Sea Salt Recipes

Plantain and Coconut Baked Chicken Tenders

  • Main
  • Difficulty: Easy
When you have kids, the world of chicken tenders becomes reality. So how do you make them a bit interesting, instead of fried? We’ve got a winner for you that uses plantain chips instead of breadcrumbs.

Choosing the Right Salt

When seasoning the plantain “breading” we always use Morton® Fine Sea Salt. It’s the perfect salt to help bring a triple threat to dishes – flavor, dimension, and texture. I recommend finishing the dish with some lemon, parsley and Morton® Coarse Sea Salt to add that final twist to the dish, with coarser grains delivering a burst of flavor and delightful crunch.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups unsweetened plantain chips, pulverized to look like bread crumbs
  • 1 cup shredded coconut unsweetened
  • 2 tsp. sweet paprika
  • 1½ tsp. granulated garlic
  • 1½ tsp. granulated onion
  • ½ tsp. fine ground white pepper
  • 1 tsp Morton® Fine Sea Salt
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1 cup light mayonnaise
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2-3 pounds of boneless chicken tenders or any chicken cuts
  • Chopped parsley, for garnish
  • ½ Lemon, squeezed
  • 1 teaspoon Morton® Coarse Sea Salt

MORTON®
FINE SEA SALT

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  2. Pulverize plantain chips. To do so, simply add the plantain chips to a food processor and spin until a bread crumb like texture is achieved. If you don’t have a food processor, a blender will do, or even crushing them finely by hand or in a plastic bag.

  3. Set up a breading station with two separate bowls. Have one bowl with the ground plantains and coconut mixed with the paprika, garlic and onion powder. Have another bowl with the mayonnaise and buttermilk mixed. 

  4. Season the raw chicken tenders with Morton® Fine Sea Salt and white pepper.

  5. Once seasoned, dip the chicken in the mayonnaise bath then in the plantain coconut mixture and pack on the ‘breading’. You can (and should, if you ask me!) double dip if you want a thicker coating!

  6. Cook the plantain and coconut-breaded chicken on a tray with a rack for 30-40 minutes. Alternatively you can cook the tenders in a pan with hot oil.

  7. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, sprinkling on the parsley and Morton® Coarse Sea Salt for a colorful garnish.

  8. Gently place the tenders in a cross fashion on a plate or serve in a basket family style! 

Tips to Erase Food Waste:

I can assure you there will be no leftovers here, but if for some reason there are a few tenders remaining after dinner, chopping them up and adding to fried rice, or fried cauliflower rice will be a great way to ensure nothing is going to waste! Chopped up in a salad or just cold as a snack also isn’t a bad idea. Also, by using mayonnaise as the “glue” for the breading we are being mindful of not wasting whole eggs which usually happens in a fried recipe.