Cheddar and Pretzel Crusted Baked Chicken is an easy, weeknight chicken dinner recipe that kids and parents will love! The pretzel and cheddar add so much flavor and texture to the basic chicken tender!
Cheddar and Pretzel Crusted Baked Chicken is my all grown up spin on the classic chicken tender. My kids love chicken fingers and I love knowing that these homemade chicken tenders are full of real ingredients! While making homemade chicken tenders take a little more work, the end result is definitely worth it and so much better than frozen chicken fingers!
One of my favorite restaurant salads is a pretzel and almond crusted chicken served over greens and strawberries. I love the texture the pretzels add and I knew that cheddar would add even more flavor. Cheese makes everything better right?
I served my cheddar and pretzel crusted chicken tenders with an amazing sriracha cheddar cheese sauce but they are also so good with my skinny buffalo chicken dipping sauce. My kids love to dip them in ketchup and ranch is always delicious with chicken, too!
If you don’t have a food processor to make the pretzel crumbs, just throw them into a plastic baggie and crunch them up! Your kids will love helping with this step! You can make the pretzel crumbs as fine or as crunchy as you’d like. I process mine most of the way until they resemble bread crumbs, but like to leave a few pieces bigger so you can that pretzel texture.
Chicken is always my go to for dinner but I love trying new chicken dinner recipes so we don’t get bored! These Cheddar and Pretzel Crusted Baked Chicken were so good and will definitely become a family favorite! Fast, flavorful, and easy, your will be happy to serve your family these homemade chicken tenders all the time!
How to make homemade chicken fingers
Pretzel and Cheddar Crusted Chicken
This kicked up take on the classic chicken finger is both kid and adult friendly!
Ingredients
- 8-10 chicken tenders
- 2 cups of pretzels crushed
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-
In a shallow dish, mix together pretzels, panko, cheddar cheese, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. In another shallow dish, mix together egg and dijon.
-
Dredge chicken through egg mixture then pretzel mixture, coating well.
-
Place chicken on a baking sheet. Spray chicken with non-stick spray to help brown.
-
Bake for 12-14 mixtures, or until cooked through. Serve warm.
Looking for more kid friendly chicken dinner recipes?
Chicken Parmesan Meatball Casserole
One Pan Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs
[…] from the others. I love pretzels used in recipes, and used them to make a delicious crust on these chicken tenders […]