Quick and easy healthy blackened chicken tenders to make a 10-minute meal in a hot skillet. Use our homemade blackening seasoning recipe or your favorite Cajun grocery store brand. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
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What are Blackened Chicken Tenders?
Blackened chicken tenderloins are chicken tenders that have been coated in a spice blend and then cooked in a hot pan until the spices are blackened. This gives the chicken a smoky flavor and a crispy exterior.
Blackened Chicken Strips
When we need something that is quick, easy, delicious, and versatile, these Cajun-inspired, blackened chicken strips are always a great choice.
Our blackened chicken tender recipe first gets coated with our homemade blackened seasoning and it's fantastic served on its own with a side of potatoes and vegetables, or you can serve it as part of a main dish meal like we did with our BBQ chicken sweet potato bowl.
And if you're looking for more easy dinner recipes be sure to try our healthy air fryer chicken tenders with a simple spice rub or our pan fried blackened cod recipe.
Why You'll Love This!
- Blackened chicken tenders are the best way to make a dinner that your whole family will love in just 10-minutes!
- Using our homemade blackened seasoning means you are in complete control of just how spicy or tame your Cajun chicken tenders are.
- Perfect for sticking to healthy eating plans, these seasoning chicken tenders work for gluten-free, low-carb, and keto. Oh, and they are also ideal for meal prep!
- With just 3 ingredients, we know you are going to love how simple these chicken tenders are.
Ingredient Notes
These blackened chicken tenders need just 3 ingredients - chicken tenders, oil, and blackened seasoning!
- chicken tenders, about 7-8
- extra virgin olive oil
- blackened seasoning
Variations
Blackened Seasoning - We love using our homemade seasoning mixture, but you can also opt for a store-bought variety.
Seasoning - Try something new by swapping the blackened season for salt and pepper, a chicken rub, Ranch seasoning, no-salt seasoning, or your favorite seasoning flavors.
Chicken Tenders - You can also use our recipe for chicken cutlets, chicken breast, and a variety of white fish including cod, shrimp, and salmon.
Step by Step Instructions
Prep Ingredients
Brush the tenderloins with olive oil and then sprinkle the blackened on both sides. Press the seasoning into the chicken with clean fingertips to help it adhere to the meat and not fall off during cooking.
Cooking Time and Temperature
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet to medium-high and add the remaining olive oil.
- Cook the chicken for 3 mins on one side or until the chicken starts to turn white on the edge and pull away from the pan.
- Don’t flip or check the chicken until it's cooked for 3 minutes on the first side.
- Flip the chicken over and continue cooking it for about 3 more minutes, or when the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
Blackened Chicken Tenderloins Recipe Tips
- You can use our homemade blackened seasoning or your favorite store brand. Our homemade creole spice mix will make more than the blackened chicken strips recipe calls for. You can store the leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
- This same process works for cooking white fish like cod, shrimp, salmon, or other chicken cutlets like chicken breast or cutlets.
- For variety, you can skip the blackened seasoning and use this same quick skillet pan-seared method to add a variety of seasonings like just salt and pepper, a chicken rub, Ranch seasoning, no-salt seasoning, or any of your favorite seasonings.
- We kept the seasoning mild on our homemade spice mix, feel free to increase the cayenne pepper if you want to kick up the heat another notch.
Common Questions
Serve your blackened chicken tenderloins with your favorite potato or sweet potato recipes along with a green vegetable like broccoli, green beans, green salad, or coleslaw.
You can store cooked tenderloin pieces in the fridge for 3-4 days making them perfect for meal prepping.
There are a lot of different things that can be cooked with blackened seasoning. Some of our favorites include blackened chicken, blackened shrimp, and blackened fish.
More Chicken Tenders Recipes
- Air fryer chicken tenderloin
- Pan fried chicken tenders
- How to cook chicken tenders
- Air fryer BBQ chicken tenders
- Instant Pot chicken tenders (from frozen)
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
Blackened Chicken Tenders
Quick and easy healthy blackened chicken tenders make a 10 minute meal in a hot skillet. Use our homemade blackening seasoning recipe or your favorite Cajun grocery store brand.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenders, about 7-8
- 2+ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1+ tablespoon blackened seasoning (homemade recipe or store bought)
- BLACKENED SEASONING
- 2 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Brush the tenderloins with olive oil and then sprinkle the blackened on both sides. Press the seasoning into the chicken with clean fingertips to help it adhere to the meat and not fall off during cooking.
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet to medium-high and add the remaining olive oil.
- Cook the chicken for 3 mins on one side or until the chicken starts to turn white on the edge and pull away from the pan.
- Don’t flip or check the chicken until it's cooked for 3 minutes on the first side.
- Flip the chicken over and continue cooking it for about 3 more minutes, or when the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
- Enjoy! Serve with a side of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a green vegetable like broccoli, green beans, green salad, or coleslaw.
Notes
You can use our homemade blackened seasoning or your favorite store brand. Our homemade creole spice mix will make more than the blackened chicken strips recipe calls for. You can store the leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
This same process works for cooking white fish like cod, shrimp, salmon, or other chicken cutlets like chicken breast or cutlets.
For variety, you can skip the blackened seasoning and use this same quick skillet pan-seared method to add a variety of seasonings like just salt and pepper, a chicken rub, Ranch seasoning, and no-salt seasoning, or any of your favorite seasonings.
We kept the seasoning mild on our homemade spice mix, feel free to increase the cayenne pepper if you want to kick up the heat another notch.
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