Buffalo Chicken Tenders (Oven-Baked and Crunchy)

These buffalo chicken tenders are baked, not fried, and they still come out of the oven with a coating that crunches. The trick is a three-layer breading: a seasoned flour and cornstarch dredge, an egg wash spiked with hot sauce, and a coat of fine breadcrumbs pressed on firmly. Bake them on a rack at 425°F, toss them in a Frank’s RedHot butter sauce while they are still hot, and you have wing flavor with none of the bones and none of the frying oil.

They take about 45 minutes start to finish, most of it hands-off in the oven, and the breaded tenders can sit in the fridge for a day before baking. That makes them the easiest game-day food on this site: bread them in the morning, bake them at kickoff, and put out ranch, blue cheese and a pile of celery sticks.

Pictured: the recipe as written, with a flour and cornstarch dredge, a hot-sauce egg wash and a fine breadcrumb coat, baked and then tossed in the buffalo butter sauce and served with ranch.

What Makes These Buffalo Chicken Tenders Crispy in the Oven

Most baked buffalo chicken tenders go soft the second the sauce hits them, because the coating was never really crisp to begin with. Three things fix that here. First, the dredge is one part cornstarch to three parts flour; cornstarch browns drier and crunchier than flour alone, which is the same reason it goes into Korean fried chicken and tempura batter. Second, the tenders bake on a wire rack, so hot air reaches the underside and nothing steams in its own juices on the pan. Third, the breadcrumb layer gets a light coat of oil spray before baking, which is what turns pale crumbs golden.

The egg wash is the flavor trick. Beating two tablespoons of hot sauce into the eggs seasons the breading from the inside, so even before the butter sauce goes on, a tender tastes like buffalo chicken rather than like a plain chicken finger that got dunked at the end. It also tints the coating faintly orange, which is why the finished buffalo chicken tenders look the way they do in a sports bar.

The sauce itself is the classic ratio: Frank’s RedHot Original, the cayenne pepper sauce the original Buffalo wings were made with in 1964, melted with butter and a little garlic powder. Vinegar-forward hot sauce plus butter is the whole flavor of buffalo anything; skip the fancy versions and use the plain red bottle.

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Ingredient Notes

Everything comes from a normal grocery store, and most of it is probably in the pantry already.

• Chicken tenderloins. A pound and a half, which is 10 to 12 tenders. Boneless breasts cut lengthwise into one-inch strips work exactly the same way; thighs cut into strips are juicier and take a few minutes longer.
• Kosher salt and black pepper. Season the chicken itself before any breading goes on. Salt on the meat is what keeps baked tenders from tasting bland under a salty sauce.
• All-purpose flour and cornstarch. Three quarters of a cup of flour and a quarter cup of cornstarch. The cornstarch is not optional if you want crunch.
• Paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. A teaspoon of each in the dredge, plus a pinch of cayenne if you want the coating itself to carry heat.
• Eggs and hot sauce. Two large eggs beaten with two tablespoons of Frank’s RedHot. This is the layer that glues the crumbs on and seasons the inside of the crust.
• Fine dry breadcrumbs. A cup and a half. Fine crumbs cling more evenly to a tender than panko and give the craggy, all-over crust in the photos. Panko works too and gives bigger, lighter flakes.
• Olive oil spray. A light coat over the breaded tenders before baking. Without it the crumbs stay pale and dusty.
• Frank’s RedHot, butter and garlic powder. Half a cup of hot sauce to three tablespoons of butter is the classic buffalo sauce ratio. Salted or unsalted butter both work; the hot sauce is salty enough either way.
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing. For dipping, plus celery and carrot sticks if you want the full wing-night spread.

Buffalo Sauce Before or After Baking?

After, always. Sauce on raw breaded chicken soaks into the coating, keeps it from crisping, and burns where it touches the pan. The tenders bake plain until they are golden and cooked through, then go into a bowl with the warm sauce for a quick toss the minute they come out of the oven. Hot crust plus hot sauce is what makes the coating absorb just enough to taste like buffalo chicken tenders without turning soggy.

If you like a lighter coat, brush the sauce on with a pastry brush instead of tossing. If you like them drenched, toss once, let them sit for a minute, and toss again with the last of the sauce.

How To Make Buffalo Chicken Tenders in the Oven

Set up three shallow bowls in a row before you touch the chicken, and keep one hand for the dry bowls and one for the egg. Breading goes much faster and much cleaner that way.

Season and Bread the Chicken

First, heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment, set a wire rack on top, and spray the rack with oil. Next, pat the tenders dry with paper towels and season them on both sides with the salt and pepper.

Then set up the breading station. In the first bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cayenne. Beat the eggs with two tablespoons of hot sauce in the second until smooth, and spread the breadcrumbs out in the third.

After that, dredge each tender in the flour and shake off the excess, dip it in the egg and let the extra drip away, then press it into the crumbs on all sides. Lay the breaded tenders on the rack without touching and let them rest for 10 minutes, which sets the coating so it does not slide off in the oven.

Bake, Sauce and Serve

Spray the tops of the tenders lightly with oil and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, flipping once halfway, until the coating is golden and the thickest tender reads 165°F. While they bake, melt the butter with the half cup of hot sauce and the garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth and glossy.

Finally, move the hot tenders to a large bowl, pour the warm sauce over and toss gently until every piece is coated. Serve at once with ranch or blue cheese for dipping.

How To Tell When Buffalo Chicken Tenders Are Done

A thermometer is the honest answer: 165°F in the thickest part of the biggest tender. Tenderloins are thin, so they get there fast, usually in 18 minutes, and a couple of minutes over is where they turn dry and stringy. Pull them the moment the thermometer says so.

Without a thermometer, cut the largest one in half. The meat should be white all the way through with no pink or glassy spots, and the juices should run clear. The coating should be deep golden and sound dry when you tap it with a fork; pale crumbs mean they needed more oil spray or another three minutes.

Buffalo chicken tenders also tell you when they are done by their weight. A raw breaded tender feels heavy and floppy; a baked one is lighter and holds itself straight when you lift one end. If it droops, it is not ready.

Make It Ahead

Bread the tenders up to 24 hours ahead. Lay them on the rack, cover the whole pan loosely with plastic, and refrigerate. The rest actually helps, since the coating dries a little and crisps better. Bake straight from the fridge, adding two or three minutes to the time.

The sauce can be made a few days ahead and warmed gently before tossing; it separates when cold, and a whisk over low heat brings it back together. For a party, bake the tenders plain, hold them in a 200°F oven for up to 30 minutes, and toss with the sauce right before they go out.

Storing Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat them on a rack in a 400°F oven or in an air fryer for 6 to 8 minutes, which brings the crust back to something close to crunchy. The microwave works if you are in a hurry, but the coating goes soft.

To freeze, bake the tenders but do not sauce them. Cool, freeze on a tray until solid, then bag for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen at 400°F for 15 to 18 minutes and toss with fresh warm sauce. Sauced buffalo chicken tenders can be frozen too, but the coating never recovers, so they are better chopped into a wrap or over a salad than eaten as tenders.

Variations and Substitutions

Pan-Fried, Air Fryer and Gluten-Free

Pan-fried. For the crunchiest crust, shallow-fry the breaded tenders in a quarter-inch of oil over medium-high for 3 minutes a side, then finish them on the rack in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. It is messier and richer, and it is the version most restaurants serve.

Air fryer. Spray the breaded tenders with oil and cook at 400°F for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway, in a single layer. Work in batches; a crowded basket steams.

Gluten-free. Use a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend in the dredge and gluten-free breadcrumbs or crushed rice cereal for the coat. Frank’s RedHot is gluten-free as bottled.

Cornflake crust. Swap the breadcrumbs for two cups of crushed cornflakes for a thicker, sweeter crunch. Press them on firmly; they fall off more easily than crumbs.

Sauce Swaps

Honey buffalo. Stir two tablespoons of honey into the sauce for a sticky, sweet-hot glaze that kids tend to prefer.

Milder. Use a quarter cup of hot sauce with a tablespoon of ketchup and the same butter. The color stays the same, and the heat drops by half.

Hotter. A half teaspoon of cayenne in the sauce, or a spoonful of the hot sauce brand’s extra-hot version in place of some of the original. The garam masala wings on this site are a different direction entirely if you want spice without vinegar.

What to Serve with Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Ranch or blue cheese and a pile of celery and carrot sticks is the classic plate, and the cool dip is doing real work against the vinegar heat. A celery salad with Parmesan turns the garnish into an actual side. For a proper dinner, buffalo chicken tenders sit well next to a scoop of creamy mac and cheese, oven fries, or a wedge salad with more blue cheese.

They are also a very good filling. Chop leftovers into a tortilla with lettuce and ranch for a buffalo chicken wrap, pile them on a bun with slaw, or lay them over a Caesar salad. A smear of pimento cheese on the bun is a Southern move that works surprisingly well.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders FAQ

More Questions About Buffalo Tenders

Bread a batch of buffalo chicken tenders before the game, bake them at kickoff, and put the ranch in the middle of the table. If the crowd wants a second round, the viral chicken cobbler feeds a room from one dish.