Super crispy and coated in a sweet pineapple barbecue sauce, these Hawaiian-style oven baked BBQ chicken tenders will become an instant weeknight dinner hit!
Pretty sure that an easy, childhood-reminiscent dinner of bbq chicken tenders is exactly what the dinner game plan should be for tonight.
Maybe alongside a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes or crispy french fries? << My actual love language and probably every kid in the world. ?
One of the most common questions I get from people is “oh, you went to culinary school so you probably look down on less-classy American classics like chicken tenders, cheeseburgers, and french fries, right?”
And I just laugh and tell them they should look in my pantry sometime at all the hamburger helper boxes and ramen packets neatly organized in their own little section. ??
Sometimes easy as heck meals just fit the bill, ya know? See exhibit A above which is LITERALLY what my dinners look like on a day where I’ve been testing recipes all day for the blog.
It’s those days where I literally don’t want to be in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes and just want some dang comfort food.
So let’s talk dinner for tonight! BBQ chicken tenders are in da house. >>
First off, you’ll be pleased to hear that we are NOT breaking out the deep fryer for these chicken tenders. Keeping things healthier and easy by doing my SUPER easy oven-frying method.
- SAUCE is the first order of business. Sure, you can go the easy route and use pre-made BBQ sauce you have on hand. But if you’re able, I would highly recommend making this Hawaiian bbq sauce. It’s sweet, it’s spicy, and comes together in only minutes.
- We’re just doing a standard breading procedure for the chicken tenders which means flour dredge, egg mixture, and breadcrumbs. << basic and easy as heck!
We’re baking these chicken tenders at a high temp of 425F so the chicken cooks quickly and the coating gets super crispy. Flip ’em halfway through around the 8 minute mark and then they’ll only take about 8-10 more minutes in the oven.
Just enough time for you to taste test the barbecue sauce with those french fries. *wink*
Once the chicken tenders are outta the oven, brush them LIBERALLY with the barbecue sauce. We want ’em totally coated and yes, you KNOW we’re putting extra sauce on the table for extra dipping purposes. ?
Holy crispyyyyy. We’re talking juicy chicken, picture-perfect crispy coating, and sweet + heat barbecue sauce bringing all the flavors home.
No shame whatsoever in making a meal outta these. You KNOW that’s a common occurrence in my neck of the woods.
Try these fast weeknight chicken dinners next! ♥
Hawaiian Oven Baked BBQ Chicken Tenders
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Ingredients
Hawaiian BBQ Sauce
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice concentrate
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon dark molasses
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken Tenders
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 2 lbs chicken breast tenders
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1-1/2 cups dry breadcrumbs (such as Panko)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Hawaiian BBQ Sauce
- Place pineapple juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 10-15 minutes until juice is reduced to 1/4 cup.
- Increase heat to medium high and add ketchup, sugar, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire, smoked paprika, and cayenne to saucepan and bring to a low simmer, stirring occasionally until BBQ sauce is thickened. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.
Chicken Tenders
- Preheat oven to 425F. Grease a large baking sheet with melted butter. Set aside.
- Pat chicken tenders completely dry. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and pepper until combined. Place beaten eggs in a separate bowl and place panko in a separate bowl.
- Dredge chicken tenders in flour mixture until coated, then dip in egg mixture, and roll in panko breadcrumbs until completely coated. Place chicken tenders on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake chicken tenders at 425F 8 minutes, then flip each chicken tender over and return to oven for an additional 8-10 minutes until tenders register 165F. Sprinkle tenders with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Brush chicken tenders on both sides with Hawaiian BBQ sauce and serve immediately with additional sauce on the side for dipping. Enjoy!
Shawna Burger says
I’m sorry but just because a recipe calls for pineapple, does not make the dish Hawaiian. Being a Native Hawaiian, it sort of rubs me the wrong way. This is recipe is actually not “Hawaiian-style”. I love your recipes and have tried a good number of them. So please do not think I am putting you or your site down. I think I’m you have amazing ideas. It is just the wording. Thank you for listening.
Sarah says
Hi Shawna. Thanks for your comment! I can definitely see your perspective and I assure you I did not intend to offend anyone by the wording! Being a Wisconsinite, many dishes we have in restaurants here in Wisconsin commonly refer to pineapple as being a “Hawaiian ingredient” and they often include the word Hawaiian in the dish description. However, I can definitely see why that might appear inaccurate to someone who knows Hawaiian culture like you do. I will definitely try to be more mindful of this in the future when choosing wording for my recipes. 🙂
Ann Walker says
I love most everything, Hawaiian ..