Coconut Chicken Tenders

5 from 4 votes

Chicken tenders with a delicious coconut coating. Baked, not fried,these coconut tenders are sure to be a hit with kids of all ages.

Prep Time10

Cook Time18

Total Time28

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Western

Servings:

Calories: 348kcal

Author: Amy

500g 1.1lb Chicken Tenders SEE NOTE 1
30g (¼ cup) Pain (all-purpose) Flour SEE NOTE 2 for a tested gluten-free version
2 Eggs, beaten SEE NOTE 3 for a tested egg-free version
65g (¾ cup) Desiccated Coconut (unsweetened) SEE NOTE 4
40g (¾ cup) Panko breadcrumbs SEE NOTE 5

Preheat oven to 190c / 375f. Place a wire rack onto a lined baking tray. Spray or brush the rack with oil.
Mix together the breadcrumbs and coconut. Pour a little of the mixture onto a plate. (SEE NOTE 6 & 7)
Arrange your coating station: a plate of the flour, bowl of eggs second and plate of the coconut/ panko mixture. Have your wire rack next to you so you can place the coated chicken tenders on as you go.
Coat the chicken tenders in the flour then dip in the egg (shaking off any excess egg) and finally roll in the coconut and breadcrumb mixture. Place straight on the wire rack.
Lightly spray with oil.
Bake in the oven for 18 minutes or until crispy and has reached an internal temperature of 75C (165F)

You can use chicken breast instead of tenders. Simply cut the chicken breasts into strips, you will want to try to make sure to cut them to similar size and thickness for even cooking.
Flour - I used plain (all-purpose) flour. If you are looking for a gluten-free option I have also trialled it, with success, using buckwheat flour and brown rice flour. I don't recommend coconut flour as I felt it made the chicken too dry.
Egg - If you are looking for an egg-free alternative I tried milk, which worked well.
Panko Breadcrumbs - I love the texture the panko breadcrumbs give but if you don't have panko breadcrumbs you can use any dried breadcrumbs. If you are looking to make these gluten-free you can just coat in the coconut. I don't, however, find it produces such a good result. To me, the chicken has a drier texture without the breadcrumbs.
Desiccated Coconut - I use unsweetened desiccated coconut. If you can’t find desiccated coconut you can use coconut flakes. Simply pulse the flakes in a food processor /blender until they are fine.
Only add a little of the coconut/panko mix to the plate at a time. If you add it all to the plate in one go often what happens is the coconut /panko mixture will clump together and then becomes difficult to get it to stick to the chicken.
The amount of flour / coconut / panko needed will vary depending on the size of your chicken tenders. You may find yourself having to get more or find you have some left over.

Nutritional info is an ESTIMATE only, calculated using an online nutrition calculator.