We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Onika, home cook Emily, and professional chef Joshua Resnick from the Institute of Culinary Education - to make us their take on chicken tenders. Once each level of chef had presented their creations, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way. Which chicken tenders would you choose as your next dipping companion?
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 [plastic crinkling]
00:03 [upbeat music]
00:05 - I'm Onika and I'm a level one chef.
00:07 - I'm Emily and I'm a level two chef.
00:08 - My name is Chef Joshua.
00:10 I'm a lead chef at the Institute of Culinary Education
00:12 and I've been a professional chef for over a decade.
00:14 [upbeat music]
00:17 - I'm making cereal crusted chicken tenders
00:19 with a creamy dipping sauce.
00:20 - I'm making spicy chicken tenders
00:22 with chicken thighs and homemade ranch dressing.
00:24 - I'm making a barbecue spice fried chicken tender strip
00:26 and I'm serving with a hot honey dipping sauce.
00:30 [upbeat music]
00:32 - When you think chicken tenders,
00:36 you probably think specifically the breast
00:37 a lot of the time, but I'm gonna use chicken thighs.
00:39 Why use chicken thighs?
00:40 They're moist, they're delicious.
00:42 - So I have pre-cut chicken tenders
00:44 because that's how they come in the supermarket.
00:45 I don't understand why you would do anything else.
00:47 So I'm gonna put them in the water
00:49 and then I'm gonna use some of God's Elixir.
00:52 Vinegar cleans everything.
00:54 Just wash the chicken.
00:55 - Plan is to remove the tender
00:57 from the backside of the chicken,
00:58 which has a tendon that runs through the middle of it.
01:01 Then I'm gonna cut my chicken breast
01:02 down to equal size strips
01:04 so that it represents the size of a tender.
01:06 - Trying to keep the skin on as much as possible.
01:08 The skin will help it hold the batter
01:10 and also taste delicious.
01:12 - I'm patting them dry so that they can really take in
01:14 all the seasoning that I'm going to give it.
01:17 Now I'm gonna brine them.
01:18 - I'm gonna throw together a quick little spice mix.
01:20 The spice mix is basically a dry barbecue rub.
01:23 Smoked paprika for a little bit of smokiness,
01:25 some dark brown sugar, black pepper,
01:27 cumin for a little bit of warming spice
01:29 without a spice note,
01:31 kosher salt because everything needs salt,
01:33 oregano and cayenne for just a little bit of heat.
01:35 But we're gonna kick up the spice later too.
01:37 This spice mix is gonna be smoky, spicy.
01:40 It's gonna have a little bit of sweetness.
01:42 I want it to soak up the flavor overnight.
01:44 So I'm gonna put it in a brine.
01:45 - The chicken thigh is already pretty moist,
01:46 but I'm going to brine them in some pickle brine
01:49 because it'll add a little more moisture
01:50 and some flavor to my chicken tenders.
01:52 - I like the idea of providing a little bit of acidity
01:56 into your brine so that way it helps cut through
01:59 whatever types of sauce that you're working with.
02:01 - Nothing fancy in this liquid.
02:02 I'm literally just using pickle juice.
02:04 Straight out of the jar.
02:05 - The buttermilk has cultured enzymes in it,
02:07 which is gonna actually break down
02:09 and tenderize the chicken a little bit more overnight.
02:11 The Coca-Cola is gonna add in some more sweetness
02:14 and it's going to help break down the chicken
02:16 a little bit more overnight as well.
02:17 - Yeah, Coca-Cola.
02:19 You know you can clean a carburetor with it?
02:21 - Coca-Cola is not traditionally used
02:22 in a chicken tender brine,
02:24 but I like to elevate it
02:25 and do something a little different with it.
02:26 Now I'm gonna wrap this up
02:27 and put it in the fridge overnight
02:28 to let the brine do its thing.
02:30 I want the chicken to soak up all that flavor
02:32 and get nice and tender.
02:33 - I'm gonna let this sit for a couple of hours
02:34 so I don't get fully pickled chicken,
02:36 but the flavor gets in there.
02:37 And then I will bread it and fry it.
02:39 - Next up, I'm gonna get my seasoning and my dredge.
02:42 You would think of chicken tenders as a kid's food.
02:44 - Chicken tenders are for everyone.
02:46 - I'm going to bring in the Bisquick and the Captain Crunch
02:49 to give it a sweetness, the kid nostalgia.
02:52 - I haven't tried cereal and Bisquick on a chicken before,
02:57 but I am willing to if anyone has any spare.
03:01 - It's gonna be like chicken tenders on steroids.
03:03 Just watch.
03:04 - So for my dry ingredients,
03:05 I'm going to add flour with cornstarch.
03:09 Cornstarch just makes it a little crispier
03:11 and also a little lighter.
03:12 That's in my head.
03:13 I don't know if that's really true.
03:14 And then we've got smoked paprika, garlic powder,
03:16 lots of cayenne.
03:17 I want these kind of hot.
03:18 And then black pepper, just ground.
03:19 Just a pinch of salt to that also.
03:21 This is already pretty salty between the dill pickle brine
03:24 and the hot sauce in the liquid.
03:25 So we don't want to go crazy with the salt.
03:27 - So let's get into crunching our Captain.
03:30 This feels good, I swear.
03:34 Better than CrossFit.
03:38 Captain Crunch done.
03:40 Next up, Bisquick.
03:41 - For my wet ingredients, I have buttermilk and hot sauce.
03:44 - So I'm using Bisquick
03:45 because it's gonna give it a different sweetness
03:47 than the Captain Crunch.
03:49 This is the secret.
03:50 This is the one you need to have.
03:51 This is the one that got away.
03:52 Shake it baby now.
03:54 Little black pepper.
03:56 The smidgiest of salt.
03:57 Eggs and just twist, twist, twist.
04:01 And I'm seasoning my eggs
04:02 because we're adding flavor to every step of this journey.
04:05 I'm gonna dip my chicken tender into the Bisquick first
04:08 and then I'm just going to go down along and boom, boom,
04:11 bop, boom, boom, bop, boom, boom, boom.
04:13 And we're gonna make music.
04:14 - So my chicken's been marinating for about 24 hours.
04:16 I took it out of the fridge about an hour ago
04:18 so that way it comes up closer to room temperature,
04:20 which is gonna ensure that it cooks more evenly
04:23 and it cooks quickly.
04:24 I'm gonna take some of my leftover barbecue spice mix
04:26 and add it into some AP flour.
04:28 By doing this, I make sure that my chicken
04:29 is seasoned on the inside, it's seasoned on the outside,
04:32 and then it complements the sauce as well.
04:34 - Take my chicken.
04:35 I'm gonna put it in my seasoned Bisquick
04:39 and then I'm gonna put it in my egg.
04:43 And then it already looks like fried chicken.
04:47 It looks like it's almost done.
04:48 It's just rinse and repeat.
04:49 - All right, so I'm gonna take my chicken out of the brine
04:51 and put it into my wet ingredients,
04:53 then my dry ingredients, dredging it,
04:55 and then I will drop it on this pan.
04:56 - Put it into my dry dredge
04:58 and make sure that everything is thoroughly coated.
05:00 Then I'm actually gonna repeat the process
05:01 by putting it back in the brine
05:03 and then in the dredge one more time.
05:04 This makes sure that my chicken has a nice, dense,
05:07 thick coating without having to add in
05:09 a bunch of extra ingredients.
05:10 - I get to be like a kid.
05:11 And that feels good in your spirit.
05:13 We lose that when we get older.
05:14 We're like, don't wanna mess up things.
05:16 But why not mess up things?
05:17 - My chicken tenders are ready for the fryer.
05:19 - These guys look good, all dredged up.
05:21 Time to get them in the fryer as quickly as possible.
05:23 - So I'm gonna fry my chicken tenders
05:25 so I can see that they're sizzling,
05:26 the oil is nice and hot.
05:28 - By deep frying the chicken,
05:29 I'm gonna make sure that my chicken cooks quickly,
05:31 browns evenly, and gets crispy all the way around.
05:34 It's by far the best way that you can cook chicken tenders.
05:37 - I'm basically just looking for them to get golden brown
05:40 and then I want them to be 165 in the middle.
05:42 But I'm choosing to fry them
05:43 because it's definitely the most delicious way
05:45 to eat a chicken tender.
05:46 - Okay, so my hands look a mess.
05:48 My chicken looks better.
05:49 So I'm gonna throw these in the oven
05:51 and while I'm doing that, I'm gonna call my homegirl back
05:53 and I'm gonna throw some shade.
05:55 - When you oven bake chicken,
05:56 there's a good chance you're not gonna get as crispy
05:58 of a crunchy coating on the outside of it.
06:00 I like to make sure that that chicken
06:01 has a beautiful crunch factor.
06:03 All that sound, that bubble action
06:04 is exactly what I'm looking for on this chicken.
06:06 I like to use the tweezers.
06:08 If I were to use tongs, you're gonna end up crunching
06:10 and breaking that crust that you've worked
06:12 so hard to develop.
06:13 - Golden brown, crispy.
06:14 - Oh, look at them.
06:16 So pretty.
06:17 They look beautiful.
06:18 They actually look like fried chicken.
06:20 - Look at that color.
06:21 We're not even there yet and that is looking so beautiful.
06:25 The only problem with deep frying is I have to stand here
06:28 and watch this cook and I can't eat it yet.
06:30 So all my chicken is now beautiful golden brown.
06:33 I've got excellent crust on it.
06:35 I'm just gonna hit them with one last little bit
06:36 of seasoning in the bowl, a little bit of salt
06:39 and some of my leftover barbecue spice.
06:41 - They look golden, they look crispy, they look delicious.
06:42 I am very much looking forward to eating them.
06:44 I just need to throw together my dipping sauce
06:46 so I can put them in my mouth.
06:48 - You ever been to a barbecue?
06:49 So I just grab all the condiments, right?
06:51 And I was like, you know what I could do?
06:53 I could put them together and I'll make a sauce.
06:55 That's part of the black girl magic.
06:56 We just make up.
06:57 So I like a nice cooling ranch, but I like to make my own.
07:00 It's just a little nicer.
07:01 It's a little fancier.
07:02 - I love hot honey with chicken tenders.
07:04 I'm gonna start with a cold pan
07:06 because I don't want my honey to burn when we add it in.
07:08 I'm gonna add in my hot sauce.
07:09 The spicy notes are gonna work with the barbecue seasoning.
07:11 Red pepper flakes.
07:13 So the first thing I'm gonna do is I think chop my chives
07:15 just so they're ready to go.
07:16 - This is the everything sauce.
07:18 And I feel like the baseline is always the mayo
07:21 and then you just top it off from there.
07:23 (imitates trumpet)
07:25 And then it's ketchup, relish, trust the process.
07:29 This is my elixir.
07:30 - Splash of buttermilk, sour cream,
07:33 even more tang from my lemon juice.
07:35 I'm definitely like a tangy person, flavor-wise.
07:38 Mixing all my sort of base ingredients together.
07:40 And now you get to flavor it up.
07:42 I'm gonna start with my chives.
07:44 Right now it's sort of sour cream and onion,
07:45 but wait, there's more.
07:47 Dill, classic, but also goes great
07:49 with my pickle brine, chicken tenders.
07:51 - People can go off on the onion powder.
07:53 Always cayenne pepper. - Cayenne pepper.
07:55 The apple cider vinegar is gonna help
07:56 cut the sweetness of the sauce.
07:58 - So these ingredients may not look like they go together,
08:00 but they hit, look at it.
08:02 A scoot of garlic powder, dried parsley.
08:04 And then I'm going to hit this with salt, pepper.
08:07 - I'm gonna bring this up to a quick boil.
08:10 It's not going to cook for an extended period of time.
08:12 I just want all the flavors to meld in evenly.
08:14 Now that my mixture is boiled,
08:16 I'm just gonna let it settle
08:17 and let all those flavors melt together.
08:19 It's got this nice, beautiful orange color to it.
08:22 You get those nice, beautiful flecks
08:23 of the pepper flake in there.
08:24 - So it's creamy on your tongue.
08:27 And then relish does a little, makes it tart.
08:31 And then the ketchup gives it the sweetness.
08:33 It's all the things.
08:34 - That's delicious.
08:37 And ranch turned up a notch.
08:39 - I'm gonna dunk my chicken tenders in this,
08:41 and then I'm gonna maybe dunk my face in it after that.
08:43 - So now I'm ready to plate these babies up.
08:48 - And that is what we're looking for for plating.
08:50 - I'm gonna make it look like angel wings.
08:52 - Now these started out as thighs,
08:54 but now they really look like chicken tenders, right?
08:55 Right? - Right.
08:56 - It's got a little tinge of the red
08:59 that comes out from that barbecue spice.
09:01 Look at that.
09:03 - They look amazing.
09:04 They're gonna taste even better.
09:06 And these are my chicken tenders.
09:08 [dramatic music]
09:10 - These are my beautiful, stunning,
09:12 excellent chicken tenders
09:13 with a homemade ranch dipping sauce.
09:15 - These are my chicken tenders
09:18 with a hot honey dipping sauce.
09:19 [dramatic music]
09:22 - It's crispy.
09:28 I can smell all the spices that are in there.
09:31 The smoked paprika.
09:32 The cumin is really coming through.
09:34 - I am so pumped to eat these.
09:36 Please let me try them now.
09:38 - Look at that.
09:39 - Cheers.
09:40 - I'm gonna need a moment.
09:44 Hold on.
09:45 - I cannot describe it.
09:46 You have to try it in order to know what I'm talking about,
09:49 but it's amazing.
09:50 It's crispy, it's juicy.
09:51 It's just delicious.
09:52 And you get like just that little hint of pickle flavor
09:55 in a way that I think is really nice.
09:56 - It's got just the right amount of seasoning on there.
09:59 The barbecue flavor comes through,
10:01 but where it really excels
10:02 is when you get that sweetness of the honey.
10:04 - The Captain Crunch just brings it to another level.
10:06 And then the sauce just gives the cream
10:08 and the sweet and the spicy
10:11 and the tartness of the pickle relish.
10:13 It's everything.
10:15 This is everything chicken.
10:16 - And my ranch is super ranched up.
10:18 Just pairs perfectly with these chicken tenders,
10:20 which I'm gonna continue eating while we talk.
10:22 [crunching]
10:24 - This is it.
10:24 I'm done.
10:25 Cut.
10:27 - Chicken tenders are so tasty and versatile.
10:29 Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.
10:32 [dramatic music]
10:35 Onika used ready-made tenderloins,
10:37 a strip of muscle that is attached
10:39 to the underside of the breast.
10:41 It's boneless, skinless white meat
10:43 and naturally very tender, hence the name.
10:46 Emily shaped thigh meat.
10:47 This meat is fattier with a slight mineral taste
10:50 because it's higher in myoglobin,
10:51 a pigment in meat that makes it darker.
10:54 She brined her chicken thigh tenders in pickle juice,
10:57 a great way to use a product
10:58 that otherwise might be thrown out.
11:00 Emily did a quick brine,
11:01 so it was more for flavor than to increase tenderness.
11:04 Joshua removed the tenders
11:06 and soaked them in seasoned buttermilk
11:08 and Coca-Cola for 24 hours.
11:11 The Coca-Cola imparts more acid than the buttermilk
11:14 and also has a lot of sugar,
11:16 tenderizing his chicken tenders.
11:18 [dramatic music]
11:21 Onika kept it simple but tasty
11:24 and mixed her ingredients together.
11:25 The ketchup and mayonnaise base
11:27 gave a sweet, tangy richness to her sauce.
11:30 Emily also mixed her ingredients together,
11:32 making a sauce reminiscent of ranch dressing.
11:35 The sour cream, buttermilk, and squeeze of lemon juice
11:38 conveyed notes of citric and lactic acid
11:40 and balanced the seasoning she added.
11:42 Joshua made a hot honey
11:44 that captured so many layers of flavor.
11:46 Sweet from the honey, sour and salty notes from vinegar,
11:50 and even got our trigeminal sensations going
11:53 with a spicy capsaicin from the hot sauce and cayenne pepper.
11:57 What a wonderful finish.
11:58 Our three fabulous chefs put together
12:00 some inventive chicken tender recipes.
12:03 Next time you're making this tasty treat,
12:05 we hope you'll take some of these delicious tips.
12:08 (bell chimes)