My favorite shrimp at Bonefish Grill was the inspiration for these bang bang chicken tenders! They’re coated in crunchy panko bread crumbs and served with a creamy semi-spicy sauce for dunking.
They’re baked rather than fried and for maximum crunchiness triple-dipped. They’re coated in cornstarch, dunked in beaten eggs then crusted with a mix of Japanese panko and seasoned bread crumbs.
The sauce is made of mayo, sweet chili sauce and hot sauce. It’s rich and creamy and just as spicy as you want it to be. You can find the sweet chili sauce in the Asian section of your market. This sauce is super yummy on all kinds of things like french fries and onion rings – so don’t worry about using all the sweet chili sauce if you never bought it before.
You can drizzle the sauce on the chicken and leave some for the side for dipping or go all out and toss the hot chicken tenders right in the sauce like they do in Chinese restaurants.
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Bang Bang Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
Sauce:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 - 2 tablespoons hot sauce or to taste like Cholula
- ½ cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Breading:
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs beaten with 2 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt or ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 + ½ pounds boneless chicken breasts cut into 1 + ½-inch cubes
Instructions
Make the Sauce:
- In a small bowl whisk the sauce ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
Set up the dredging station:
- Add the cornstarch to a shallow bowl or plate and beat the eggs together in another. In a separate, wide shallow bowl or plate whisk together the flour, panko, salt, pepper and all the spices.
Bread the Chicken:
- One at a time coat the chicken pieces with the cornstarch then dip in the egg allowing excess to drip off then coat with the bread crumb mixture patting it on with your hands.
- Place them, not touching, on the baking sheet.
- Bake 12 - 14 minutes or until cooked through.
- Drizzle with some of the sauce and/or serve on the side for dipping. You can also toss the hot chicken tenders right in the sauce if you like.