- You get a double hit of dill pickle flavor — from the pickle brine that marinates the chicken and little bits of chopped pickle and more brine in the ranch dipping sauce.
- Pre-toasting the panko and baking the breaded chicken on a wire rack ensures even browning and lasting crunch without frying.
- The pickle-packed ranch dressing is delicious on its own. Make a double batch to enjoy with fries, chips, pizza, wings, and more.
If you love chicken tenders but have been burned by sad oven-baked versions (you know the type — pale, bland, and soggy), you’ll love this version. First, the quick pickle brine loads in savory, tangy flavor. A short half-hour soak is the sweet spot for deeply seasoned chicken that stays juicy. After a quick pat dry, the chicken makes its way through a classic three-step breading procedure, but with two upgrades: The panko is pre-toasted for consistent golden color, and it’s seasoned with dried dill, garlic powder, paprika, and salt for more flavor in every bite. Baking the chicken on a wire rack allows hot air to circulate so the bottoms of the tenders crisp up as well as the tops.
But perhaps the breakout star here is the dipping sauce. It starts with a creamy base of mayonnaise and buttermilk (see below for our recommended substitutions) and incorporates chopped dill pickles, a splash of pickle brine, fresh dill and chives, and just enough garlic powder to keep things lively. The sauce is cool, herbaceous, and tangy — the perfect counterpoint to the crunch of the tenders. (One taster declared, only half-joking, that she’d eat the sauce on a shoe.) There’s a generous amount of sauce per serving (about a quarter cup), and you’ll want every bit of it.
The recipe works well for a weeknight family dinner, on a game day spread, or over a big salad with the sauce as the dressing. It’s kid-approved, weeknight-friendly, and destined to go on repeat.
What to use if you don’t have buttermilk
The dipping sauce uses a 2:1 ratio of mayonnaise to buttermilk as its base, the latter lending rich texture and tang. If you don’t have buttermilk or your stores don’t carry it, you can try one of the following as a substitute:
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt whisked with 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt (not Greek) whisked with 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons sour cream thinned with 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup plain kefir
- Buttermilk powder, per package directions (you’ll find this on the baking aisle)
How to tell when the tenders are done
The key to these oven-baked chicken tenders’ hearty crunch is pre-toasting the panko breadcrumbs in oil. This process jump-starts browning so that you end up with beautifully browned tenders from the oven. We tested the recipe with untoasted panko, and the breading baked up patchy, pale, and far less crunchy, so we can verify that the toasting step is worth it. But it’s hard to visually gauge when the tenders are done because there’s little color change with the toasted panko. We recommend checking for doneness with an instant-read thermometer, aiming for a minimum internal temperature of 165°F in the thickest portion.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
- Keep the brining to 30 minutes; brining longer can soften the texture and make the chicken too salty.
- Pat the chicken dry after brining so the breading adheres better.
- Toasting panko is nonnegotiable for even, golden color and extra crunch; baking on a rack keeps it crisp on all sides.
Suggested pairing
A tangy, full-bodied California white: Chalk Hill Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
This recipe was developed by Nicole Hopper; the text was written by Ann Taylor Pittman.
