I don’t know many people who don’t love chicken fingers especially children. In my case it is teenagers and GI Joe and I’m telling you that my students loved these. I found the recipe in the magazine Dash that sometimes comes in the Sunday paper. It has everything that cooks love. They are easy and delicious. I almost forgot these chicken fingers are baked. When I saw the recipe in a flyer in the Sunday paper I knew that I had to try them. Unlike many oven fried recipes that I have tried before these fingers are a golden brown making them look much like their fried counterparts without all the fat. I prepared these three times so here are some notes for you that will make your cooking experience easier when you make them for your family. Just be prepared to make them time and time again. Yes, they are that good!
- Don’t go crazy adding more mustard than the recipe calls for. The extra mustard will make the crackers soggy and hard to get crisp in the oven. I had a little more than 1 1/2 lb. of chicken and added more mustard. It was definitely not needed.
- Pulse crackers until they are very small. Larger pieces will fall off the tenders when you turn them.
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Toss the tenders in hot sauce is not a good idea. It has too much liquid and will keep the crackers soggy. If you want an extra kick add about 2 Tablespoons of hot sauce to the Dijon mustard.
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Use only the cheddar cheese flavored crackers. That’s what gives these tenders their just out of the fryer look.
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The chicken fingers pack a lot of flavor on their own. Just plain dipping sauces are needed or none at all. I made a really good blue cheese sauce that was left untouched.
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Don’t crowd the baking pan. Give the chicken some room or it will tend to be less crisp.
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I used boneless chicken breast that were on sale. Using a sharp knife I split the chicken breast in half lengthwise making it half the thickness. Then I cut the chicken in strips. Cheaper than the tenders.
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Just be ready to prepare these many, many times. You won’t mind though because they are effortless.
Chicken Fingers from Dash
Yield: 4-5 servings
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons
oil - 1 1/2 cups
Cheez-It Cheddar Crackers - 1/2 teaspoon
black pepper - 1 1/4 lb.
Chicken tenders (raw) - 1/3 cup
Dijon mustard
Cooking Directions
- Put rack in lower third of oven: preheat to 475 degrees. Brush baking pan with oil.
- Pulse crackers in a food processor until they look like sand.
- Put Dijon mustard in a ziplock bag and toss tenders in mustard.
- Having cracker crumbs in a bowl dredge ( cover the chicken with the crumbs) chicken.
- Arrange on oiled pan. Bake, turning once, until golden brown, about 7 minutes on each side.
Here’s what flavorful little bites my students cooked up and as many recipes do the smells brought in dozens who wanted the recipe.
1st Block Kitchen 1
1st Block Kitchen 2
1st Block Kitchen 3
1st Block Kitchen 4
1st Block Kitchen 5
1st Block Kitchen 6
2nd Block Kitchen 1
2nd Block Kitchen 2
2nd Block Kitchen 3
2nd Block Kitchen 4
2nd Block Kitchen 5
One year ago on The Teacher Cooks Tuna Casserole
Happy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
The Teacher Cooks 
Do the kids take their own photos, Wanda? 2nd block kitchen 4 made a lovely presentation.
These look like something everyone would like…not just kids!
Barbara, I am the photographer. They are the food stylist!
This really sounds nice. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been let down by “oven-fired” dishes. Your students “done ya’ proud”. Their versions look wonderful. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings…Mary
They did a great job! Thanks Mary.
there was a period in my life when i refused to eat anything except chicken fingers when we went to a restaurant. if they weren’t on the menu, i probably threw a little temper tantrum. no, this period was not last year–i was prepubescent and that’s my excuse. 🙂
These looks very nice. I don’t know of one child that doesn’t like chicken fingers Great job!
im sooo glad i learned to cook this. I am cooking it to night for my family i hope they love it as much as i did!
I learned how to make chicken fingers and will be making them at home alot.
I missed this lab 😦 but the demonstration you did was so good! I had no idea that you could use cheez-its to make the chicken crispy!
I love this recipe ! I cook it often, its so easy and they taste so much better then the chicken fingers you buy in the bag. And alot less fattening !
i learned that you dont have to use flour and a deep-frier for chicken fingers ! Theses were SOO good !!
i learned trying new things turn out well. instead of regular cheese its we used hot and spicy, it gave the nuggets a kick and tasted great.
I loved how good the mustard tasted with the chicken !
I suck at cooking ANYTHING in the oven, but you showed us that it’s not that hard. These were very simple and still very good. The mustard combined with the Cheez It’s really gave it a good flavor. I learned how to cut the meat easily into strips, any other time I have a lot of trouble doing so. Thanks ! 🙂
I myself honestly love a good chicken tender and these were good. When my group made this dish we added some things but it still tasted the same. I plan on cooking these at home because they’re not as fattening!
I learned Cheez-It Cheddar Crackers is a healthy way of eating chicken and maybe the closest to fried chicken.
When making the chciken fingers i realized how versatile you can be with the dish like using a different breading or using different sauces, and they are much healthier than having fried chicken with breading on them so that makes them guilt free!
I learned that when adding the cheese its it gives the chicken a crunch .
i learned how to make healthy chicken fingers. i personally thought they would not come out good but they came out great!!!!! it was qucik and easy.
chicken tenders are easy to make and i plan on making them one day this week for my family. I think they will like how its cheap and fast to make
i loved this recipe and how you can use cheese -IT’ as a batter 🙂 in stead of using flour
these were very good and easy to make!! i really enjoyed making these! i learned after handiling raw meat ALWAYS wash your hands!
I didn’t realize how easy it is to make these. They were so simple and yummy. I loved them. They are a healthy snack also!
I learned that cheese dip crackers make an excellent breading for a homemade chicken finger
I learned that you have to be careful what type of liquid you dip your chicken in before breading, my kitchen used hot sauce and it didnt turn out to well, but they were still good!
I learned that you can make your own crumbs using cheese its, and although I don’t care for cheese its these were really amazing.
I learned that the chicken fingers were very easy to make and that you can cook with cheezits. I never knew that they were cook able. I thought you just ate them.
Chicken fingers were great! I learned that you can use cheezits to give it a crunchy flavor
I learned that squash isn’t so nasty, and that crushed cheeszits is like a breading.
I learned that you can add a little twist to the taste of you chicken fingers. they tasted awesome and they were fun to make 🙂
this was absolutely delicious! i was so suprised of how good they tasted, i also learned that dip crackers make great breading for a homemade chicken fingers!
I never knew that cheeze its could be or were ever used for crust on chicken fingers or mustard for that matter.
I learned how to make easy and cheap chicken fingers that were delicious, and that you could also use cheese-its for the breading.
Next time, i will try not to bake it as long. It was a bit too crispy.
theses were very fun to cook, and I didn’t think I would like them at first but when I tried them they were very good 🙂 learned alot.
This was by farrrrrrrrr, my favorite lab in this class ! I learned how to cut chicken, and make chicken fingers! I never would have thought to use cheezits instead of crumbs for breading! It was a great idea and I loved it!
I learned that these are better for you than regular chicken fingers.
I learned that making chicken fingers isn’t that hard to do. I’m going to start making them all the time! This recipe was one of my favorites !
i learned how to cut the chicken strips and it is good
i learned how to cut the chicken strips and easy to make
I loved this chicken fingers they were delicious and crispy I loved the crust on them.
i learned how to cut the chicken into strips
They were pretty good…your dishes our very unique.
I learned you can make chicken fingewrs with cheez its
This by far was my favorite lab to do. Not only they were chicken fingers, they were made with Cheez-It. I honestly didn’t know you can do that. I will be making this one day.
these chicken fingers were delicious!i would have never though that they would look just like the fried chicken tenders! and the hot sauce we added gave it a great flavor!
i learned that cheez-it are a good coating in chicken. and extra healthy!
the cheese its were a really good idea! i wanna try these with another kind of chips
This lab was delicious and very easy to make! I never would have thought that mustard would taste good on the chicken. Also i never thought to use cheez-its as a “crust” instead of bread crumbs!
chicken fingers were very fun, my favrite part was cutting the chicking lol
I learned that you can use cheeze its as breading on chicken tenders
I learned that you shouldn’t crowd the baking pan and you should give the chicken some room so that it will be crispier.