Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken

These chicken tenders always go down a storm in my house. Who doesn’t love a hot crispy strip of chicken?! They are tenderised in buttermilk and then coated in a perfectly seasoned panko crumb for super crunch. I prefer not to deep-fry anything personally, so oven baking them is a great, healthier alternative. My Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken can also be cooked in the air fryer, I’ve included instructions in the recipe.

Marinating the tenders in buttermilk keeps the chicken succulent and soft while it cooks, and it also acts as a great binding agent for the panko crumb. If you haven’t used buttermilk before, it is quite a lot thicker than regular milk, and has a slightly sour taste.

These chicken tenders can be eaten all kinds of ways, with chips or wedges, served up with your favourite dip (sriracha mayo is ours!), with salad, or in a wrap (and again sriracha mayo goes great in those). 

Wondering how to adapt this recipe for your family? See here >

Make them Extra Healthy

I like to spray my chicken tenders 3 times each side to get them super golden, but to be healthier you can spray them just once or twice each side. The crumb will cook, it will just appear paler.

Kids Cook Too

Younger children can get stuck in and help you coat the chicken strips in the crumb, they’ll love it. Just make sure they have a good hand wash before and after. They can also help you spray the tenders with oil.

My Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken Pairs Perfectly With…

Feed a Crowd

You can easily double this recipe if you are entertaining friends and family. You will need just need a second extra large baking tray/sheet and space in the oven.

Storing My Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken

You can store any leftover chicken tenders in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). You can also freeze them, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge before use.  You can reheat defrosted tenders in the air fryer at 170º/340ºf for 9-10 mins or in the oven at 180ºc/200ºf for 15 minutes on a lined baking tray. Make sure they are steaming hot in the middle before serving.

For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >

Diet Details

My Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken are nut-free.

Adapting My Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken For Your Family

Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, to help make it easier for you to eat together as a family.

In the recipe below you’ll see a bracket of ¼ - ½ teaspoon for salt. Also below in the baby & toddler section I suggest what to do if you’re serving to children that young, but if your kids are older you can decide which amount you want to go for.

I’ve also given a bracket of between ¼ - 1 ½ teaspoons of cayenne pepper, and same thing goes there too, choose your amount based on how much spice your kids can handle. A ¼ teaspoon will be super mild with the spice level creeping up as you increase to 1 ½ teaspoons, which will give you a nice little heat kick.

Keeping Picky Eaters Happy

Not much to say here! I’ve yet to find a fussy eater who doesn’t like crispy-crumbed chicken! The only point to make here is on the cayenne pepper. Choose the right level depending on their tolerance. Or the first time you make them start with only ¼ teaspoon and increase the level the next time you make them.

See more from me on fussy eaters here >

Making Them Baby & Toddler Friendly

For younger babies, you can just leave the crumb off a couple of the chicken strips as the crumb will be too hard for them. You can cook them just the same as the rest.

For older babies, these do have a fair bit of salt in AND a little cayenne pepper in. The cayenne pepper at ¼ teaspoon is very mild, and if you want your little one to get used to spice (always a good idea!) you should go with that. If you are very unsure, read on and exclude the cayenne along with the salt. 

To give your little one salt-free chicken tenders, you’ll need to put a little extra effort in. Instead of combining the flour, panko breadcrumbs and all the seasoning in step 3, hold back on adding the salt to begin with (and cayenne pepper, or some of it, if you like). So, combine the other crumb ingredients, and stir well. Then remove a heaped serving spoon of the panko mix and add it to another bowl. Then dip just your little one’s chicken strips in there. When you come to bake them, either add them to a separate baking tray/sheet or put an extra, small piece of baking paper that just fits them underneath so you remember which are theirs.

You can then add the salt and cayenne pepper levels you want into the large bowl of the panko mix and carry on with step 3 for everyone else.

You’ll want to go light on the oil, just remember the crumb won’t go very golden. The crumb will cook, but be quite pale.

How to Serve My Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken to Babies & Toddlers 

Your little one will be able to palm these, but I’d recommend you slice theirs in half lengthways to make them thinner. For 1 year+ you can just chop these into bite-size pieces. Serve along side salad vegetables and a few chips if you like. Serving soft flour tortilla’s cut into strips is a good way to bring in carbs for under 1’s.

I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. 

See more on how I keep my family meals baby & toddler friendly here >

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