Learn how to cook chicken tenderloin 6 different ways and have it come out perfect - no matter the method and how they're being used.
Whether it's in the oven, on the stove, in the Instant Pot, or with the air fryer, once you know how to cook chicken tenderloins you know how to make a WHOLE LOTTA YUM meal in no time!
Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom to get our popular baked chicken tenders recipe!
Cooking chicken breast tenderloin (6 Ways!)
In our home, we love chicken tenders! This cut of meat is often cheaper than other chicken cuts and they cook up super fast - often in 10-minutes or less. You can even cook chicken tenderloin pieces from frozen when you need something in a pinch.
They make meal prep a breeze, especially when you can cook up a batch or two to store in the fridge for the week to use in things like chicken cobb salad , in casseroles like chicken bacon Ranch casserole, for BBQ chicken bowls, chicken salad, or Buffalo chicken dip.
The best ways of cooking Chicken Tenders
What you consider the best way to cook chicken tenderloins may simply be determined by what cooking methods you want to use, what kitchen appliances you have, and how you are planning to serve them.
We use all of these methods regularly, and they are all delicious!
- Pan fried chicken tenders - great for a small quick batch
- In the oven - perfect when you're serving a crowd
- In an air fryer - (raw or the precooked breaded frozen tenders)
- Boiled on the stove - perfect for shredding in recipes
- In a pressure cooker - another great way for shredding chicken or for recipes
- On the grill - great as a main dish or on top of a salad or pasta
If you're using them as the main dish, we'd recommend air frying, baking, on the stove, or grill. If you're using them in another recipe like a casserole, soup, or salad, we'd recommend making them boiled on the stove or in an Instant Pot pressure cooker.
What is Chicken Tenderloin?
Chicken tenderloin refers to a specific part of the chicken breast that's a small, tender muscle located underneath the breast meat, attached to the underside of the breast itself. Sometimes when you buy chicken breasts the tenderloin is attached, and othertimes it's not.
When we refer to the term chicken tenders or chicken tenderloins, we're referring to the raw fresh or frozen boneless pieces NOT the precooked frozen ones you find breaded in the freezer section (although we do include one air fryer precooked breaded recipe in the list).
Regardless, you can also buy just the uncooked chicken tenderloins like we did for all of these recipes.
What you'll need
For most of our chicken tender recipes you need the raw chicken, a fat to cook it in like butter, olive oil, or cooking spray, and then seasoning.
- chicken tenderloin (or raw chicken tenders or even boneless skinless chicken tenders cut into strips)
- butter - melted or olive oil
- chicken rub - we love our chicken rub recipe but you can also use your favorite store bought brand too. Our rub recipe is for dry rub wings but we use this on all types of poultry.
- Other optional seasoning ideas- garlic powder or fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, lemon juice, or red pepper flakes
Whether you are keeping things simple with just salt and pepper, getting adventurous with Cajun or Mexican seasoning, or going for something savory with a mix of Italian herbs, they're super easy to change the flavor depending on your mood.
How to make Chicken Tenders
We have a ton of chicken tenderloin recipes, here's some of our reader favorites organized by cooking method. Some methods have more than one recipe.
We're giving you an overview of the cooking steps for each, just click on the individual recipe links to get the full instructions, plus recipe tips, and ingredients.
How to cook on the stove
Cooking chicken tenderloin on the stove aka pan fried chicken tenders is a very quick and easy method that will work great for making small batches or for meal prep. Add a seasoning quick by making our blackened chicken tenderloins in a skillet.
Made without breading, our pan-fried chicken tenderloins are the perfect way to saute your chicken to a juicy and crisp finish without extra oil. This is our most popular chicken recipe!
How to cook chicken tenderloins using the pan fry method is super simple.
- Pat the chicken pieces dry
- Season with your favorite rub
- Cook in a preheated pan for 3 minutes per side.
More skillet ideas: Pan Fried Blackened Chicken Tenders
How to bake in the oven
How to cook chicken tenderloins in the oven is another one of our reader favorite recipes, this is a great method when you need a larger batch of chicken or are serving numerous people.
Just serve the baked chicken tenders with your favorite dipping sauce.
- Turn your oven to 400F and make sure the oven rack is in the center position.
- Lay the raw chicken tenders on a baking sheet. Brush one side of the chicken pieces with olive oil or melted butter. Sprinkle the chicken rub on the side that was just brushed with olive oil or melted butter. Flip the chicken over and continue brushing with the oil or butter and sprinkle the 2nd side with additional chicken rub.
- Bake the chicken for a total of 10 minutes, flipping after 5 minutes, if preferred (flipping not required), and then continue cooking on the other side until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Checking the temperature of the chicken with an instant read meat thermometer is highly recommended since ovens can sometimes cook differently.
MASTER TIP: Change up the flavor of your baked chicken tenderloins by opting for other seasonings including taco seasoning, lemon pepper, McCormicks spice blends, or just salt and pepper.
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
How to cook chicken tenderloins in an air fryer is the BEST way to enjoy flavorful low-carb and gluten-free chicken tenders when you are looking for a breading-free recipe or want to cook with minimal oil.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400F.
- Coat your chicken tenders with oil then sprinkle or brush the chicken rub on the chicken.
- Press the rub into the chicken meat.
- Air fry for 8-9 mins, flipping after 5 minutes. Technically, chicken tenders are so thin it's ok to skip the flip, but we prefer it.
- Cook to an internal temperature of 160F and remove from your air fryer basket.
More air fryer ideas:
- Air fryer BBQ chicken tenders
- Air fryer chicken tenders with flour
- air fryer frozen precooked breaded chicken tenders
Boiled on the stove
Perfect for dishes that call for precooked chicken, our boiled chicken tenderloins recipe is ready in just 15 minutes! This easy-to-follow recipe works for both fresh raw or frozen raw chicken tenderloin pieces.
- To boil your chicken tender pieces, simply place 1 pound of fresh tenderloins in a large pot and submerge in water (or chicken stock). Place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil.
- As soon as the pot boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the chicken tenderloins pieces reach 160F.
- If you are using frozen tenderloins, simmer for 3-5 minutes.
In a Pressure Cooker
Cooking chicken tenderloins in the Instant Pot is the perfect for fresh or frozen pieces of chicken. We love to buy the large 2.5 lb frozen bags of meat and batch cook them in a pressure cooker.
- Pour chicken broth into the bottom of the instant pot or pressure cooker.
- Place fresh or frozen chicken tenderloin pieces inside and add the lid.
- Turn Instant Pot to Manual/Pressure Cook (depending on model) and set for 6 minutes
- After it's done cooking, do a natural release for 5 minutes before pressing the button to release the rest of the pressure.
- Pressure cooked chicken tenderloin pieces are perfect for meal prep, in casseroles, or shredded.
On the Grill
Grilling chicken tenders is a quick and easy way to cook them in under 10 minutes, plus you get to be out and enjoy the sunshine.
- Marinating the chicken for 20-30 minutes is optional before getting started on the grill.
- Brush with oil and season as desired
- Preheat your grill on high and then cook them for 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through, or until the internal temperature of the chicken tenders are 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Serving ideas
All you need is 1-2 simple sides for an easy and healthy dinner everyone will love!
- potatoes wedges
- cauliflower mac and cheese
- Air fryer green beans (from frozen)
- Roasted sweet potato slices
- Cauliflower Rice: Pulse cauliflower florets in a food processor until it looks like rice. Sauté with garlic, onions, and a touch of olive oil for about 4-5 minutes.
- Avocado and kale salad
- Pan fried asparagus
- Tomato basil mozzarella salad
- Roasted brussels sprouts
Or, you can use the cooked chicken in any recipe that calls for pre-cooked chicken such as Greek salad, chicken green chili casserole, and chicken bacon ranch soup.
More Chicken Tenderloins Recipes
- Air fryer frozen chicken tenders
- Instant Pot chicken alfredo
- Chicken with mushroom sauce
- Keto air fryer chicken tenders (parmesan crusted)
Common Questions
Chicken tenderloins dry out when they get overcooked, so the best way to not dry them out is to not overcook them.
One of the best ways to do that is to use a digital meat thermometer. This will allow you to remove your chicken from the oven or skillet right at 160F, or even a few degrees sooner as they will continue to cook for a few minutes.
It's easy to confuse chicken tenderloin vs chicken breast meat since they seem so similar. Chicken tenderloin is a tender muscle piece attached to the chicken breast.
Sometimes when you buy chicken breasts, boneless skinless or skin on with bone, the tenderloin is attached; other times it's not. The taste between the two are essentially the same, they're both considered the white meat of the chicken.
You can also make tenderloins from the boneless skinless breast meat by cutting it into strips across the grain.
If you loved our recipe, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and leave us a comment too! Connect with us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube!
Recipe
How to Cook Chicken Tenderloins (6 Ways!)
Ingredients
- 2 lb raw chicken tenderloin or called chicken tenders
- ¼ cup Butter melted or olive oil
- 2 + tablespoon Chicken rub see notes below
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and put the oven rack in the center position.
- Lay the raw chicken tenders on a baking sheet. Brush one side of the chicken tenderloin with olive oil or the melted butter.
- Sprinkle the chicken rub on the side that was just brushed with olive oil or melted butter.
- Flip the chicken tenderloins over and continue brushing with the oil or butter and sprinkle the 2nd side with additional chicken rub.
- Bake the chicken for a total of 10 minutes, flipping after 5 minutes, if preferred (flipping not required), and then continue cooking on the other side until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Checking the temperature of the chicken with a digital meat thermometer is highly recommended since ovens can sometimes cook differently.
- Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- We used raw defrosted chicken tenderloin, not the frozen breaded kind.
- Use in your favorite recipe like a chicken salad or eat them as a main dish alongside your favorite dipping sauce like barbecue sauce or Ranch.
- Other seasonings to add instead of chicken rub- taco seasoning, lemon pepper, McCormick's spice blends, or just salt and pepper.
- The only way to really know if the chicken is cooked is by using an inexpensive digital meat thermometer.
Chaz says
I have been looking for your chicken rub recipe and can't seem to find it. What gives?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Chaz, we don't have the chicken rub as a stand alone recipe. It's here in our air fryer wings dry rub recipe: https://wholelottayum.com/air-fryer-chicken-wings-dry-rub/. Jen
Karl says
For your recommendation on cooking frozen chicken tenderloins at 400° for 10 min (5 min per side), were you assuming the frozen tenderloins had been thawed first? I flipped mine at 6 minutes and it wasn't even close to being thawed or browned on the one side (oven had spent plenty of time at 400°, after the preheat indicator went off, before putting the tenderloins in). Or when you say "tenderloin", do you mean full size, raw frozen tenderloins, or those breaded, slightly bigger than chicken nugget, appetizer type "tenderloins"? I'm trying to figure out why this didn't work.
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Karl, Yes! That would be the cooking time for defrosted chicken tenders that were previously frozen. You can cook them from frozen but they'll take longer, best guess is 12-14 minutes but they might not brown. Tenderloins and tenders are often used interchangeably. I'll get the recipe updated to make that more clear. Thank you!