Sesame-Crusted Chicken Tenders
These sesame-crusted chicken tenders are quick to prep and a nice way to switch up a regular breaded chicken dish. The coating is made with sesame seeds and panko and bakes up nice and crispy in the oven.
Sesame Crusted Chicken
I have to admit, until recently, I’ve only used sesame seeds as a garnish, so when I saw a recipe for sesame-crusted chicken, I was intrigued. I know I’ve had sesame-crusted things before at restaurants but it never occurred to me to try it at home. Spoiler alert: I’m glad I did.
If you want to switch up basic breaded chicken, sesame-crusted chicken tenders are the way to do it. Sesame seeds have a distinct nutty flavor – they’re used a lot in Asian cuisine – and when you combine them with panko breadcrumbs, you get a crispy coating for chicken. Chicken tenderloins, in this case, but you could also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
How to Make It
The chicken is easy to prep in about 15 minutes and then you pop them into the oven. I like to bake them on a sheet pan so the coating gets golden and crispy. Chicken tenderloins cook faster than breasts, so be sure to read the recipe tips if you want to try this recipe with boneless chicken breasts.
More Chicken Recipes
Breaded Chicken | Balsamic Chicken | Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-Ups | Chicken & Peppers
Sesame Crusted Chicken Tenders
These sesame-crusted chicken tenders are quick to prep and a nice way to switch up a regular breaded chicken. The coating is made with sesame seeds and panko and bakes up nice and crispy in the oven.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Sesame oil, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a shallow bowl, beat the egg with 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce until combined. In a separate shallow bowl, combine 1/2 cup panko, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Coat each chicken tenderloin in the egg and coat it in the panko mixture. Place them on the baking sheet in an even layer. Lightly spray the top of the chicken with cooking spray.
- Bake the chicken for 15 minutes and then flip each piece over. Bake it for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until the chicken is cooked through. Drizzle the chicken with sesame oil, if using.
Notes
You can make this recipe with 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I recommend pounding the chicken breasts into an even thickness first. This will tenderize them and will help them cook evenly. Coat them and then bake them until the internal temperature is 165°F. The cooking time will vary depending on how thick they are.
If you have leftovers, they will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. Reheating them in an air fryer will crisp up the coating. You can also microwave them, but the coating won’t crisp up as much.
Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste
Nutrition
- Calories: 273
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 514.3mg
- Fat: 10.5g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 12.6g
- Fiber: 1.7g
- Protein: 30.6g
- Cholesterol: 129.2mg
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Side Dish Ideas
- Serve them with roasted broccoli, sauteed green beans, roasted potatoes, garlic butter broccoli, lemon carrots, or another cooked vegetable.
- Add some rice or cauliflower rice.
- You can also use them for salads – cut the crusted chicken into bite-sized pieces. You could use this sesame chicken in my crispy chicken salad (omit the baked chicken).
- It was totally basic, but I might have wrapped the leftovers in tortillas the next day, and it might have been delicious.
I hope you enjoy this recipe – it’s an easy way to put a spin on chicken ❤
Happy cooking,
We loved the sesame flavor with the salt and pepper. None of it overpowered the taste of the chicken which was nice. We had bread crumbs but went ahead and bought Panko. Made a big difference in the crispiness of the chicken. We did drizzle a little Sesame Oil on top just out of the oven…it really did bring out the flavors. Super easy recipe that took just a few minutes to prep. Went well with our long grain rice and broccoli. Caesar salad on the side.
so so good—
feeling a little overwhelmed with everything going on-working from home, supervising online school, not to mention like all the stuff in the big outside world-
So to be able to prepare a nice meal for my SUPER PICKY kids that didn’t take a lot of time to prep and cook solved a lot of problems for me. The kids both asked for a repeat on this dish, there’s not a single thing I would change, it was delicious and made all of us happy.
thank you!
So glad you liked it!