Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders

A 30 minute, kid-friendly recipe for crispy, baked, Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders that are crunchy and flavorful on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.

My family loves garlic parmesan chicken tenders and since I don’t like frying food I had to come up with a more hands-off way to make crispy chicken tenders.

With these Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders, all you have to do is coat the chicken and let the oven do the rest of the work.

A few months ago I shared a recipe for Key Lime Chicken Tenders and that recipe, along with this one for Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders are two of the recipes from my blog that I make the most.

How To Make Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders

Step One:

Melt the butter and stir in the lemon juice.

Step Two:

In a separate bowl, combine panko, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, garlic powder, salt, ground pepper, parsley, oregano, onion powder and grated lemon peel.

Step Three:

Cut four boneless, skinless chicken breast into three or four strips, depending on how thin you want your chicken tenders to be.

Another option would be to cut the chicken into smaller pieces to make chicken nuggets.

Step Four:

Dip the chicken pieces in the melted butter and lemon juice mixture.

Step Five:

Coat the chicken tenders in the breadcrumb mixture.

Step Six:

Place them on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with additional pepper, if desired.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

Optional: use a thin, metal spatula/turner to flip the chicken tenders (making sure to scrape up the coating along with the chicken) halfway through cooking to help brown both sides.

To brown the chicken tenders a bit more, put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

These Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders are crunchy and flavorful on the outside while remaining tender and juicy on the inside. When I made baked these chicken tenders, my kids and my husband were gone.

So, I brought the chicken tenders over to my sister’s house and shared with her family. Everyone seemed to love them as much as we do!

Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders Recipe Tips

1. How to make chicken nuggets?

Cut the chicken breasts into nugget size instead of tenders and then follow the rest of the recipe.

2. Can I leave the lemon juice and lemon peel out? Yes, you can make the recipe as written but skip the lemon juice and lemon peel.

3. Want to skip adding the seasonings? Use seasoned panko and seasoned breadcrumbs.

4. How do you make fried chicken tenders? Follow steps 1-5 to cut and coat the chicken. Then, heat two tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook about 6 chicken tenders for 3-4 minutes per side until the fully cooked. Repeat the process with more oil and chicken tenders. Do not overcrowd the chicken in the pan or it won’t be able to get crispy.

5. How to prevent soggy chicken tenders? Try cooking the chicken tenders on a wire baking rack on top of the baking sheet if you are having issues with getting crispy tenders.

6. How can I make my lemon pepper chicken tenders even crispier? After cooking them, brown them under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

7. How to keep chicken tenders from sticking to the pan? Allow them to cool a bit and then use a thin, metal spatula/turner to scrape the chicken tenders along with the breading off the pan.

Love chicken? Check out these recipes:

Key Lime Chicken Tenders | Apple Mango Chicken | Orange Chicken

Honey Sesame Chicken | Bacon Chicken Bites | Pineapple Chicken Kabobs