Oven Baked Cornflake Chicken Tenders (Healthy Chicken Nuggets)

This crispy and delicious oven baked cornflake chicken tender recipe is a perfect protein packed meal for a healthy lunch or dinner or served as a snack for parties or events.

These oven baked crispy chicken tenders are many times healthier and tastier than buying chicken strips or chicken nuggets from KFC or other fast food places. As a bonus, we’ve also included a recipe for a low-calorie spicy Greek yogurt dip to go with the crispy chicken if you’d like.

Ingredients for Baked Cornflake Chicken Tenders

• Chicken breast – The recipe will be the healthiest and highest in protein when using chicken breast, but will also turn out very tasty going with chicken thighs. I recommend choosing a package of chicken that has two larger chicken breast pieces in it, so it’s a bit easier to cut even pieces of chicken filet strips out of them.
• Cornflakes – Using classic, unseasoned cornflakes is definitely one of the best ways to bread an oven baked chicken for the crispiest and tastiest result.
• Egg – We use eggs in the recipe for breading the chicken strips.
• Seasonings – We recommend to use salt, ground black pepper, smoked paprika or regular paprika powder, onion powder and garlic powder to season the chicken filet by itself and also for the cornflake breading. However, bigger spice lovers can replace black pepper with cayenne pepper for a spicier version.

Optional (Healthy Greek Yogurt Dip):

• Greek Yogurt – Greek yogurt is perfect for making a variety of dips. I recommend choosing the lowest-fat, highest-protein Greek yogurt which you can find at the store.
• Sriracha sauce – a healthy and extremely tasty spicy sauce, which is actually also by itself suitable as a sauce for serious spice lovers.
• Paprika/Smoked Paprika Powder – I personally prefer smoked paprika powder, but regular ground paprika works just as well.
• Parsley – parsley gives the sauce freshness and a vibrant green color. If desired, this ingredient can also be left out from the sauce.

How to Make the Best Oven Baked Chicken Tenders?

1. Crush the cornflakes and mix with the seasonings – in a mixing bowl or a plate with a higher edge, crush the cornflakes as finely as possible and add half of the seasonings from the recipe (1 teaspoon of smoked paprika powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 0.5 teaspoon of black pepper or cayenne pepper). Mix the crushed cornflakes with the seasonings evenly.
2. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl – beat 2 eggs in a separate bowl with a fork until smooth.
3. Cut the chicken breast into strips and coat with seasonings – I recommend cutting ~10 filet strips from two larger pieces of chicken filet (500g). Mix and cover the chicken filet strips evenly with the rest of the seasonings (1 teaspoon of smoked paprika powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 0.5 teaspoon of black pepper or cayenne pepper).
4. Dip the strips of chicken filet into the egg mixture one by one and then bread them evenly in crushed cornflakes – make sure that the strips of filet are evenly covered with cornflakes on all sides.
5. Put the breaded chicken filet strips on a baking rack or baking tray covered with baking paper and cover with an even layer of cooking spray – the best and evenly crispy result can be obtained by cooking the chicken strips on the baking rack so that the heat of the oven can reach the crispy chicken from both the bottom and the top at the same time. If you don’t have an oven rack, you can also use a tray covered with baking paper. Spread an even layer of cooking spray/spray oil over the chicken strips. If you don’t have cooking spray, you can skip this step or brush the breaded chicken filets lightly with an oiled cooking brush. If you’re cooking the chicken on a baking tray, be sure to turn the chicken around halfway into baking for the crispiest result on both sides.
6. Bake the chicken tenders in a preheated oven at 200 °C for 20 minutes.
7. Optionally you can mix up a spicy dipping sauce made of Greek yogurt, sriracha sauce, smoked paprika powder and chopped fresh or dried parsley next to the crispy strips.

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 500 g of chicken breast filet
• 100g corn flakes (Kellogg’s)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika powder
• 2 teaspoons of onion powder
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper (for spice lovers, replace with cayenne pepper)

Optional (Spicy Greek Yogurt Dip):

• 100 ml of Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh or dried parsley

Nutritional value of crispy chicken (1 portion)

660 calories / 84.5 g protein / 42 g carbohydrates / 11.5 g fat / 1.7 g fiber / 5 g sugars

Nutritional value of Spicy Greek Yogurt Dip (1 serving)

65 calories / 5 g protein / 6.4 g carbs / 2.5 g fat / 0 g fiber / 6.4 g sugars