Homemade, real food, kid friendly, healthy…. have I got your attention yet? Today we are talking freezer meal Oven Baked Chicken Strips. These chicken strips are the most requested dinner in my household, not only from my kids but by the old man too. When I first made homemade chicken strips I tried a few different methods. I wanted them to be baked and also crunchy, which I feel can be hard to achieve. I found I had the best results when I used panko bread crumbs. I have used regular panko,whole wheat panko and also Italian style panko bread crumbs. I love them all. My favorite is the Italian style panko bread crumbs because they give the chicken strips the most flavor.
To put these Oven Baked Chicken Strips together isn’t anything special. It’s pretty typical of how you would imagine making chicken strips, but the ending results is where it’s at. Your family will love you, and yes, you will love you too. I hope you enjoy these crunchy, homemade and best of all freezer friendly chicken strips.
Oven Baked Chicken Strips
First you are going to want to cut up some chicken breasts into strips. Try to keep them similar in size. I used two large chicken breasts and was able to get 12 strips.
Next grab 3 bowls or pie plates and add flour, salt and pepper to the first. Add eggs to the second bowl and Italian style panko bread crumbs to the third. Get ready to dip your chicken.
First in the flour mixture.
Next in the egg wash.
And in case you haven’t guessed yet, next is the panko bread crumbs.
Add them all to a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Flip chicken strips over halfway through the cooking time.
Serve with my homemade ranch, homemade BBQ sauce or the dipping sauce of your choice.
Freezer Meal Directions:
These chicken strips freeze up so well making it a perfect freezer meal for those busy nights when we need a quick meal without the hassle. Here’s how to do it.
After the chicken is coated in the panko bread crumbs, place chicken on parchment covered baking sheet and place in freezer for 2-3 hours or until frozen solid. Then transport them to a freezer safe Ziploc bag and freeze for future use. To bake: Place frozen chicken strips on greased or parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
Below is the printable recipe for you. Enjoy!
Oven Baked Chicken Strips are real food, kid friendly, healthy! And this are Freezer Friendly Meal.
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Italian style panko bread crumbs (whole wheat or plain panko will work too)
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Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
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Cut chicken breasts into equal sized strips.
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Take 3 bowls and in 1 bowl add flour, salt, and pepper. Mix well. In another bowl beat 2 eggs. In third bowl add 1 cup Italian style panko bread crumbs.
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Dip each piece of chicken in flour, then egg, and lastly panko bread crumbs.
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Place chicken strips on a greased or parchment covered baking sheet.
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Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Turn Chicken strips halfway through cooking to ensure even cooking and crispiness.
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Serve with ranch, BBQ sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.
For freezing: After dipping chicken in flour, eggs, and panko bread crumbs, place on parchment covered baking sheet and flash freeze for a few hours or until frozen solid. Transfer to a freezer safe zip lock bag and place in the freezer. To bake. Place frozen strips on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.
this is a most requested meal in our house too! I make these the same way except I also add a packet of ranch dressing to the Italian panko bread crumbs. Gives it a whole new flavor! We do this on pork chops too! 🙂
We make something similar but add park cheese with the panko but i have never thought of freezing them! We usually buy a big bag of frozen tenders at costco but I am assuming I can’t defrost and refreeze right? So do you just normally buy fresh tenders if you plan on freezing some? Sorry if thats a silly question!
You can refreeze any meat as long as it is thawed in the refrigerator. If you thaw chicken at room temperature or in the microwave or in water you must cook it immediately according to the United States Department of Agriculture. If you thaw them out properly they can be frozen again after you make them into chicken tenders without any problems! I have used both frozen and fresh tenders to make this and they taste the same!
I did not know that! I can’t wait to get some of these frozen for quick dinners as they are my daughters favorite! Also I loooove your blog! I spent about 10 hours on here yesterday! I am a city girl wishing she had a farm as well :/ I printed your cleaning schedule and am trying it out today! Thank you!
Thanks so much! I am glad you like it! 🙂
Yay! I didn’t know this either. I just searched for answers online for the best way to freeze breaded chicken and found this. Thanks! I make a bunch of these spice rubbed chicken finger that I think were originally published in a south beach diet cookbook. We they are pretty good, but every I freeze them, they come out really dry. I have been baking them first and then freezing. It hasn’t worked too well for us! Haha
parm* cheese
We eat a lot of these as well. I like to make some strips and some other cuts too. I make large nuggets (flatten a bit with a meat tenderizer if they seem to fat) and use them for making chicken parmigiana sliders. I make smaller nuggets for my version of Panda Express Orange Chicken. Most times I bake them before freezing, which comes in handy when tossing into a salad for the fastest dinner there is.
I make this version a few times a month for my crew. Another one we like is dipping the tenders in cream of chicken soup, then a mixture of panko and crushed saltines. My kids call it Cracker Chicken!
Yum! That sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
Do you have any homemade recipes for honey mustard dipping sauce? We go through it fast here. I try to buy it on sale but with 4 kids it goes quick! I would love to see if you are up to the challenge of creating a copycat version of Ken’s Honey Mustard Salad Dressing!
Thanks for all you do, I love all your great money saving ideas!
You are welcome! I might have to work on that copycat recipe!
I just mix honey and dijon mustard and my kids love it.
These are very nice and crispy on the outside and yet very nice an moist on the inside.
They are very easy to make.
So glad you like them!
I have a question, it might a silly one so I appologize in advance. I was curious can I actually cook these completely and then freeze them? I work full time, and I am a full time student so I’m trying to save much time as I can. I am thinking if I do this I could just pop a couple in the microwave after a long day.
Anyways thank you so much for the work you put in to your blog. I recently found it and I am hooked!
Yes, you could cook it before freezing.
When you cook them before freezing, do you cool them completely before? How would you recommend to reheat them in a microwave?
Thanks so much!!!!
I officially love this site!
If you reheat them in the microwave, the breading will turn soggy. Unfortunately, the oven works best. Does your oven have a setting where it will preheat at a preset time? That way you could just pop them in to the oven when you get home.
I just came across this web site and I’m really enjoying all these freezer meal ideas! One thing I wanted to suggest, that really helps give them more of a fried chicken strip flavor, is to simply brown/toast the breadcrumbs in a dry frying pan for a bit before you bread the strips. Of course you need to keep a close eye on the breadcrumbs when doing this, stirring constantly for even browning, and removing them as soon as they are done. They will go from browned to burnt in an instant if you aren’t watching them. They will also sort of continue to brown even after you remove them from the pan into a dish for breading. Then I spray the breaded chicken tenders generously with cooking spray and cook them on a wire rack over a baking sheet – turning over once during the cooking process.
Great tip!
hi – do you by chance have a “shopping list” already prepared for your freezer meals here?
thanks so much for sharing these recipes!!!
My shopping lists will be in my freezer book coming soon! 🙂
We cooked this recipe freshly made and right out of the freezer and could not tell a difference. Another winning recipe for my family. Even my picky two year old who rarely eats meat asked for seconds! Crispy and tasty. A great salad topper too.
Could you bake them first and then freeze the chicken strips? So all you would have to do is thaw them and reheat in the oven?
Yes, you could definitely do that. The outside wouldn’t be as crispy if warmed in the microwave but the flavor would still be delicious.
Can’t wait to make these and some of your BBQ sauce. Thanks!
Very good alternative to chicken nuggets. The whole family liked the recipe. Easy to do as well!
I’ve been making these for years and somehow I’ve never commented?! So sorry. These are great. I make them for my husband as a replacement for store bought chicken nuggets. He prefers these. If you make a big bulk batch it’ll last in the freezer for a while. It’s an easy go to meal for a long time. My only difference is cook time. I prefer to cook them at 450 for 22 minutes. But that’s just because it means I can cook them at the same time as my fries. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks so much Rebecca, so happy you and your hubby like them!