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My wife worked for a chicken fast food joint for the first 2 years of our marriage. They let her take home leftovers, so for a long time we had free chicken – old, dry chicken, but everything free is good, right?
Since she quit we’ve been craving fried chicken, and we’ve found a recipe that is nice on the wallet and great with a wide array of dipping sauces! (Including our Zesty Asian and Mango Habanero sauces)
If you want that extra crispy crust we definitely recommend deep frying! If you are looking for a healthier twist check out our Air Fried Chicken Strips recipe.
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs dark meat chicken strips (cut strips from thighs – you should get about 4 from each thigh)
- Hot sauce
- 5 cups flour
- 1/4 cup onion powder
- 1/4 cup garlic powder
- 1/4 cup black pepper
- 1/4 cup cayenne pepper or to taste
- 10 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Marinade chicken strips in hot sauce for up to 24 hours.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Add cayenne pepper to make spicy tenders, or leave it out for a milder breading.
- In a shallow bowl combine eggs and milk.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry.
- Dredge strips in flour mixture first – shaking off excess flour. Then dip the strip into the egg mixture, and again into the flour mixture. Lightly shake off excess flour.
- Place strips in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Place all breaded strips into the freezer for at least two hours for flour to stick to chicken.
- Heat deep fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry chicken strips in hot oil until golden brown – about 8 minutes.
Notes
It makes it easier to bread the chicken if you use one hand for removing the chicken from the flour mixture and one hand for removing it from the wet mixture. If you don’t then you will coat your fingers in breading. After freezing chicken can be placed in freezer safe bags and kept for up to three months.