This easy, extra-crispy beer-battered fried chicken tender recipe makes the crispiest, lightest batter-dipped fried chicken ever. In fact, it’s so crispy that when you tap on the tenders with the back of a spoon, it actually sounds like you’re tapping on glass (see the video below). And we think it’s way more delicious than your neighborhood restaurant’s chicken crispers (not to mention less expensive than curbside pickup). Quick and easy to prepare, kiddos and adults alike love this chicken making for a fuss-free dinner any night of the week. Plus knowing exactly what’s in them somehow makes these fried tenders feel a little more guilt-free. Dip them into your favorite sauce, add them to a wrap, or make a seriously great chicken sandwich.
Extra Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders Ingredients
These chicken tenders are delicious. If you’re a fan of Chili’s chicken crispers, Long John Silver’s of the ’80s, or authentic fish and chips, we think you’re going to enjoy this light recipe with chicken instead. Feel free to customize the spices or leave them out altogether. Also, if you’re avoiding alcohol, you may substitute the beer for sparkling apple cider, sparkling water, or soda water if you want.
- 1 to 2 pounds chicken breast tenders, filets, or chunks (450-900g)
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (128g) (+ more for dredging fish in prior to coating with batter)
- 1 1/4 cup light beer or ale (311g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste (6g)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) (5-6g)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional) (1/2 -1g)
- neutral oil for frying
How to Make Homemade Extra Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders
These chicken fingers don’t make you feel “heavy” after you’ve downed a few of them (believe me, it’s gonna happen). This is good news, considering that once you start eating them, it’s really hard to stop. Plus, if you’re not using cayenne pepper to make them a little spicy, there are really only around 5 ingredients in these homemade chicken tenders which you probably already have in your pantry.
- Prep the chicken. Blot the chicken with paper towels to remove excess moisture then dredge each piece in the flour to coat all sides. Shake off the excess flour and set chicken aside in a single layer until ready to dip it into the batter and fry.
- While you make the batter, preheat a skillet or dutch oven to 350°F/176°C with approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) of oil in it.
- Make the batter. In a medium bowl, add 1 cup + 1 T flour (128g), baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder, and whisk to combine. Add the beer and whisk gently just until there are no large lumps of flour visible in the batter. *don’t whisk too vigorously
- Fry the chicken. Working quickly and in batches, dip the chicken pieces into the beer batter, gently shake off any excess batter by tapping the chicken on the side of the bowl, and carefully place each piece into the hot oil making sure not to overcrowd the skillet. Fry the chicken turning over occasionally to ensure all pieces are evenly browned, remove to a paper towel-lined platter or onto a cooling rack, and Enjoy!
Listen to How Crispy this Chicken Actually Is
Make Enough For Leftovers
These fried chicken tenders actually taste great reheated the next day even though the crispiness is all but gone after reheating. If you don’t like to eat leftovers that’s ok too♡. If however, you’re busy and don’t mind dipping cold leftovers into your favorite sauce or reheating chicken in the oven, then make extra. Personally, I fry a few extra pieces so that I can have some leftovers for chicken tender sandwiches for lunch or dinner. And although the texture is different, it’s different in a good way. The batter loses its crunch, but it doesn’t fall apart. Instead, it’s a little “chewy” like a cross between a crêpe and a Chinese dim sum glass dumpling wrapper. This chicken is excellent dipped into your favorite sauces, or used to make crispy chicken sandwiches, taco, and quesadilla fillers, or sliced and placed on top of a salad.
How to Customize Extra Crispy Chicken Tenders
Customizing homemade fried chicken tenders is as easy as adding a few different dried seasonings or spices to the batter or giving the raw chicken a pre-treatment first. Here are a few of our favorite ways to change it up a bit. This batter works equally well for saltwater and freshwater fish (seafood of all kinds actually).
- brush raw chicken with curry paste, mustard, barbecue sauce, or even hot sauce before flouring and dipping it into the batter
- add 1/2 to 2 teaspoons (or more) cayenne pepper to the flour to make it spicy
- add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon smoked paprika or chipotle powder to the flour for a smoky chicken tender
- marinate the chicken in buttermilk and hot sauce for up to 3 hours
- make a non-alcoholic batter by substituting sparkling water, seltzer water, kombucha, or sparkling apple cider for the beer
What to Serve With Homemade Extra Crispy Chicken Tenders (below)
I prefer to eat crispy chicken tenders with a side of twice( or thrice-fried) french fries, but sometimes I like to offset the calories and eat a salad or veggies. Here are a few of our favorite sides to eat with these extra crispy fried chicken tenders.
- Delicious Creamy Mushy Peas Recipe
- Purple Cauliflower Sesame “Steaks”
- starburst vinaigrette with mixed greens
- Perfect Pan-Seared Zucchini
- homemade potato chips
- Fluffy Cast-Iron Skillet Naan Bread
- Perfect Pan-Seared Sweet Carrots
- Crispy Golden Twice Fried French Fries
How to Know if You’re Oil is the Right Temperature for Deep Frying or Shallow Frying
If you’re new to deep-frying (or shallow-frying in a cast-iron skillet as I’ve done for this recipe), you should know that maintaining the right temperature of the oil throughout the frying process is key to getting a well-cooked, light, and crispy fish. If the oil is too cold, the fish will be a soggy, greasy mess. If the oil is too hot, the outside will brown and crisp up before the fish has had enough time to cook through on the inside. Here are a few ways to help you fry up perfect fish or chicken every time.
- Use a candy/deep-fry thermometer. This ensures the accuracy of the oil temperature.
- Use the ‘match test’ method. To know if the oil is ready, drop a matchstick into the hot oil and if it catches fire it’s ready.
- Use the wooden chopstick or skewer method. Place the chopstick into the middle of the hot oil and when you see steady vigorous bubbling (which looks like soda carbonation) coming up around it, your oil is ready.
- Test a small piece of fish or chicken. Add a single ‘test piece’ of fish or chicken to the oil to see if the temperature is accurate before frying additional pieces. It’s better to ruin (or have to rescue) one small piece of fish as opposed to four or five pieces.
Extra Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders tips + tricks + FAQ’s
- Coat the chicken completely with flour. In the first step, be sure to flour the chicken completely being sure to coat all surfaces because this acts like a “glue” for the beer batter to stick to the filets. And this allows the chicken and batter to both cook up properly in the hot oil without bursting open during frying.
- Scale the recipe easily if you’re serving a large crowd. Just be sure to use a large pot (or multiple fryers) to accommodate the amount you’re cooking and be sure to work in batches by having multiple bowls of dry ingredients ready for the beer to be mixed in so that you can have a fresh batch of beer batter as needed and it’s not sitting around.
- You can easily halve this recipe if you want to make only a small amount.
- Can I make beer batter ahead of time? Do not make beer batter ahead of time because you want to maintain as many of those bubbles in batter from the fresh beer as possible. This will help make the final fish or chicken super light and crispy. Always make a beer batter just before using it and use it up as soon after mixing it as is possible.
- How do I make sure the oil temperature is right when deep-frying? Maintain an accurate oil temperature with a thermometer in order to ensure the chicken is cooked properly or check it the old-fashioned way by throwing a matchstick in the oil and if it ignites, the oil is ready or using a wooden chopstick, place it directly into the middle of the hot oil and if bubbles start to come up around the chopstick (like cola bubbles), then you’ll know your oil is ready. Just practice with a single piece first and make adjust the heat lower if it’s browning too fast or adjust it higher if it’s not cooking quickly enough.
Let’s get started!
Extra Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders (the best ever)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings depending on hunger level 1x
- Diet: Kosher
Description
If you love extra crispy chicken tenders, we think you’ll love this recipe. These light and crispy fried chicken tenders are a definite crowd-pleaser and they don’t weigh you down like the ‘neighborhood’ restaurant version. In fact, these chicken tenders are so crispy that you can actually tap on them with the back of a spoon and it sounds like glass (really). If you love spicy chicken tenders, add a little cayenne pepper (we love them like this).
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 pounds chicken breast tenders, filets, or chunks (450-900g)
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (128g) (+ more for dredging fish in prior to coating with batter)
- 1 1/4 cup light beer or ale (311g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste (6g)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) (5-6g)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional) (1/2 -1g)
- neutral oil for frying
Instructions
- Prep the chicken. Blot the chicken with paper towels to remove excess moisture then dredge each piece in the flour to coat all sides. Shake off the excess flour and set chicken aside in a single layer until ready to dip it into the batter and fry.
- While you make the batter, preheat a skillet or dutch oven to 350°F/176°C with approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) of oil in it.
- Make the batter. In a medium bowl, add 1 cup + 1 T flour (128g), baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder, and whisk to combine. Add the beer and whisk gently just until there are no large lumps of flour visible in the batter. *don’t whisk too vigorously
- Fry the chicken. Working quickly and in batches, dip the chicken pieces into the beer batter, gently shake off any excess batter by tapping the chicken on the side of the bowl, and carefully place each piece into the hot oil making sure not to overcrowd the skillet. Fry the chicken turning over occasionally to ensure all pieces are evenly browned, remove to a paper towel-lined platter or onto a cooling rack, and Enjoy!
Notes
- For a non-alcoholic batter, substitute sparkling water, seltzer water, or sparkling apple cider for the beer.
- When adding battered chicken to the hot oil, place it into the oil in a direction away from your body so that if it splatters, it’s less likely to hit you.
- Use wooden chopsticks or tongs to move the chicken around in the hot oil. This is less likely to puncture a hole in the batter which ensures the batter stays crispy and the chicken moist.
- Do not dip the chicken into the batter until you are ready to fry them. Dip one piece at a time and get them directly into the hot oil after you’ve tapped off the excess batter.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Meat + Chicken
- Method: Deep Fried or Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 to 3 chicken tenders
