Tender, juicy chicken fingers coated in crunchy toasted pecans. The flavor is amazing and they are faux-fried in the oven!
Chicken fingers, chicken tenders, chicken strips, whatever you call them is fine by me as long as you at least ONCE try them coated in crushed pecans.
. Part of it is me being lazy since they’re so simple and an even bigger part of it is because they are so damn good! Served with a little honey mustard, this dish is by far our favorite way to enjoy chicken finger tender strips.
Bonus: they’re baked, not fried. Yay.
Since these pecan chicken fingers aren’t fried, it’s important to smother them in lots of flavor before going into the oven. This way, you won’t feel like you’re missing out by eating a healthier version. Start with some really, really good pecans. My favorite brand, and has been for years, is Diamond of California. My mom got me hooked on this brand. Rather than being sold in the snack aisle, these quality nuts are sold in the baking aisle. When it comes to cooking and baking, they’re the simply the best.
If Northshore nuts were US Weekly, they’d always be on the cover. (<– name that quote!)
Quality pecans… check.
Coarsely chop the pecans—these will be your crust. Obviously. Not only will pecans be used for the crust, they will act as the “binder” for the crust. When it comes to oven-frying, you’ll usually have to coat your food in a little flour, then egg, and then whatever crust you’re using, like Panko in these BBQ chicken fingers or crushed pretzels in these pretzel crusted chicken bites. The flour helps the egg stick, the egg helps the crust stick. Easy, right? Instead of using just plain flour (boring! no taste!) today, you’ll use ground pecans mixed with flour and some seasoning. You don’t want to grind/process the pecans too much or you’ll end up with greasy nut butter.
So, just a few pulses until they look like this:
Dredge the chicken in this seasoned flour/pecan mixture, then the beaten eggs, then the coarsely chopped pecans. My best tip for coating is to use three separate bowls and both hands. 1 dry hand, 1 wet hand. In other words—use 1 hand to dip into the flour. Use the second hand to dip into the beaten egg. Use the first hand to coat in the crushed pecans. This will save you from losing your mind/washing your hands between each chicken finger. FYI: things may still get a little messy!
Now it’s time to bake. Baking is my preferred cooking method for pecan crusted chicken tenders. There is just no need for excess oil to take away from the fabulous toasted pecan flavor. Plus, healthy-ish. I choose to bake buffalo chicken fingers and BBQ chicken fingers, too.
So much pecan goodness!
Chop these up and toss them onto a salad, eat straight up, enjoy with BBQ sauce or honey mustard, eat leftovers for lunch, etc. I have big plans to make these again for the big game next weekend. Maybe cut the chicken into little bite size pieces and serve with little toothpicks? Touchdown.
Tender, juicy chicken fingers coated in crunchy toasted pecans. The flavor is amazing and they are faux-fried in the oven!
