Baked Crispy Chicken Tender Salad

Crispy chicken tender salad on a white plate with a gold fork.

5 from 1 vote

Baked Crispy Chicken Tender Salad

You're going to love this chicken tenders salad made with crispy, oven-baked chicken tenders on top of crisp lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, thinly sliced red onion and a drizzle of homemade honey mustard dressing. It's a healthier version of your favorite crispy chicken salad.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: lunch, Main Course, Salads

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 580kcal

Author: Jessica Lawson

Equipment

Ingredients

Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken Tenders

1 pound chicken tenderloins or boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips.
1 ½ cups seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
avocado oil spray
¼ teaspoon salt

Honey Mustard Dressing

¼ cup dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon garlic powder

Salad Ingredients

8 cups lettuce
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup sliced English cucumber
½ red onion thinly sliced
1 large avocado sliced

Instructions

Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken Tenders

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Spread the Panko breadcrumbs out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly spray the crumbs with avocado oil and stir to coat. Toast in the oven for 3-4 minutes until light golden brown. Gather the parchment paper ends and use it as a funnel to transfer to a shallow dish, set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, egg, Italian seasoning and salt. Add the chicken pieces to the batter and use tongs to toss until thoroughly coated.
Use tongs to transfer a piece of the chicken to the toasted panko crumbs. Use your hands to sprinkle crumbs over the chicken and gently press to help them adhere. Use your hands to turn the chicken over in the crumbs several times until it's fully coated. Transfer back to the baking sheet and repeat this process with all of the remaining chicken pieces.
Spray breaded chicken tenders with oil spray and bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes. Flip and spray the other side and bake for another 6-8 minutes for a total cook time of 14-16 minutes. Use an instant-read thermometer to check that the internal temperature in the thickest part of the chicken is 165 degrees.

Honey Mustard Dressing

In a medium bowl, whisk together mayo, mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar and garlic powder. Drizzle in olive oil and whisk until smooth.

Assemble the salad

Evenly divide lettuce between four plates. Top each salad with halved cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, sliced red onion and avocado.
Place crispy chicken tenders on a cutting board and cut into bite sized chunks.
Arrange crispy chicken chunks on top of the salad and serve immediately with honey mustard dressing.

Notes

Crispy chicken tenders can also be made in the air fryer. Follow the steps to bread the chicken, spray lightly with oil spray on both sides and air fry at 390 degrees for 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Don't skip toasting the breadcrumbs! It's an extra step, but I promise you it's well worth it. I've tried making crispy chicken in the oven or air fryer so many different ways and I find that toasting the crumbs before you bread the chicken helps achieve that deep golden brown color and gives the chicken that "tastes like it's fried" crispy texture.
Avoid overcooking the chicken. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature so you end up with tender, juicy chicken. Crispy baked chicken breasts can get dry quickly when overcooked.Use parchment for the breadcrumbs. This aids in cooking but it also can be used to remove the breadcrumbs from the tray. Gather the ends of the parchment paper to easily make a funnel to transfer the crumbs to a shallow dish.
Meal prep tip. If you need to save some time during the week, make the dressing ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Then wash and dry the lettuce, slice the tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion, and store in separate containers in the fridge until you're ready to assemble. This step can be done 1-2 days ahead.
Onions too strong? After slicing, soak them in ice water for about 5 minutes. Drain and dry them with paper towels before adding to the salad. This helps remove the "bite" from a pungent red onion.

Nutrition