I don't have a suggestion at the moment because I have no idea what is a chicken tender. Is that a part of the breast?

Do you buy them as a special cut of chicken?

I checked online and I see it is a boneless, skinless piece but from what part of the chicken does it come?

(Sorry to be so ignorant...I don't live in North America so the cut is unknown to me.) LOL. :-)

SharonCb

I dip them in a beaten egg (seasoned with hot sauce) and then coat them in pancko and bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes, turning once. This is my daughter's absolute favorite.

I poach them and use them for chicken enchiladas , chicken crepes , chicken alfredo or chicken wraps.

Stir fry is another great option,

Sharon,
It's actually part of the breast I think. It's the sort of thin strip part of the breast that has that white tough strip in it that you are supposed to pull out. Probably not everyone pulls them out, but that's what my mother said to do so I do it. They sell them packaged separately from regular whole skinless boneless breasts. I don't buy them because it's a huge pain to strip out that white thingy of so many in a row which is ridiculous because I bet most people don't bother or maybe don't even know what I'm talking about!

For my martini party this weekend I'm going to make chicken skewers using slices of flattened breast but you can easily do it with tenders. Skewer the chicken, marinate in whatever sounds good, then grill. A greek marinade with a yogurt/cucumber sauce on the side is a good combination.

I'm lately in love with balsamic vinegar so my made-up recipe for marinade is as follows (note, this is untried as of yet, I'll be throwing these together on Friday and grilling them Saturday):
evoo
balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
pepper
garlic powder

Chicken tenders are pieces of boneless skinless chicken breast
Chicken picatta...
Pound thin, dredge in flour...
In a frypan (duh!) fry a little chopped garlic in a mix of butter and olive oil.....then quickly fry the chicken until browned on both sides, add a schlurp of white wine, lemon juice and a spoonfull of capers, simmer about 2 minutes (don't over cook) ands erve with some chopped parsley.
Linda C

How about this:

Cut chicken breast into strips, toss with a bit of oil, add salt and pepper. Grill/broil them, then add lime juice to the top to give them a nice fresh tang.

Serve with Spanish rice (rice cooked with chicken stock, diced tomatoes, sauted onions and cumin) and guacamole salad. Now I'm hungry.

Stir fried
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Chicken Alfredo

I'm not convinced that "tenders" has been explained correctly yet.

When you cut up your own chicken, or you buy "boneless chicken breast with rib meat" it's the rib meat part. The flap that you don't know what to do with when you're pounding out the breasts. LOL. I use them just like breasts, usually to make smaller portions for my son, or save it for stir fry.

(That white thingy is attached to some breast pieces - I'd be surprised if you'd see it at all in a package of tenders.)

I know they are a special cut of the breast. My husband bought them thinking we could do something "special" but I didnÂt know what. A friend has been recommending them as better than regular white meat, but since sheÂs not a good cook and everything she makes tastes dry I wouldnÂt use any of her ideas, LOL. People in these forums never steer me wrong!

Thanks for all the suggestions! Chicken piccata and the one after that sound good for today. I have no vegetables on hand (not counting onions and garlic) so a stir-fry is out, for today at least. I donÂt like capers, should I substitute something else or just leave those out? Serve with what? Noodles? Rice? Wild rice? Love Spanish rice but just had that.

fenworth,
OH!! It's the rib meat. I didn't know that.

That white thingy is attached to some breast pieces - I'd be surprised if you'd see it at all in a package of tenders.

Every time I've ever bought a package of "chicken tenders", that's what I get, the piece that has the white thingy in it. I should say, ~30 pieces that have that white thingy in them.

There are two layers to a chicken breast. One lays right up against the bone and tends to "work" less in a live chicken, therefore is more tender and flavorful (due to the proximity to the bone). The second layer lays over the top of that and is the main muscle a chicken uses to flap wings, raise and lower head, etc.

In general (any meat), a muscle that gets used a lot is a tougher cut and the less used muscles (wimpy) are tender.

The Chicken Tenders can be used as everyone already said in any recipe calling for breast.

I make chicken strips out of them very similiar to what mandyk posted. Don't overcook!

Deanna

What IS the "white thingy" you mention? Cartilage? Connective tissue? IÂm not clear on this but then I havenÂt opened the package yet. If they are supposed to be tender why does the cut include an especially tough part? I'll be annoyed if he paid a premium price for something undesirable. (maybe all the other chicken looked fatty)

This is just a guess on my part, so tell me what you think of my idea.

Chicken tenders are called that because they are somewhat analogous to the tenderloin of four-footed animals. They are long, narrow pieces which are not of suitable shape for making certain breast meat preparations such as Chicken Kiev or Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Jim

I always thought the tender was the long slender piece nestled in the curve where the blade extends outward from the breast bone dividing the two breast halves. You can actually feel the blade through the skin. If you buy boneless chicken breast, the tender has probably been removed (it's barely attached) and sold at a much higher price per pound.

Deanna has it right. I don't see tenders here very often but when I lived in Florida they were available wherever boneless chicken breast were sold and at the same price. I always pulled out the white tendon using a pliers. Later I decided to use the tenders without removing the tendon. It seemed to disappear during cooking.

linnea....just skip the capers...or sub calamata olives.
Wild rice sounds good to me!.
linda C

Thank you for the explanations everyone....I think I know the piece you mean so I'll have another look for it when I buy whole breasts.
"The flap that you don't know what to do with when you're pounding out the breasts."
Fenworth....that explains it perfectly LOL.

SharonCb

I always pulled out the white tendon using a pliers.

It's a tendon! OK, that makes sense to me.

Later I decided to use the tenders without removing the tendon. It seemed to disappear during cooking.

Yeah baby, that's what I wanted to hear. I will buy them again and see if leaving the darn thing in bugs me or if it does indeed disappear for me. Aside from that tendon, they really are a convenience since they're in thin but reasonable strips and you don't have to cut them or pound them.

I treat them much the same as scallopini. A light saute preparation is good for not toughening them up. I made a wonderful creamy marsala with turkey tenderloins that was delightful. I know which cookbook I adapted it from if you want me to type it up :)

Most of our poultry booths at the farmers' market sell the chicken tenders separately from the breast cutlets. I don't remove the tendons before cooking but I do cut off any tips of them that are sticking out of the strip. They don't taste any different to me than the rest of the breast meat.

I like to make these for an easy summer entree:

GRILLED ORANGE CHICKEN FINGERS

1 lb. chicken tenders
1 1/2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 1/2 Tbs. frozen orange-juice concentrate, thawed
1 1/2 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

In a bowl, whisk all ingredients except chicken together until smooth. Add the chicken strips to the sauce and toss to combine. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare grill or preheat the broiler. Lightly oil rack or coat with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the chicken strips from the marinade, discarding any extra marinade. Grill or broil for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until no longer pink in the center. Do not over cook.

I like to dip them in Thai sweet chilli sauce and roll in crumbs then bake in the oven. Mmmm Mmmm.

I either saute or grill them, cut them into 3-4 pieces & toss them in a Caesar Salad for a main dish salad. Or roll the salad up in tortillas for Chicken Caesar Roll-Ups.

Also good for making fajitas.

Or saute in butter & olive oil, remove chicken from pan, deglaze the pan w/ cream & add some tarragon. Heat thru & drizzle over chicken. Wild rice pilaf on the side.

Also work great for Margarita Chicken.

I just bought a bag of Tyson frozen chicken tenders. Since Tyson seems to trim their breasts pretty well, I am hoping the white thingy is already removed because I will not eat it!