spicy ranch is the perfect way to get one of your favorite meals without the guilt. The walnut crust cooks perfectly in the oven when these bake and give these the same great crunch and taste you would get with any fried chicken. Then when they come out of the oven, I give them a light drizzle of honey and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. The perfect meal when you are craving some deep fried chicken but want to take things a bit lighter.
I served these chicken tenders with a side of sweet potato fries that I just sliced into matchsticks, coated in avocado oil and baked at 425 for 20 minutes and they turned out perfect! It was the best way to get a classic dish I used to love as a kid without all of the added calories that I didn’t want. This honestly is the best grown up version of chicken fingers you could ask for!
I figured I would start this Monday off with a healthier recipe to kind of show everyone the direction I will be heading with my recipes here soon. While I do have one or two more comfort food classics coming this week, I am starting to cook a bit healthier since it hasn’t been too healthy over in the Mason household lately.
What better way to start off a health kick of food than with a fun recipe that I know everyone will love. I mean who doesn’t love chicken fingers? Also, this is a super kid friendly meal which is a win win for all the mothers out there. Speaking of mothers, yesterday was mothers day and I made these fun white velvet marbled cake pops for my mother-in-law and they were extremely tasty. While they weren’t for me, I did still have to taste test them to make sure they turned out alright. Between the taste testing of the cake pops, a birthday cake I taste tested while baking on Saturday and the Mac and Cheese (coming soon) that I made for the brew boys while they did carry out beer sales on Saturday, this was a fail on the diet for me this weekend. That is why I am coming to you with some healthier meals this week. Healthy, yet still delicious meals I should say…
Besides our quarantine situation that we have going on right now, I would say that this is a very exciting time of year. It is officially spring and you can see the flowers slowly starting to seed and any day now we will start getting weather above 50 degrees…Any day now.
I keep telling myself 2 more weeks and then it will be consistently sunny and warm outside. Then, mother nature laughs and lets it snow in May. So, since I can’t wait any longer for the warm weather, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start making some of my warm weather recipes and sharing them while its still cold outside. I just couldn’t wait and the anticipation is killing me. You see, warm weather foods are foods you associate with eating on the front porch or enjoying at a picnic or barbecue. Cold weather foods are the stuff that warms you from the inside out. The food you need to keep you warm and full all day long and while these chicken tenders will do that, they are also such a lightened up healthy meal that wont leave you feeling like you’ve fallen off your summer bod game.
These are also some of the quickest tenders you can whip up. All in all the full meal took 30 minutes to make. That includes the sweet potato fries as well. So here is the breakdown of how to make everything and how quick it can be!
While you prep the chicken tenders, bake the sweet potato fries by coating with avocado oil and salt. That’s all they need! Next coat the chicken tender strips in a combination of honey, mustard and buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, any milk alternative or Greek yogurt works just as well! Once coated, you can just toss the honey mustard coated chicken tenders in a walnut bread crumb mixture that includes a few spices. I like to coat the whole tender then press it into the crumb so it really sticks. Then place all of the chicken tenders on a parchments lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. The olive oil helps get the walnut crumb nice and crispy while it bakes and gives you that fried taste! When the chicken bakes, you can make the spicy ranch dipping sauce. All you need to do is mix the mayo, milk, spices and herbs in a bowl and add more mayo or buttermilk depending on how thin you like your ranch. The spiciness of the ranch comes from the paprika, so if you aren’t a fan, you can leave that out.
Once the chicken is baked, drizzle with some honey and sprinkle with some sea salt and you have an amazing meal in less than 30 minutes. It may taste like its fried but you know its baked which makes it healthier and taste that much better!
Honey Mustard Walnut Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
Honey Mustard Walnut Chicken
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders (sub already cut chicken tenders)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- salt + pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil for drizzling
- honey + sea salt for serving
Spicy Ranch
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, plus more if needed
Sweet Potato Fries
- 3-4 medium sweet potatoes, skin on and cut into matchsticks
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Toss the sweet potatoes with the avocado oil and salt. Then bake in the oven until golden brown and crispy on the outside. About 20 minutes, tossing halfway through cook time.
- Meanwhile, In a bowl, mix honey, mustard, buttermilk and stir. Pour over chicken tenders and toss to coat. Set aside.
- In a food processor, add the walnuts, bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Blend until the mixture resembles small crumbs. About 30 seconds. Place in a shallow dish.
- Take each chicken tender out of the honey mustard sauce and press into the walnut mixture to coat. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat until all of the chicken is coated in the walnut crumb. Take some olive oil and drizzle the tops of the chicken. Then bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the spicy ranch. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, parsley and buttermilk. Stir. Add more buttermilk if you want a thinner consistency.
- When the chicken is done, lightly drizzle with honey and sea salt flakes. This dish is best served warm with the spicy ranch on the side and a big plate of sweet potato fries.
Nutrition
