With sriracha ranch dipping sauce. But that would have been entirely too long a recipe title with all of it in there. Although I was tempted to put it all. Because sriracha ranch! It’s amazing. And may have made the meal. So maybe I should have just given in to the impulse and thrown it all in the title even if that would have been a little ridiculous!
These baked pretzel ranch chicken tenders have been made at least 3 times in the last month, and are definitely on the “make many more times” list. These were absolutely amazing. The chicken pieces are first marinated in a buttermilk ranch mixture, then coated with ranch seasoned flour, dipped in an egg wash, and crusted with crushed pretzels. Seriously, so good. They’re easy to make, baked not fried, yet the coating is nice and crunchy and the chicken is juicy.
We all loved these. Yes, they are a little messy to make, what with the coating in flour, then egg, then pretzels, but seriously so worth it! I’ve made many versions of oven baked chicken tenders, always hoping to get that crunchy coating that we all love from the fried version. Some have been close (corn flakes work great) – some, not so much. These pretzel ranch chicken tenders are the best ones I’ve made yet. They stayed really crunchy, and the chicken was perfectly juicy, with a nice ranch-y (not a word, but you know what I mean!) flavour to it.
And the sriracha ranch dipping sauce? Even if you don’t want these pretzel ranch chicken tenders, you should definitely make this sauce and dip anything you can think of in it! We used the leftover sauce for dipping veggies and chips, and I even threw some on a veggie panini – incredible. There will definitely be much more of that in our future.
Also, why did it take me so long to try sriracha? Clearly I take way too long to jump on board food trends. I should probably stop that.
Baked Pretzel Ranch Chicken Tenders with Sriracha Ranch Sauce
Ingredients
For the chicken fingers:
- 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 700g or 1.5lbs, or chicken tenders)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons ranch seasoning mix, divided
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons milk or water
- 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
For the sriracha ranch dip:
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ranch seasoning
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into long strips. In a shallow baking dish, whisk together the buttermilk and 1 tablespoon of the ranch seasoning. Place the chicken strips in the buttermilk mixture, turning them to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a cooking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour and the remaining tablespoon of ranch seasoning. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and milk or water. In a third bowl, place the crushed pretzels.
- Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip the chicken in the flour mixture, turning it to coat, and shake off the excess. Then dip the chicken in the egg wash, then press it into the pretzels, turning it to coat both sides and pressing the pretzels firmly to adhere them to the chicken. Place the coated chicken on the baking sheet and repeat with all the chicken pieces. It’s a bit helpful to use one hand for the flour and egg, and the other for the pretzels so it doesn’t get quite as messy!
- Lightly spray the tops of the chicken fingers with cooking spray, and bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and golden, flipping once.
- While the chicken is cooking, make the sriracha ranch dipping sauce. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, sour cream, ranch seasoning and sriracha and refrigerate until ready to eat.
Notes
Source: Adapted from Cooking for the Rushed.
I’m embarrassed to admit just exactly how many pieces of this chicken I could eat. It looks awesome! And sriracha ranch is like the best homemade condiment ever.
Oh my goodness, I seriously took way too long to try sriracha, now I can’t stop putting it on everything! So good! Thanks Heather!
OMG all those tiny delicious pieces pf pretzels, these chicken tenders look insanely delicious.
These look amazing Stacey! Just perfect, love pretzels! And the sriracha ranch sounds great! Pinning!
I love that you coated them in pretzels crumbs!! These are perfect.
LOVE that crunch! And I totally would have put the sauce in the name. Lol. Because sriracha ranch! 🙂
I know right?! I totally should have, but I didn’t want google to hate me! 🙂 Thanks Ashley!
That dip sounds amazing and my kids would love these tenders! What an awesome idea Stacey!! Your photos are stunning too. 🙂 Pinned!!
Thanks so much Cyndi! My kids beg for these things, so I’m sure yours would love them too! 🙂
I love literally EVERYTHING about these gorgeous chicken tenders, Stacey! I’m obsessing over how perfectly-coated they are with pretzel crumbs and that ranch sauce!! Just gimme a spoon please. 😉
Hahaha, yeah the sriracha ranch was pretty awesome I will say! Thanks Sarah!
This recipe is such a WINNER! I love ranch, pretzels, and chicken. I have to try these!!
This has my name written all over it. Firstly, my favorite snacks are pretzel. Secondly, you can’t go wrong with a sriracha dipping sauce. 🙂
My favourite snack is pretzels too Erin. Well, that and popcorn – but once you add a bunch of butter that’s no longer all that healthy, while pretzels aren’t bad! 🙂 And I think I’m officially addicted to sriracha, adding it to everything lately!
These look amazing, Stacey! I love that they’re baked and the crushed pretzels and sriracha ranch dip are such a great and tasty idea!
I totally understand your struggle! I always end up with recipe titles that are WAY too long to put in the title! This dish looks really tasty though. I love getting creative with ingredients so a pretzel topping sounds perfect!
These sound heavenly and yes to long titles! SEO is all like “Don’t do it” and I’m all like “Vegan/Raw/GF/Sugar Free/Single Serving …” 🙂
Hahaha, exactly! You want all the important stuff in there! 🙂
Oh my goodness. I am the absolute WORST at long titles for blog posts. I’m sure google HATES me. Oh well, I don’t care how long or short the title for this recipe is. They look soooo yummy! Pinned!
It’s just so hard to leave anything out right?! I kind of wish I’d just put it all in there, but you’re right, then Google hates me! 🙂 Thanks Justine!
Holy pretzels batman! These are completely coated and I LOVE it!!!
I could drink that sriracha ranch dip! I definitely need to make the tenders for my kids, too!
Hahaha, that made me laugh Amanda! But it seriously was amazing – and yes, that part was for me, the kids didn’t touch the dip. Their loss! 🙂
This is like the best dinner ever! I can only imagine how perfectly crispy these chicken tenders were!
Pretzels worked really well to make them crispy, I was so happy. Totally my biggest pet peeve with baking things that are usually fried, it so often isn’t crispy enough. These didn’t disappoint though! Thanks Annie!
Isn’t it so annoying when the recipe is awesome but its title is too long? I hear ya, sister. And this recipe is too amazing not to share! Wow. Those are some great pics!
So irritating! Because it’s all important and you don’t want to leave anything out right?! Thanks Mir!
Oh my gosh, this sounds ridiculously good! I will DEFINITELY be making this for my husband and myself and I know he is going to love it! 🙂
These chicken tenders look amazing, Stacey! I love the idea of using crushed pretzels! I bet these are so good, especially with that dipping sauce!