Buttermilk Chicken Strips (crispy & juicy)

These buttermilk chicken strips are juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Oh so good dipped in the homemade paprika dipping sauce.

Set up an assembly line and get your kids to help, which will make the process go much quicker.

Soaking the chicken strips in buttermilk for 30 minutes to an hour while getting the other ingredients together is the secret to tender chicken.

If you don't have buttermilk, you can improvise with regular milk and 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. This curdles the milk and acts the same way buttermilk does when cooking or marinating with it.

I always know when I have a hit recipe on my hands. My boys are great eaters and awesome taste testers. When they say, "This is AWESOME!" I know I have a hit. (That's what they said after biting into one of these buttermilk chicken tenders).

It also helps that they have had to delay eating by an hour or so while I get all the food photography shots in, which also means I usually have to reheat their dinner before they get to sit down and try it.

They're such great sports, and they know the wait will be well worth it.

What You'll Need

2 large chicken breasts (about 2 pounds), cut into even strips

oil for frying

1 cup buttermilk (or one cup regular milk with 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar)

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon paprika

1 Tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons dry marjoram or oregano

2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Dipping Sauce

½ cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 Tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

1 Tablespoon honey

How to Make

Soak chicken in buttermilk for at least 30 minutes covered in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, heat Dutch oven or large heavy pot on medium. Add oil to ½ to 1 inch deep in pot.

Beat eggs in a small bowl. Add flour and spices to a large plate and mix together until incorporated.

After the chicken has marinated, dip the chicken pieces first in flour, then in the eggs, then again in the flour before adding to the hot oil in the pot.

Note that you need to let the excess buttermilk drip off each piece back into the bowl before dipping in flour.

Cook 3 minutes on each side before turning with tongs. Remove to a metal rack to cool.

While chicken is cooking, prepare the dipping sauce by adding all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together.

Tips

Dipping or "dredging" the chicken in flour first helps to keep the batter on. The layering of flour and egg mixtures helps to seal in the natural juices while keeping the outside crispy.

Another way to make sure your buttermilk chicken strips stay crispy is to cool them on a rack instead of just a plate or paper towels. You don't want them soggy, so the more air that gets to all the surfaces the crispier your tenders.

Cut your chicken strips into about 1-inch wide strips. They will cook up quickly and consistently in the same amount of time.

You will have to cook the strips in batches. It took me two batches in the pot to cook up 30 tenders. Feel free to place them close together - as long as they have room enough to cook with the oil bubbling up around them.

I hope you love these buttermilk chicken fingers as much as we do! They're great all by themselves without a dipping sauce, but the sauce takes the flavors to a whole new level.

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Serve With

Southern Collard Greens

Cajun Green Beans

Bojangles Dirty Rice

Pepper Jack Mac and Cheese

Sauteed Broccoli

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