Spicy Chicken Tenders

These Spicy Chicken Tenders are ridiculously delicious! Chicken strips marinated in buttermilk and hot sauce, then deep fried for extra crispiness. Need I say more?

I mean we could totally just leave it at that, but I guess you’re gonna need some sort of recipe right? Well, without further ado, let’s get straight into it…

Chicken Tenders

These are perfect as a side dish, or even as just finger food with a dip. Heck – do we really need an excuse to whip up a batch of crispy tenders?!

Ideally you want actual chicken tenders. They are, as the name suggests, ever so slightly more tender than the breast itself. If you can’t get your hands on chicken tenders, you can dice up chicken breast into strips which works just as well!

The first step to getting juicy tenders is marinating them. Follow me…

Buttermilk Chicken Tenders

Like all good fried chicken recipes, these bad boys start with a buttermilk marinade. Buttermilk is great for a few reasons. Firstly, it allows you to easily coat the chicken with flour (unlike eggs which are far more likely to go clumpy). Secondly, it’s slightly acidic, meaning it penetrates and tenderises the chicken as it marinates. Because who doesn’t want tender chicken tenders?

I can’t find buttermilk, what can I substitute?

One sub you could use is yogurt (for acidity) thinned out with a little milk (to help texture for dredging). You could also add acidity to milk (white vinegar, lemon juice) and let it rest, then mix and use as a marinade.

Spicy Chicken Marinade

The marinade itself is really simple. You just need buttermilk, hot sauce, salt and white pepper.

How long to marinate for?

Ideally you’re looking for a minimum of 2 hours, with best results leaving over night. As long as you have time for though, even 30mins is better than no marinating!

Process shots: add buttermilk, hot sauce, salt & pepper to a bowl (photo 1), stir then add tenders (photo 2), combine then cover and marinate (photo 3).

Spicy Chicken Breading

Okay, so we’ve got a nice kick of spice from the hot sauce in the marinade, now let’s talk flour breading. The main heat here comes from cayenne pepper. Alongside onion & garlic powder and paprika, these tenders result in a gorgeous burst of flavour.

Baking Powder

One of the key ingredients in the dredging mix is baking powder. When this hits the oil it causes a reaction, which in turn causes lots of tiny bubbles. This is what gives you that crispy, airy batter!

Process shots: Add flour and spices to a tray or bowl (photo 1), combine until fully blended (photo 2), add one chicken strip at a time (photo 3), fully coat, ensuring you cover every spec of the chicken (photo 4), rest on a wire rack until ready to deep fry (photo 5).

Deep Fried Chicken Tenders

Unfortunately/fortunately (which ever way you look at it) to get the true KFC style crispy chicken, it’s deep frying all the way.

Hey, nobody said these were healthy!

Best Oil to use?

You want an oil that a) has a neutral flavour and b) has a high smoking point. Vegetable and sunflower work great. Olive oil is NOT suitable.

What temp to fry at?

You want to get the oil to around 350F/175C. The temp is likely to drop when the chicken hits the oil, and that’s fine, just maintain the heat.

Serving Spicy Chicken Tenders

I usually serve these as finger food with a dip. My favourites are Blue Cheese Dip, BBQ Mayo and Garlic and Herb Dip – but do check out all my Delicious Dips for more inspo!

You could also make a meal out for them and serve them with Fries or Wedges!

If you’re looking for more Chicken Tenders recipes be sure to check out my Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders, Garlic Parmesan Chicken Tenders and Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders!

For more spicy chicken recipes head over to my Spicy Chicken Pasta and Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese!

Okay, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these Spicy Chicken Tenders recipe shall we!?

How to make Spicy Chicken Tenders (Full Recipe & Video)

4.77 from 13 votes

Spicy Fried Chicken Tenders

By: Chris Collins

These Spicy Chicken Tenders are ridiculously delicious! Chicken strips marinated in buttermilk and hot sauce, then deep fried for extra crispiness. Need I say more?!

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 16 tenders

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Equipment

• Suitably Sized Pot (for deep frying)
• Shallow bowl or Curved Tray (for dredging)
• Large Mixing Bowl & Cling Film (for marinating)
• Kitchen Thermometer
• Cooling Wrap & Paper Towels
• Tongs

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1.3lb / 600g Chicken Tenders (see notes)
• ▢ 3-4 cups / 750ml - 1 litre Vegetable Oil (see notes)

Marinade

• ▢ 1 cup / 250ml Buttermilk (see notes)
• ▢ 1/4 cup / 60ml Hot Sauce (I use Frank's)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp White Pepper

Dry Mix

• ▢ 1 3/4 cups / 250g Plain Flour
• ▢ 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper (see notes)
• ▢ 2 tsp Paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp EACH: Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Baking Powder, Salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

• Combine chicken with the buttermilk, hot sauce, salt and white pepper. Cover and place in the fridge for as long as you have time for. Preferably overnight, absolute minimum 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, in a shallow dish or curved tray combine flour, cayenne pepper, baking powder, paprika, onion & garlic powder, black pepper and salt. One by one, coat your chicken strips in the dry mix, making sure you cover every spec of chicken. Press the mix right into the chicken so it goes nice and flaky. Place on a wire rack and repeat.
• Heat up your oil to around 350F/175C. To test without a thermometer, drop a tiny piece of batter in the oil, if it very slowly rises to the top, you should be good to go. A medium heat for around 8-10 minutes should obtain this. The temp will slightly drop when the chicken hits, which is fine, just maintain that heat (no lower than 320F/160C).
• Working in batches of 3-4, carefully place your strips into the oil. Separate them with tongs if they instantly stick together, then leave for a few mins until they start turning golden. Flip over and leave for another couple of minutes until deep golden and visibly crispy. If your oil is too hot simply pour in more oil/turn down the heat. If you're not confident with deep frying then test one strip first.
• Place on a wire rack with a tray or paper towel underneath. Enjoy with a dip or as a side!

Video

Notes

a) Chicken Tenders - If you can get chicken tenders that's preferable, if not you can slice chicken breast into strips which will work just as well.

b) Buttermilk - Buttermilk has great consistency (not too thin, not too thick) and the slight acidity also tenderises the chicken. It is preferable, but if you can't get your hands on it you could sub 3/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt (for acidity) mixed with 1/4 cup milk to thin out (for texture). Another good buttermilk sub is 1 cup milk mixed with 1 tbsp acid (white vinegar or lemon juice). Mix together and let it sit for 10mins before mixing in the chicken. This is a slightly thinner solution than buttermilk, so if you’re doing this just make sure you give it a thorough dredge through the flour.

c) Oil - You want to use an oil with a high smoking point with a neutral flavour to it, like vegetable or sunflower oil. Do not use olive oil.

d) Spice Level - *As of 26/09/22 the cayenne has been upped to 1 tbsp (1.5 tsp previously)*. The 1/4 cup hot sauce and 1 tbsp cayenne pepper give these tenders a nice kick of spice. Nothing too drastic, but definitely apparent. As everyone's spice preference is different, if you're concerned then use 1/2 tbsp of cayenne pepper in the mix, test with one tender, and adjust accordingly if you want more. This way you won't spoil the whole batch with them being too spicy. Much easier to add spice than remove it.

e) When is the Chicken Cooked? - Ensure the chicken is white all the way through the centre, piping hot, with the juices running clear. The safe internal temp of chicken is 165f/75c.

f) Calories - It's really tricky to calculate deep fried recipes, but the below stats are based on the following: 1/2 cup buttermilk stuck on, 3/4 cup flour stuck and 1.5 tsp oil absorbed during cooking. Calories per tender.

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Nutrition

Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.28g | Protein: 9.24g | Fat: 7.98g | Saturated Fat: 5.824g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.331g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.066g | Trans Fat: 0.005g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 128mg | Potassium: 154mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.45g | Vitamin A: 500IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.5mg

Looking for more?

You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’

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