While Nashville hot chicken has been all the rage the last few years, these homemade chicken tenders borrow from a less trendy (but just as tasty!) style of Southern spicy fried chicken to create crispy fried tenders whose heat comes from inside the batter.
Made from juicy brined chicken thighs, these almost-addictive homemade chicken tenders carry a sneaky spicy kick that’s perfectly balanced with a side of ranch. The secret to these spicy, salty, crispy tendies is, believe it or not, pickle brine. They’re a tad more work than simply breading and baking or pan frying your chicken pieces, but the result is a tender packed with flavor.
This is a recipe I put together as a home cook on the Epicurious YouTube channel, so you can actually watch how I do it, if a little visual instruction is helpful!
My Homemade Dill Pickle Chicken Tender Recipe
Prep time: 20 minutes active time, 1 hour (up to 24 hours) marinating
Cooking time: 24-30 minutes (working in batches)
Makes: 12-16 tenders
Ingredients
4 de-boned chicken thighs
¼ cup hot sauce (I suggest Crystal, Frank’s Red Hot, or Louisiana)
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional but recommended)
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
Vegetable/canola oil for frying
Side of ranch for dipping 🙂
Notes
I debone thighs, save the bones for broth, and keep the skin on, but it’s a little more finicky than buying a cut of meat that’s already boneless. You can absolutely use boneless skinless thighs, chicken breast, or even actual chicken tenderloins – which are white meat and come from the underside of the chicken breast. Whatever your preferred cut, just make sure you cook your chicken to an internal temp of 165° F, for food safety purposes!
This recipe calls for stovetop frying – I’ve given you the option to base how deep or shallow you fry on your comfort with frying and the size of your pot or pan. If you’re nervous, err on the side of less oil – the tenders will turn out just as crispy and tasty.
If you’re looking for a milder heat on your tendies, you can skip the cayenne. You can even sub the hot sauce for 1/4 cup more buttermilk if you’re cooking for anti-spicy palates – I won’t tell.
Method
1. Cut chicken into tender shapes and put in bag with pickle brine, brine at least one hour and up to 24 hours.
2. When ready to make chicken, mix buttermilk and hot sauce in one wide shallow bowl and dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, seasonings) in another. Working one or two tenders at a time, pull chicken pieces out of brine, shaking off excess liquid, place in buttermilk mixture, then dredge in dry ingredients and land on a separate sheet tray.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1-2 inches oil in Dutch oven or deep cast iron to 325 F. At 2 inches, the tenders will be pretty much submerged, so this is your call in terms of how comfortable you are with shallow or deep frying!
4. Cook tenders in batches about 6 minutes, turning every 1-2 minutes, until crust is a deep golden brown and thickest part of chicken reads at least 165 F. Use tongs to lower chicken pieces in and flip, and a stainless steel spider to scoop them out.
5. Set cooked chicken on a rack over a sheet tray right after pulling out of oil. You can add a light sprinkling of salt right when you pull the tenders out of the oil, but I’d recommend doing so conservatively: the hot sauce and pickle brine mean these tenders are already pretty well seasoned, from a salt perspective. (Below you can see one of my recipe testing photos where I followed neither of these directions – still turned out very tasty!)
6. Serve & enjoy! I recommend a side of homemade or bottled ranch dressing for dipping.
Recipe testing at home!
Use Your Pickle Brine to Make These Spicy, Crunchy Homemade Chicken Tenders
These chicken tenders are restaurant-level tasty, but simple enough to make at home – all you need is the end of a jar of pickles!