Gluten Free Fried Chicken Tenders

fried gluten free chicken tenders

Gluten Free Fried Chicken Tenders

Gluten free fried chicken!  Yum.  Who doesn’t love crispy chicken tenders?

It’s one of our favorite comfort foods.  And this is such an easy recipe to prep and fry them up in a pan.  Crispy, delicious and probably a little healthier than what we used to eat.

The trick is to brine the tenders in water and seasoned salt, then fry them in a mixture of coconut oil and olive oil.  Super simple.  

You can use a GF all purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill bean flour blend, but we really love the certified GF oat flour.  It has a nice, thick texture when fried.

gluten free fried chicken tenders

I usually take 2-3 boneless chicken breasts and cut them lengthwise into tenders.  Place them in a bowl with about 1-2 tablespoons of seasoned salt and fill with enough filtered water to cover the chicken.  

Then store in the fridge for a few hours.  The longer you leave the chicken in the fridge, the stronger the brine flavor.   My best results with the brine have been refrigerating between 2-6 hours.

When ready to fry, pour about 1/2 cup flour into a bowl and coat the chicken.  Adding more flour if you run out.  Then preheat the oil and fry them until nice and brown.

How long you fry the chicken will vary depending on the size and thickness of the chicken.  So we like to use a meat thermometer to make sure they are cooked to the correct internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

When done, place your beautiful gluten free fried chicken tenders on a plate covered with a few paper towels to remove extra oil.  It’s so good.

You can store the chicken in the fridge for a few days.  We like to cook up a big batch and enjoy them over the next few days.  

I really love them in a Fried Chicken Salad with Goat’s Milk Yogurt Ranch Dressing.

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Fried Chicken Tenders | Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

The family favorite healthified comfort food is brined in seasoned salt then dredged in gluten-free flour and fried in a mixture of coconut and olive oil for the perfect chicken tenders.

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken, fried chicken tenders, gluten-free fried foods
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings 8
Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

  • 2-3 boneless chicken breasts (or 1 package of tenders)
  • 1-2 tbsp seasoned salt
  • cold filtered water
  • 1/2 cup certified GF oat flour (plus more if needed)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (plus more if needed)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (plus more if needed)
  • salt & pepper

Instructions

  1. Cut the chicken breasts lengthwise into tenders. Place in a bowl with the seasoning salt and enough water to cover the chicken.  Place in the fridge to brine for 2-6 hours.

  2. When ready to fry, add the coconut oil and olive oil to a medium frying pan and let heat up at medium temperature for about 3-5 minutes. The oil should be around 350 degrees F.

  3. Meanwhile, add the flour and a little salt and pepper to a bowl. Place a few tenders at a time into the flour to coat. Then add to the hot oil and cook on both sides for about 6-8 minutes. Internal temperature should be 165° F (75° C).

  4. Place the cooked chicken onto a plate covered with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

  5. Keep cooking the tenders in batches until done, adding more flour or oil if necessary.

Deana Larkin Evans

You get one life - do your best to ENJOY IT! So hi, I'm Deana. This food blog is all about cooking wholesome real food and developing gluten-free recipes for some of our favorite comfort foods. I had to start eating gluten-free in 2010, then cut dairy and casein (except for the occasional Parmesan) in 2014. We learned A2 casein (goat, sheep and buffalo milk) is easier to digest than the predominate A1 form in cow milk. So we brought back goat milk dairy into our recipes in 2016. Thank goodness, right! So I'm kind of a science nerd, too. In the '90s, I earned an undergrad degree in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin. Hook 'em! Then followed up with a PhD in biochemistry and a law degree from the University of Houston. I recently earned a certificate in genomics/sequence analysis from Johns Hopkins University, where I also took a very cool food microbiology course. Currently, I'm learning about the microbiome and gut health. And trying to come up with healthy recipes to feed those gut bugs! #feedthegutbugs

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2 Responses

  1. Ann R says:

    Oh, YAY! I’m gluten and dairy intolerant, but this wretched thing is a later in life trick played on me by fate. So I know what pre-intolerance food tastes like. Your fabulous-sounding FRIED chicken tenders recipe slammed into my taste buds’ memory and now I have to satisfy this craving. ? Thank you!!

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