Baked Cracker-Crusted Chicken Fingers Recipe
By
Kate Ramos
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Baked instead of fried and coated in whole-wheat cracker crumbs, these tender chicken strips are a much healthier alternative to fast food or frozen chicken nuggets. Serve them hot out of the oven with a kid-friendly dipping sauce like honey-mustard, barbecue, or ranch, or let cool and pack them in tomorrow’s school lunch.
What to buy: Wheatsworth crackers make a crunchy, flavorful coating and can be found in the cracker aisle of most supermarkets.
This recipe was featured as part of our Good Food for Kids photo gallery.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/4 cups finely crushed whole-wheat crackers, such as Wheatsworth
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 pound chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 5-by-1-1/2-inch pieces
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 450°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and set aside.
- Combine the cracker crumbs, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Whisk the eggs in a separate shallow dish until smooth. Dip the chicken pieces in the eggs, allowing any excess to drip off, then dip in the cracker mixture, turning and patting to adhere. Place on the prepared rack.
- Bake until the chicken is opaque throughout and registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes. Serve with desired dipping sauce.
I use the Panko bread crumbs like Danna. It is great for a nice crispy coating on your chicken.
I make similar chicken fingers sometimes for the hell of it, despite being kid free. I use panko for breading which makes it even quicker.
Made these last night, they were great! I couldn't find Wheatsworth crackers so used Back to Nature Crispy Wheat crackers instead.