Who doesn’t love a chicken tender?!  I used to pretend I was making them “for the kids” all while plotting how delicious they were going to be on my salad or dipped into something fabulous. But, chicken tenders, fingers, nuggets or whatever ya want to call them are usually over-breaded and fried in yucky fats when eaten out — and not much better for you when baked from those bags from the freezer section. 

My recipe for Baked Turmeric Almond Chicken Tenders uses fresh chicken breast coated in almond meal for satisfying crunch! The golden color comes from turmeric, a spice beloved not just for it’s hue but also amazing health benefits — I’ve blogged about that a million times. By using almond meal (along with coconut flour for the pre-egg dusting), I’ve kept this recipe gluten-free and doable for paleo, keto and other low-carb diets. Not to mention these tenders (or you could do chicken nuggets) are kid friendly. Read on to get the recipe!

For this paleo chicken tender recipe, it takes about 10 minutes to slice up chicken breast into strips and process through the coconut flour, egg bath and almond crust steps, then 20 minutes of bake time.  To prevent sticky fingers, always use one hand for handling wet and the other hand for dealing with dry.

For a quick weeknight dinner, we enjoyed our Baked Turmeric Almond Chicken Tenders with roasted broccoli and our favorite sugar-free barbeque sauce. These gluten-free chicken tenders are also awesome in wraps, on salad and even eaten as cold leftovers the next day for a low carb lunch or breakfast.   

How many lifetime chicken tenders do you estimate your family has eaten over a year or a lifetime?! Are you a turmeric fan? Do you have a trick for keeping your nails and fingertips from turning yellow when working with it?! Please share in the comments, XOXO — Jennifer

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Baked Turmeric Almond Chicken Tenders

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

The young and young-at-hear will love my gluten-free, paleo take on chicken tenders that uses turmeric, coconut flour and almond meal for a crispy crunch.

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons dried parsely

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
2. Slice chicken lengthwise in approximate 1/2" thick pieces. If breast is very large, you may want to butterfly it first.
3. Place coconut flour in shallow dish. Whisk egg in second shallow dish. In third shallow dish, mix together almond meal, turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic powder and parsely.
4. Place strip of chicken in coconut flour, lightly covering all sides. Next dip in egg and let excess drip off. Finally place in almond meal dish and completely cover all sides well with mixture. Place on baking rack sitting atop baking sheet for maximum crispiness.
5. Repeat for all pieces of chicken.
6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in center of oven or until cooked through and turning crunch and lightly brown on exterior.
7. Remove from oven and serve with your favorite dip.

Recipe Notes

***Turmeric is better used by the body when paired with black pepper or fats -- so don't omit the black pepper unless it bothers you.