Heres the deal. This chicken is ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. It was one of those things that made me yelll out “OMG!!!!!” after having a taste test. The coating is so crispy and crunchy- while the meat is tender! And the flavor.. I just need you to make these. You’ll understand.
Since eggs give me joint pain so bad that I can’t move for 2 days.. I found a new way to go about making my crispy tenders. I made a batter out of starch and milk- and added the hot sauce and butter for incredible flavor. It thick and holds the breading perfectly.
The beauty of this recipe is that unlike the KFC version its made from real food and its not actually fried. Its better in so many ways!
“KFC” Chicken Tenders.
- 1 lb Chicken Thighs, cut into strips
Wet mixture:
- 1/4 cup hot sauce (I use Franks Original Hot Sauce)
- 5 Tbs Butter (Dairy or Nondairy)
- 1 Tbs Starch (Tapioca, Arrowroot or Potato Starch)
- 5 Tbs Milk (Dairy or Nondairy)
Breading:
- 1/2 Cup Tapioca (Or Arrowroot or Potato Starch)
- 1/2 Cup Blanched Almond Flour
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a microwave safe bowl combine wet mixture ingredients and heat until thickened in the microwave (1-2 minutes) or on the stove top in a sauce pan. If using the microwave whisk liberally as soon as you remove the bowl. If using the sauce pan- whisk continually while it thickens.
- In another bowl combine breading ingredients.
- Drop chicken strips into wet mixture and then heavily dredge in breading mixture; place on foil lined baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken strips have been coated. Drizzle chicken with a little oil.
- Place chicken in oven for 35-40 minutes; chicken will be golden brown and cooked through!
-Brittany-
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
Holy cow, thighs!! Sound excellent! Bless you, dear food maker!
<3 <3
This may be a dumb question, but I’m new at this…arrowroot flour ok? When you say arrowroot I just want to be sure it’s flour and not some unknown to me ingredient. Thanks!
Hi Jen! Arrowroot is sometimes called flour and other times starch- generally it’s the same thing
Woohoo, making these tomorrow! We cant use almond flour and to quote from your 2nd book, “Sorghum flour is the unsung hero of gluten free baking”, soooo I was wondering if it would work instead ~ :^)
By any chance, have you tried it with firm tofu? I’m a vegetarian
I haven’t! But I bet that would taste delicious as long as you pull most the moisture from the tofu first!
I made this recipe with tofu, and it turned out amazingly good! Just do it!
So this looks awesome but I’m doing the Lurong paleo challenge in sept and tapioca powder isn’t allowed. ( I know, super strict) I’m assuming there is no chance I can omit it? : ). Btw. I love you. Your blog is my new favorite. Seriously
Hey Sora! Thank you!!! The starch is super important.
However you could make these:
https://realsustenance.com/popcorn-chicken-grainnutegg-free/
In all honesty they aren’t as good as this KFC style recipe BUT they are a yummy option if you need to avoid starch!
Can almond flour be bought already blanched or is there something I have to do to blanch it?
Yup! You can buy it blanched. I usually get it from Nuts.com , JK gourmet or Honeyville
Costco carries it now too (Honeyville, 3 pound bag…I think it was about $18).
The picture alone knocks me off my feet. I cannot believe it is not fried or battered with gluten. If this recipe is anywhere near the quality of your waffle recipe, I will bow down to your culinary genius-ness! I actually should be bowing down anyhow, because I have become addicted to your paleo waffle recipe. I omit the sugar & use it for EVERYTHING! I so missed a decent sandwich bread & now I am sandwich crazy. Thank you!
Does the almond flour have to be blanched? I currently only have regular almond flour/meal.
Blanched works best but you can give regular a try! Let us know how they turn out
I used non-blanched (3.99 at trader joes!) Last night and it still knocked our socks off! Great recipe! My visiting gluten eting stepson couldn’t believe it was gf and baked!
That’s so fantastic to hear!!
Brittany, your recipes are wonderfully awesome and mouthwatering. I was wondering if I could substitute something else for the hot sauce; hubby and I are not into spicy food. Can you suggest something please.
Thanks!
Hi Gilda- the hot sauce In this recipe doesn’t add heat- balanced with the breading and butter it just adds delicious flavor which is what makes it taste like KFC!
Thanks Brittany. I’ll try it with the sauce! Mmmmmm.
Hi Brittany – I am trying to stick to the Paleo diet as much as possible. I was wondering what a non-dairy butter alternative would be? Thanks in advance for your help!!
I often use earth balance though I don’t believe it’s paleo.
You could try coconut oil as well..
Oh! Ghee would be another delicious option.
Thanks! I used Earth Balance as you suggested and chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. It was amazing! I’m going to have to try all your other recipes
can you suggest a substitute for the hot say anyway? My hubby can’t have nightshades, and the hot peppers in hot sauce are part of that family
* oops! I meant “hot sauce” lol
Hey! What is that lovely looking dipping sauce? And do you have a recipe for it? Thanks.
Does it have to be thighs or can it be chicken breast tenders?
Thighs taste best as they are fatty and tender!!
I used boneless, skinless breasts (all I had on hand) and they were DELISH! The wet dredge really kept the meat from dying out, I think.
Can you just use chicken tenders? Thanks for the delicious recipes!
The picture is incredible! To get that kind of texture without frying is awesome!! I have a bad reaction to almond flour generally avoid all nut flours. Would any flour work with this recipe?
Are you able to tolerate gluten free chex cereal? If so just crush that up and use it as a replacement for the outer breading mix! ( though make sure to add the salt and pepper to the crushed up chex)
So very very very good! Thank you so much!
For the non-Americans out there, who live in countries where hot sauce is some sort of x rated movie, how would you replace it? Tomato sauce could be a right guess?
Oh that’s funny!!
You don’t have a spicy sauce where you live?? Hot sauce is basically a pepper and vinegar sauce
I like to use the green chili sauce that is used on Mexican food. La Victoria is gluten free and great tasting. I generally buy it in the jar and not in the can.
I don’t have any hot sauce on hand, but I did make a spicy BBQ sauce that I have left overs…I’m going to try it! Yum can’t wait! Thanks!
That should totally work ( and taste delish!!)
I tried this recipe and I didn’t get the breading quite right. It didn’t brown right.
Did you drizzle it with a little oil?
I did, does it need to be fully coated with oil for it to work?
Made this the other night and it was DELISH!! However, while cooking, the liquid basically melted in a puddle around the chicken, so it was not coated at all on the bottom. It was coated enough to still enjoy it, but I want mine to look like yours. How????? LOL
These are A-MAZING! Yum. I made them first with the hot sauce as recipe calls for. Yum! The best. However I don’t tolerate nightshades.
. So the second time I substituted raw apple cider vinegar. Success!!! They weren’t as flavorful, but a very close second, and my joints are much happier. I also had issues both times with breaking not staying in place. 
. But scrumptious, indeed!!
“breading” not staying in place.
My liquid coating got really gloppy so it was difficult to coat the chicken with it. The breading liquefied around the chicken too. Oh well. Tasted good, but it wasn’t the pretty or crispy chicken I was craving.
Tried the ACV for my spice averse kids and had trouble with the breading sticking on toward the bottom. I will try again by getting the excess wet mix off before dredging and maybe cut the starch back a little. Thanks for the idea. The ACV gave it a little zest without heat. The original recipe is crazy awesome so I’m sticking with that for all the grown ups.
This chicken was SO good. I literally ignored all the sides I’d slaved away to make and just ate chicken! I used the leftover wet and dry to dip thick tomato slices and baked them. I bet zucchini would be super too. BTW – I have a low allergy to almond flour so I used hazelnut and it worked just fine. Good job Brittany, thanks for sharing!
Oooh! What a great idea with the veggies! Gonna try that!
Hi Brittany,
I, too, has serious problems with the breading. The wet batter was really thick, and the dry bragging gooped really thick around, a lot sliding off. When baking, all my tenders were in puddles of liquid.
They also were totally glued to the foil. The interior consistency is like the inside of an aloe plant. I used tapioca and real milk and butter, of that helps at all?
I did use the rest of the liquid to make a sort of casserole with chicken chunks, onion and potato!
Hmm. Strange.
My suggestion would be to use less starch next time to thicken your batter. So it’s thinner and easier to manage,
I’m stumped as 98% of people that make this recipe have perfect success and rave about it- but a few have had this same issue.
When you dip into the wet ingredients, do you allow most to drain off? Or do you use a thick layer?
Thanks!
I swipe off the extra on the edge of the bowl ! Did you do that?
Nooooo, I did not. Dipped then immediately dredged! I will try a much thinner layer next time. Also, is there a reason to not make this into a thick batter? Thanks, again!
Try using parchment instead of foil – no sticking.
Goodness, I need to proof my posts.
Has= had
Bragging= breading
Interior= interior breading consistency
Thank you for this recipe! I had to omit the hot sauce because I made these for my little boy. Besides that, I followed the recipe exactly. I have tried different recipes and he won’t eat any so I keep having to buy the frozen gluten free tenders at the store, which are ok but they still have corn which I am trying to avoid. My son has sensory issues so he will only eat foods with some crunch to them. Anyway, I used chicken breast because I couldn’t find things so understandably that would immediately make them a little drier.
Thanks again for sharing your recipe.
I separated two batches. One went in the oven and the other I pan fried in some ghee and coconut oil.
The batch that came out of the over was a bit “powdery” I believe it was the tapioca flour, because it also looked burnt instead of browned on some areas due to the flour.
The batch that I pan fried was a success! the chicken was so moist and it was crunchy! I did place it on paper towels after taking it out of the pan to absorb extra fat. My son liked both of them and ate two strips! (if you know what sensory issues are you would be excited too lol). I will try chicken thighs to make them in the oven next time and the hot sauce for the adults
lol. I meant to say I couldn’t find “thighs” not “things” lol
Made these tonight and you are right, they are RIDICULOUS! Thank you so much for the great recipe
I made these last night using chicken breast tenders (short on time to cut up thighs…). These lil miracles tasted wonderful!!! I liked the way the wet mixture clung to the chicken and the dredge mix really sticks well. I did find as I went on with the dipping and dredging my fingers got a little coated themselves. I wondered if there was a better way but I continued on my merry way. My chicken strips didn’t look as good as this picture but what mattered was the taste and I will definitely make these again!
At risk of sounding like a tween …”OMG! You are right these are amazing!”
I’ll have to cut the pepper or try the ACV vinegar idea for my wimpy kids, but my husband and I are all over this one. Unblanched Almond meal/flour worked fine. Thank you thank you thank you!
You are so welcome!
These we great my 12 year old girl loved them also. I bought one regular sized package of chicken thighs not sure how much was in it but I had way more chicken than dry breading so I just soaked the rest of the chicken in the liquid mixture and then cooked it up in a skillet and had it over salad it was still great. The breaded ones I cooked on a wire rack on a covered cookie sheet cause I read some reviews about pooling liquid. Turned out great. Love them and it was worth going to buy thighs as I prefer them to white meat.
You really nailed it with the recipe! I have never had breaded and baked chicken that tasted so good! That includes recipes with gluten flour!
Can I use coconut milk?
Yep!
Do you wear a cape? Because I think you should. You are a foodie super hero to those of us who have food allergies (gluten & corn) & the spouses who eat healthy in support but holy he’ll crave KFC. THANK YOU!!!
Haha! What a sweet comment! Thank you!
thank you for the wonderful recipe, Brittany! this also works great with mushrooms, btw
-Luisa: it also works great with sweet and spicy sauce which is mild, I can’t really handle hot sauce myself so I made a mixture with my asian spicy-sweet hot sauce (which is also slightly sour) and add a dash of pure chilli sauce to keep the heat. I also added cayenne pepper to support the heat. I can’t handle food which is too spicy myself, so trust me this mixture also tastes great.
Nope! Follow the recipe exactly-
just try getting the excess batter off
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