Chicken Fingers

[ella/TO]

Looking for a tried and true chicken finger recipe...anyone????...thanks in advance

[jabbur]

I do chicken nuggets often. I find them easier than fingers. I use tenderloins and cut them up. I use Bisquick, Lawry's salt and a little water or milk. All I do is dump the Bisquick on top of the chicken, sprinkle the salt on and add a little liquid and mix with my hands to get all the chicken covered. Then I deep fry for about 2 min and drain. They are not heavy with breading but very tasty.

[Addie]

When my son was a paramedic, during his lunch hour he and his partner would come home to eat. fortunately he was assigned to the city we lived in.

I used the standard flour, egg, seasoned bread crumb recipe. Since the fingers come from the same cut of chicken cutlets, it just made sense to me. In the flour, egg and breadcrumbs, I would add salt, pepper and about a teaspoon of mixed Italian dry herbs. Fry in about one inch of vegetable oil and turning to brown both sides, drain on a brown paper bag, and serve. Because they often had to hit the road again before even getting to eat, they each got a lunch bag of them to travel with napkins. No onion or garlic. They had to be in close proximity to patients.

If my butcher didn't have enough fingers on sale, I would buy the cutlets and cut to size. All a cutlet is, is a chicken breast without the bone and skin.

[buckytom]

this is a tnt recipe close to my heart as it was all my son would eat when he was sick when he was small.

i use tenderloins, sniping off that bit of tendon that sticks out of the top of many chicken tenderloins.

then it's into a whole beaten egg (dw uses just whites to reduce cholesterol), then one by one they're pressed into either 4c brand or progresso brand seasoned breadcrumbs. we've been experimenting with italian seasoned panko with good results.

after i bread 4 or 5, they go into a frying pan over medium high heat with just a tbsp or so of grapeseed oil. regular olive oil works too, but evoo smokes too much. fry for just a few minutes until golden brown on the first side down.

when you flip them, add another tbsp of oil and swish them around the pan to help coat them, and be careful to reduce the heat the pan to medium if needed once the pan has good residual heat.

place on paper towels to blot some of the oil.

repeat again in batches of 4 or 5 tenders at a time, or whatever fits your frying pan without overcrowding.



the key is to just cook them through, not overcook them to death. also, use just enough oil per side. they only take 2 or 3 minutes gently fried on each side.

if done gently but quickly, the chicken flavour will stand out more, with the breading adding texture and a secondary taste. not just something that's been breaded and deep fried.

[jennyema]

I make hundreds of them at a time for my nephew. For several years it was one of the only things he would eat. They get frozen in ziplocks.

First I brine the chicken for about 30-45 min. Drain.

I use flour, egg with a little soy sauce added (for grown ups I also add dijon mustard and a dash of hot sauce) and crushed melba toast that has been generously seasoned with onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper, and a little sweet paprika. Somehow his parents thought that he liked "Italian seasoning" and though I am not a fan of that stuff, I throw it in, too.

I set the oven at 425 with the rack up high.

I pour about 1/4 cup of peanut oil on a rimmed baking sheet that's covered with foil and evenly spread the oil around.

I coat each tender in flour then egg then crumbs and lay on the baking sheet. When the sheet is full, I turn them all over so that the top and bottom both have oil on them.

Bake for about 10 min. then flip each and bake for another 5 min. DONT OVERCOOK.

[CharlieD]

isn't store bought chicken fingers are actually ground meat?

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by CharlieD

isn't store bought chicken fingers are actually ground meat?

Probably. I once bought some breaded chicken something and it was ground meat and disgusting.

[Rocklobster]

There are both full muscle and ground chicken fingers. I recommend double breading.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by CharlieD

isn't store bought chicken fingers are actually ground meat?

Not always. If they are breaded, you can almost count on them being ground meat. But if they are the tenders from the breast and not breaded, they are whole pieces of meat from the chicken breast. Or they are chicken breast cut to look like tenders.

[SharonT]

Originally Posted by buckytom

we've been experimenting with italian seasoned panko with good results.

Is this a thing - or do you add the Italian seasoning to panko?