The motivation behind this keto chicken tenders recipe was our niece, Abbey. Any form of crumbed and fried chicken has always been her favourite. As we love to have her visit we had to find a keto chicken nugget recipe that would please her and also be keto friendly so we could also enjoy it with her. We tried a few different recipes and these keto chicken tenders are by far her favourite. The sesame crumb is the key here. The sesame adds a toasty nutty flavour.
Keto Chicken Tenders
Who didn’t love chicken tenders as a kid. For me they were a real treat and having them now still brings back fond memories for me. The juicy chicken, crumbed and deep fried, was one of my favourite meals growing up. The chicken tender or chicken nugget has grown even more in popularity among kids as busy parents look for a quick and easy meal. Our nieces and nephews have grown up on chicken tenders and Maccas chicken nuggets.
Chicken tenders you can buy at the supermarket or when eating out, definitely have less than desirable ingredients, so we no longer want to buy these for our nieces and nephews and really want to encourage them to seek out a healthier version. So by creating this delicious keto version it has meant we can have a clear conscious when feeding our nieces and nephews.
We also love eating these keto chicken tenders ourselves. They are really great to cook up a batch on the weekend and then take for lunches to work or to pop in the kid’s lunch boxes. They are nut free so will be safe to send to school with the kids. They are just as nice cold out of the fridge or reheated in the microwave.
Sesame seeds
We are big fans of the flavour of sesame seeds here at Have Butter will Travel and have used these flavours in a few different recipes. If you love the sesame flavour as much as we do check out some of our favourite sesame seed recipes here –
- Keto Blondies
- Tahini Granola Fudge
- Whole Keto Roasted Cauliflower
- Asian Noodle Salad
- Everything but the Bagel Cheese Crisps
Sesame seeds are one of the most ancient foods on the planet. They have been used in many cultures like middle eastern, Mediterranean, Asian and African for thousands of years. Tahini, sesame oil and the seeds themselves are common ingredients used in many cuisines all over the world.
According to wikipedia, sesame is a flowering plant in the genus, Sesamum. It is mostly grown in Africa, India and China, with over 6.1 million tonnes produced in 2016 alone. Now that is A LOT of sesame seeds.
Tips
- If you can’t find chicken tenders, you can cut some chicken breast into tenders.
- Don’t let the pan get too hot when cooking as the crumb may catch and burn.
- When crumbing the chicken, make sure to press down on each side and get all of the chicken coated with the sesame crumb.
Suggestions
- Serve with your favourite keto salad. These keto chicken tenders would be great with a keto Caesar salad or a garden salad.
- Serve with cauliflower. These cauliflower recipes would be perfect to pair with these tenders. Cauliflower mash, Cauliflower bake or Whole roasted cauliflower.
- These keto chicken tenders are so versatile that you could serve them with any of your favourite keto side dishes and you would have a perfect keto meal.
Equipment
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You may need –
Keto Chicken Tenders
These delicious keto chicken tenders are so quick and easy to make they will quickly become a staple for dinner with your family. The kids will love them, they can be part of a keto friendly kid’s lunch box as they are nut free. The sesame flavour as a real nutty, toasty flavour to this keto chicken tenders recipe. The are a real crowd pleaser and a dish you will use when cooking for your non keto family and friends.
If you like this recipe you may also like…
- Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl
- Mexican Chicken Salad
- Mexican tuna salad
- Tuna Salad without Mayo
- Panko Chicken
- Cream Cheese Pasta
- Lemon Chicken Marinade
- Mexican chicken marinade
- Smoked Chicken Salad
- Tandoori Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 600 g chicken tenders (1.3 pounds)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil for frying
Instructions
- Place the sesame seeds, garlic powder and salt in small blender, food processor or spice grinder and blend until they are a fine crumb
- Place the sesame crumbs in a shallow bowl and place a tender in the sesame crumb, press down on the tender to coat one side, flip the tender over and press down to coat. Repeat with all of the tenders
- Place the coconut oil in a large frying pan and melt on medium high heat. Once coconut oil is melted and pan is heated, add the tenders and cook until the crumb is browned, flip the tenders and cook until the chicken is cooked through and crumb is golden brown. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook the tenders in batches. You won't want the heat too high as the crumb may catch and burn
- Once cooked remove tenders from pan and serve with your favourite keto side dish
Great for lunches.
So easy to make too.
Genius panko crumb substitute. My kids loved the flavor. Thank you Erika & Dan
So glad the kids enjoyed it Jenny
These feel like a treat cos they are soooo good. The secret is in the seasoning for sure. Thanks for doing all the hard work for me and sharing this great recipe
Great to hear – thanks Genevieve!
This is a great and tasty way to enjoy chicken tenders. We love these on a weekend for lunch. Delicious!
So delicious
We love the taste of this recipe but have added an egg Dionne prior to the sesame seed crumb! Super crunchy coating that stays on! 😉
Awesome idea – thanks Marg!
We have cooked these twice now and both times they were amazing. I found that if i firmly press the sesame crumb into the chicken it sticks well. These will be part of my weekly meal plan from now on. Delicious served with the curried zucchini.
We love to serve them with the zucchini as well.
So , not necessary to flour egg crumb first before sesame ?
Am intrigued , will try
Thank you
Like these very much. I made them in an air fryer, they turned out pretty good but will try the frying pan next time. They did n’t really brown in the air fryer but they were crunchy!
Interesting. We don’t have an airfryer yet.
These look great! What is the side dish that it is shown with?
Thanks Kim. This is the side – https://havebutterwilltravel.com/curried-zucchini/
OH MY!!!! We LOVE LOVE LOVE these and teamed them up with Cloud bread, mayo, hot sauce and salad and they were AMAZING!!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe – it was super delicious!
Thanks Ruth. So glad you enjoyed them. They are definitely really really good