Baked Crispy Hot Honey Chicken Tenders.

Baked Crispy Hot Honey Chicken Tenders – a family favorite that everyone loves! Simple breaded chicken tenders are baked up until crispy and delicious. Top these tenders with sweet honey sauce. Made simply with honey and the perfect combination of sea salt and spices. A delicious casual dinner to serve up to family or friends on game nights, movie nights, and everything in between. Always serve with extra hot honey sauce and a side of home-baked fries. The homemade version of everyone’s favorite crispy fried chicken. These are the best!

I spoke about this on Friday, but often, the recipes I want to make the most are the simple, basic ones. Recipes like those classic, really great brown butter brownies with crinkled tops. And now these chicken tenders.

I wanted to come up with a great chicken tender that wasn’t fried, had very little fuss, and was still delicious.

And I knew I wanted to coat each tender in this delicious, hot honey sauce. It was/is what I seem to be craving at the moment!

Let’s get into the details

Ingredients – for the chicken

• boneless, skinless chicken tenders – if your grocery store does not have tenders available, just pick up chicken breasts and cut the breasts into tenders
• onion and garlic powder
• all-purpose flour – or you can use your favorite gluten-free flour blend
• grated Parmesan cheese
• smoked paprika
• ground turmeric
• an egg
• hot sauce
• salted butter or olive oil

Ingredients – for the sauce

• honey
• cayenne pepper
• chipotle chili powder
• onion and garlic powder
• flaked sea salt

Steps

Step 1: the chicken

Start with the chicken. First, toss the chicken tenders with a mix of seasonings: onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add flour and parmesan, then toss again.

Next, add one egg and a couple of tablespoons of hot sauce. Toss the chicken again, making sure each tender is coated in the beaten egg.

Add the remaining flour, the smoked paprika, and the turmeric. Give the tenders a toss one last time. The idea is to have each piece of chicken coated in flour. Use your hands to really squeeze the flour onto the chicken.

The flour allows the chicken to get crispy in the oven. And I love that crispy texture.

Add butter or oil to coat the chicken. Bake the chicken up in a super hot oven. It takes maybe 20 minutes to cook.

Step 2: the sauce

Before the chicken is done, warm the honey on the stove in a small saucepan with hot sauce, cayenne, and chipotle chili powder. The chili powder adds a very subtle smokiness to the sweet, spicy, salty sauce.

Do not boil the sauce; very gently warm the sauce over low heat. If you boil the sauce, it will get too thick.

You can use as little or as much of the sauce as you’d like, but I end up drizzling every last drop of the sauce over the chicken. It’s SO DELICIOUS.

Step 3: coat the chicken in sauce

You can drizzle, pour, or even dunk the chicken into the sauce as soon as the tenders come out of the oven. The heat helps the sauce to really adhere to the chicken.

The coating soaks up all the sauce. It’s going to leave you saying, YUM!

I always finish with some flaked sea salt.

For serving, these are so yummy with home-baked French fries. We love the thicker cut ones. Delicious!

Perfect for everyone in the family!

Looking for other game night recipes? Try these!

One Skillet Saucy Chicken Tortilla Enchilada Rice Bake

Crockpot Crispy Chicken Tinga Tacos with Avocado Jalapeño Crema

Sheet Pan Honey Mustard Salmon with Caesar Roasted Potatoes

One Skillet Cheesy Green Chile Chicken

Sheet Pan Honey Buffalo Chicken with Broccoli

Lastly, if you make this Baked Crispy Hot Honey Chicken Tenders, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes on social media you all have made is my favorite!