Healthy Baked Chicken Tenders (Without Breading)

Our healthy baked chicken tenders are the BEST way to enjoy flavorful chicken tenders that can be used in a variety of ways! We're making these with no breading and just a few simple ingredients for an easy 20 minute dinner.

These oven baked chicken tenderloins without flour are so good!

Our baked chicken tenderloins recipe is coated with lots of flavor from a simple chicken rub before getting perfectly cooked in the oven. We're showing you how to cook them tender and juicy the first time, and we guarantee they'll become a staple in your home!

You can make our delicious chicken rub seasoning with basic pantry staples or you can even use your favorite store-bought brand and just go off of our baking temperature and cooking time.

These are made without breading, which also means they're perfect for anyone looking for a gluten-free, dairy-free, or low carb.

Ingredients you'll need

• raw chicken tenders - we're talking raw chicken tenderloins here, not the precooked frozen breaded tenders. You could also cut chicken breasts into thick slices.
• butter or olive oil. We used salted butter but unsalted butter works just fine. Vegetable oil will work too, especially if you want to make these dairy free.
• chicken rub - use our recipe included in the recipe card or you can use your favorite store-bought brand, or even just sprinkle on salt, pepper, ground garlic, and paprika.
• optional dipping sauce such as BBQ, ketchup, honey mustard, or ranch dressing

The full list of ingredients are down in the recipe card.

Variations

• Change the seasoning - create a variety of chicken tender flavors when you change your chicken seasoning to include Italian seasoning, taco seasoning, herbs, or other spices.
• Make these panko crusted tenders or use other types of bread crumbs by dipping them in panko breadcrumbs after dipping them in the olive oil butter mix.
• Add parmesan cheese - just coat the chicken with parmesan cheese to add a little cheesy crunch.

Baking chicken tenderloins

This is an overview of the recipe steps, the full recipe instructions are down in the recipe card at the bottom.

Prep the ingredients: This includes preheating your oven to 400F, making the seasoning mix, and melting the butter (if you're using it) in the microwave. We often use olive oil instead of butter or just a spritz of oil and they turn out great.

Dip and season: You're going to dip or brush the butter or olive oil on the chicken. If you want to use less oil we recommend brushing it on. Then sprinkle both sides of the tenderloins with the seasoning mix.

Baking instructions: Place the tenders on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature when tested with a digitial thermometer reaches 162 F and they're golden brown.

This is less than the recommended 165 F you'll often find. Removing the chicken right when they're done means it often overcooks slightly since the meat continues to cook while it rests on the counter.

Let the chicken rest a few minutes before serving, they'll continue cooking and should be at 165 F (which is the USDA recommended cooking temp). Enjoy!

Cooking tips

• The best way to make sure the baked chicken tenders are cooked fully without overcooking is to use a digital meat thermometer.
• You can coat these with bread crumbs and an egg wash before baking like we did with these breaded chicken breasts.
• You can use this same cooking process for chicken breasts, thighs, drumsticks, or wings. The only thing that changes is the cooking time, this is why using a thermometer is so important.
• Leftovers will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge.

Serving ideas

• Make a simple balanced dinner with steamed or roasted veggies on the side plus a starch like sweet potatoes or rice.
• You can add a dipping sauce on the side like honey mustard, Ranch, or ketchup but they're delicious plain too!
• Add on top of a salad or pasta
• These are also great as chicken wraps for dinner or lunch.
• We like to make a batch to meal prep for the week and chop them up in salads, sandwiches, or just eat them plain when we need extra protein.

Can you cook chicken tenders from frozen?

Yes, you can cook tenders from frozen! You'll just need to add a few minutes to the cooking time and be sure the internal temperature reaches 165F when tested with a digital meat thermometer.

More chicken tenders recipes

• Air Fryer Chicken Tenders (no breading)
• Pan Frying Chicken Tenders
• Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Tenders
• Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Tenders
• Chicken with mushroom sauce
• How to cook chicken breast tenderloins

Recipe

Oven Baked Chicken Tenderloins (No Breading)

Jen @ Whole Lotta Yum

Easy healthy baked chicken tenderloins without breading and with a dry rub that cook in just 10 mins! Dip in your favorite sauce or use in recipes.

4.58 from 209 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Chicken

Cuisine American

Servings 16

Equipment

• 1 large skillet

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 lb chicken tenders
• ¼-1/2 cup Butter melted or olive oil (or use much less and brush on oil/melted butter to taste)
• 3-4 + tablespoon Chicken rub our homemade version or store-bought

Seasoning rub

• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoon sweetener brown sugar or sugar-free golden monk fruit
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Garnishes- chopped fresh parsley for color serve with your favorite dipping sauces such as BBQ, ranch, ketchup, honey mustard, etc.

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400F and put the oven rack in the center position.
• In a small bowl combine the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
• Cube the butter and add it to a shallow dish. Microwave it in 20-second increments until it's melted, stirring as needed. Alternatively, you can use olive oil instead of butter or do 50/50.
• Dredge the tenders in the melted butter, or you can brush it on the chicken to use less of it. Lay the raw chicken on a baking sheet.
• Sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the tenderloins. The homemade rub recipe makes a little more than you'll need for this chicken recipe.
• Bake the chicken until golden brown for a total of 10-12 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160-162F. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, it will continue cooking and should reach 165 F. Enjoy!
• Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and your favorite dipping sauces such as ketchup, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, etc.

Video

Notes

•  
• Use them in your favorite recipes like a main dish of chicken salad or sliced on top of pasta, or eat them as a main dish alongside your favorite dipping sauce.
• Other seasonings to use instead of chicken rub- taco, lemon pepper, store-bought brands such as McCormick spice blends
• The rub mix makes a little more than you'll need in the recipe, just coat the chicken with rub to your personal taste.
• Make these panko crusted tenders or use other types of bread crumbs by dipping them in an egg wash and panko breadcrumbs.
• The brown sugar can be omitted or substituted for monk fruit or coconut sugar if preferred.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!