I’m not gonna lie, anything breaded is better fried than baked but I felt like being good today so I baked these honey mustard chicken strips. If you give them a shallow fry in a skillet, they’ll be crispier, more moist, and more golden brown.
BUT for a baked chicken strip, they’re pretty freakin’ fantastic. Especially with the honey mustard dipping sauce. The sauce is actually the marinade, binding agent for the panko crumbs, AND the dipping sauce. It’s very multi-purpose, which makes this recipe a whole lot faster and easier than most breaded chicken recipes. No three step dredging here! Oh, and did I mention that I made it with light mayo? Yep, and it was still bangin’. But you gotta use Hellman’s light mayo because that’s the only one that tastes right.
Here is a tip for keeping this recipe low cost: buy the chicken and the panko in bulk. I buy chicken breasts in a large 5 lb. pack and then divide it up into freezer bags of two breasts each when I get home. If you happen to catch a “getting close to the sell-by date” sale on top of that, you’ll get a super deal. Panko crumbs can be expensive if you buy them in a small box but if you have a Whole Foods or similar store near by, check their bulk bins. I got my panko crumbs for 1.99/lb. I bought about 4 cups for only $1.39. Score!
Honey Mustard Chicken Strips
Honey Mustard Chicken Strips
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts, about 1.5 lbs. ($2.48)
- 1 cup mayonnaise ($1.69)
- 1/3 cup honey ($0.79)
- 1/4 cup mustard, any variety ($0.27)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp paprika ($0.02)
- to taste salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs ($0.70)
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, garlic powder, paprika, and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir until everything is evenly combined then taste and season with salt to your liking. Divide the sauce into two portions. Half will be the marinade and half will be the dipping sauce – it MUST stay separate. Keep the sauce refrigerated until ready to use.
- Trim the chicken breasts of excess fat and slice diagonally into 1/2 inch thick strips. You should get about 14-16 strips total. Place the sliced chicken in a bag or bowl with half of the honey mustard sauce and stir to coat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or over night.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a dredging station by lining a large baking sheet with foil and then placing two wire cooling racks on top. The wire racks keep the strips lifted as they bake so that the bottoms will crisp too. Coat the wire racks with non-stick spray. Pour the panko crumbs into a wide, shallow bowl.
- One by one, coat the chicken strips with panko crumbs. Do not wipe off excess honey mustard sauce before coating with panko, the sauce helps it adhere. Place the strips on the wire rack as you bread them. Continue until all of the strips are coated with panko crumbs. Discard the leftover honey mustard sauce that the chicken was marinating in.
- Bake the chicken strips in the oven until the crumbs have turned golden brown (about 30 minutes). To Fry: Alternatively, heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the surface of the oil looks wavy. Fry a few strips at a time on each side until they are golden brown and crispy. Drain on a plate covered with paper towels.
- Serve warm with the reserved half of the honey mustard sauce.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Start by making the sauce/marinade. Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, garlic powder, pepper and paprika in a bowl. I used both regular yellow mustard and dijon but you can use any kind that you like.
Stir it all together until it’s well combined then taste it and season with salt to your liking. Separate the sauce in two. Half will be used to marinate the chicken, the other half will be used to dip the cooked chicken strips in. Keep the sauce refrigerated until you’re ready to use.
Slice the chicken diagonally into thin strips. I got about 15 strips out of the two breasts.
Place the chicken strips and half of the honey mustard sauce into a ziplock bag or a bowl, toss to coat the chicken, and then marinate for at least 30 minutes (refrigerated).
Prepare the dredging station by lining a large baking sheet with foil and then placing two wire cooling racks on top. The racks will keep the strips elevated as they bake, allowing the bottom to crisp up too. Pour the panko crumbs into a wide shallow bowl.
One by one, coat the chicken in the panko crumbs. Do not wipe off excess mustard sauce before breading. The sauce is what makes the crumbs adhere. I like to completely bury the strip in the crumbs, pat down on it, then gently fish it out and then they are completely coated. Place the strips on the wire rack as you bread them. Discard any left over marinade because it has raw chicken germs in it.
Once they’re all breaded, bake in a 400 degree oven (preheated) for about 30 minutes or until they’re golden brown. If you want to give the chicken a light dusting of spray oil before they go in the oven, this will help with the browning… I forgot to do that step!
This is my chicken after about 35 minutes. Frying them in oil will yield a much more golden, crispy chicken strip… but that’s up to you.
Dip the chicken strips in the reserved half of the honey mustard sauce. Oooh, it was so good.
Mmm, thick, sweet, tangy sauce…
AND I just happened to have the ingredients on hand to turn the chicken strips into a wrap! YUM.
Has anyone tried freezing the uncooked chicken strips with the marinade on it?
A favorite in our household! Super easy, and even though I’m not a fan of most honey mustards, I love this homemade honey mustard and use it all the time. My oven cooks fast so it only takes a our 25 min for the chicken strips to cook. They come out wonderful and consistent everytime. My daughter is always excited when she knows I’m making this for dinner.
This is my children’s favorite dish!! I have been having trouble finding something that all 4 of them like…it has become a constant battle, but every time I make this (I have now made it about 5 times), they are ALL happy!!
Thank you so much!!
I’ve made this twice now! My go to chicken tender recipe , easy and delicious! I only home cook now and this is a great recipe for anyone who is looking to dish the processed frozen food for good! Amazing honey mustard too!
What if i dont have a rack to plce them on :(
You’re welcome to bake them right on the pan! The rack just allows air to circulate under the bottom so they stay super crispy. Yours might just not be as crispy on the bottom!
DELICIOUS! Seriously, every one of your recipes is amazing. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve made these, the falafel, sticky soy ginger chicken…all delicious! Thanks so much!
Delicious! I halved the recipe and it was perfect for 2-3 people. Didn’t have time to marinade, just dredged in seasoned flour and then in 1/2 of the sauce and then Panko. Finally the secret to a yummy and creamy honey mustard sauce and crispy oven baked Tenders Thank you.
Delicious. I added some extra dijon mustard and about 1/4 cup of sriracha. Also, instead of frying, I baked these according to the directions in the Sriracha Chicken Strips recipe on this site. Absolutely outstanding. Thanks for another great recipe, Beth!
Excellent, easy recipe! Any idea how long the honey mustard dressing would last in the fridge?
There’s no exact cut off date, but probably around 4-5 days.
I would think as long as the ingredients in the sauce would last that’s how long the sauce would last. I think Beth has to play it safe saying 4-5 days. But if the ingredients are mayo, mustard, and honey, I’d feel completely comfortable leaving that in the fridge for as long as I’d leave mayo or mustard in the fridge. And the honey doesn’t even need refrigeration. So unless I’m fouling something up, I say you’re good for as long as you need it.
Amazing recipe. Super easy and tasted delicious! I added Parmesan and Italian seasoning into the panko mixture and since I was low on panko, I ground up corn flakes and that fluke put the added crunch in my tenders.
Absolutely delicious. I didn’t have any panko bread crumbs so I used regular Italian seasoned ones and they came out wonderfully. So much easier than trying to fry them.
hi, can i freeze the baked chicken? To reheat, do i first thaw in fridge then reheat in oven to retain the crispyness? what temperature should i set to reheat and for how long?thank you.
You can freeze it, but the breading will most likely get very soggy upon thawing. This one is best eaten fresh out of the oven.
Wow great recipe, will definitely try this!
2lg. chicken breasts – what does lg. mean? I could not find anywhere.
Sorry, that was “large”. I’ve updated it in the recipe. :)
This recipe was absolutely delicious! This is a must try recipe.
Could greek yogurt be used instead of mayonnaise?
I wouldn’t suggest substituting more than half of the mayo because Greek yogurt has a much more acidic flavor. Mayonnaise is more mellow and creamy thanks to the egg yolk.
I can’t believe how time has flown! This was the first recipe I ever made from your blog and I’ve been hooked ever since!
Made this last night, and it turned out well..eventually! I tried to fry them as indicated in the directions but the breading just fell off with the slightest touch and made a big mess. I then decided to bake the rest and those worked but a previous commenter is right that the bottom side seemed a little soggy at the end, even when baked on the elevated rack. Fiance was a big fan of the taste though so I’ll be making these again.
I made these and they were great! I made only one adjustment; I added a Tbsp of olive oil to the panko to lightly coat them and help with the browning And crispness. This will be in the regular rotation for sure!
I made this recipe tonight and it was a hit with my husband, picky toddler and me! I dipped it in sweet chili sauce which was delicious. This will be in our rotation!
Love the sauce!. I tried it the other day and my family was amazed
These are one of our favorite meals! Could they be frozen after baking?
Unfortunately, I don’t think these are a good fit for freezing because the breading will get very soggy upon reheating. The frozen breaded chicken that you find at the grocery store has a lot of fat/oil in the breading to help keep it crisp after it thaws/cooks.
darn…Thank you for your response! That makes sense.
Cassie – they freeze just fine! Just freeze them on a rack or parchment paper lined baking sheet and after they are frozen, throw them in a container or bag. ;) I use seasoned bread crumbs rather than the panko and I always have some in the freezer ready to throw in the oven.
You can definitely freeze before baking then pop them out of the freeze 15min before baking to they can defrost enough to break them apart. Then bake following recipe directions.
I am making these for the first time tonight, and they’re marinating as I type. I do not have the right kind of cooling racks to bake them on, so I have a plan to flip them safely and hopefully reduce the loss of their crunchy goodness. I will line my baking pan with non stick foil (Reynold’s Release)and halfway through the cooking time, I will take a second baking pan lined with n/s foil and place that upside down over the partially cooked strips, flip both pans over so that the bottom of the chicken is now facing up, then bake for the remaining time. I hope this works! My kids are going to gobble these up, I just know it! Thanks!
This recipe was amazing! I normally do not enjoy chicken strips, but the texture of the crunchy chicken and the flavor of the honey mustard sauce are to die for. I am so excited to make this recipe for friends and family!
It is pretty big for 2 people and Wifey doesn’t like leftovers so I cut the recipe in half using these conversions; (1.333Tbsp/4tsp)& (16Tbsp/cup) so
2Tbsp + 2tsp = 1/6 cup
2Tbsp = 1/8th cup
lifeasayontz – I wonder if flippling them half way through baking would help. I hope so! Glad you had such a happy accident with the honey mustard ;)
I found this recipe several weeks ago and pinned it for later use. I love honey mustard, but only when it is just right. By accident, I put in the 1/3 cup mustard (yellow) and honey, instead 1/4 cup mustard. And I didn’t have garlic powder so I used garlic salt and and left out the regular salt. The HM turned out to be exactly how I like it. I made up the strips and they were amazing! My only complaint is that, while the tops were crispy crunchy, the bottoms were a almost a little soggy and they had deep impressions from the lines of the cooling racks they’d baked on. Any suggestions to avoid that and get an even crunch (without frying in a pan, because turning them over usually causes you to lose big chunks of breading)?
Katie – YUM cayenne would be excellent in this! Great idea!
Beth, LOVE your blog! VERY excited to have these tonight!! My hubby likes a little spice….what should I add to his dipping sauce? Horseradish? Cayenne pepper? Hot sauce?
Thanks!
After wanting to try these for a long time, I finally made them the other night! They were fantastic and I just used 365 organic honey mustard. I will definitely be making them again. Also, they crisped right up in the oven after a night in the fridge. I’m really tempted to try freezing them.
Sandy – No, I’m sorry, I don’t have nutrition info. But there are websites out there where you can enter the ingredients for recipes and it will calculate it for you. Try sparkpeople.com.
Do you have any nutritional info? Thanks so much!
I wouldn’t suggest these for freezing. The breaded coating will get very soft and mushy upon thawing.
Do you think these would freeze well after baking?
Oh that looks soooo yummy!! :)
It looks so yummy – hope to see more update very soon.
This was delicious and fun to make too :) Thank you!
I LOVE your blog!! I’m trying two recipes out next week. Thanks for sharing!
Delicious! Best honey mustard I’ve ever had!
I tried this tonight in addition to the pumpkin pie baked oatmeal. These tasted delicious but didn’t look as nice. Awesome recipe!
So good! I tried this with crushed Corn Flakes, but the bread crumbs sound SO much easier!
To get an even crispier, deep fried look without a huge amount of added fat, spritz the fingers with a bit olive oil. It doesn’t take much and gives that extra crunchiness so many of us crave. I do the same with breaded eggplant under the broiler.
The pictures are very helpful. Unfortunately the directions are quite wordy and don’t line up with the pictures, which makes this recipe rather difficult to follow.
I make something similar, but instead of the panko I use frenches fried onions…like what you put on green bean casserole. Just crunch them up and use them for the breeding. My kids beg for these!
This recipe also works REALLY well with pork! I had a single uncooked pork chop left from another night, and followed the same method for slicing/marinating/coating as I would have for a chicken breast. To make a smaller batch of the honey mustard dip/marinade, I used your picture to eyeball the amounts…just in a smaller bowl. I served the pork with some “fried” rice and a quick home-made sweet and sour sauce with the usual veggies, and it was fantastic! I’ll be using this again, for pork AND chicken!
these were SO GOOD. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
The girlfriend and I made these a few weeks ago, however we did not have panko. We did, however, have pretzels. So we crushed them up and used them as breading. HOLY COW were they fantastic. Keep the good ideas coming Beth!
This is sooo funny! I just found out about your blog today, and I must say that I had created nearly the exact same recipe for these chicken strips without ever seeing yours! I feel like we’re on the same wavelength. I will definately be browsing your blog frequently now, and I plan to make your latest post, the sausage and kale soup, very soon. Feel free to check out my blog as well. It has bargain fashion and food ideas among many other things. I look forward to your feedback.
These are wonderful!!!!! Made them a couple weeks ago and I’m going to make them tonight for a “quick” dinner! Thank you!
I made these last week. My hubby is a picky eater (I’ve been working for years to fix this, he’s getting better) and I tried this on him. I just told him I would be doing something new and marinating the chicken strips instead of just seasoning and baking them. He said they were good and not too much seasoning on them and he’d like them again. Then I told him what was in it. Success!
The honey mustard itself is awesome, it’s just the way I love it. I used Gulden’s Spicy Brown, the same stuff I put on my sandwiches. I used 3 chicken breasts so we’d have leftovers and there was plenty of honey mustard to coat everything.
These are amazing, I’ve made them twice since you posted the recipe and I’m making them again tonight! I didn’t see the hint about the spray oil before but I’ll try that this time. They satisfy my craving for “chicken crispers” that I used to order from Chili’s :)
Thanks for the recipes! Yours is my absolute favorite food blog.
I just made these (I am literally eating them as I type this) and they are delicious!
Amazing dish. I also made ramen noodles with stir-fried vegetables on the side and the two dishes worked well together.
We made these tonight and they were excellent!
It’d be the most amazing price in the world–I’m sorry it isn’t true. :D We’re making this right now, and the sauce already looks delicious.
So right, Tintin. that was a typo. It’s fixed now! Thx for the heads up!
The cost listed in the table for the bread crumbs looks a little off–only two cents? :)
sounds good but you might want to cook the strips for half the time in the oven then browning them using the broiler set to high. You’ll have to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn but they won’t dry out as much.
I find an instant read thermometer invaluable for this sort of stuff. I hate dried-out chicken. :)
mmmm…can’t wait to try this. Every time I bake chicken in the oven it tastes pretty dry, hopefully the honey mustard will help!
omg this looks soo mouth watering yet easy to make! i think i will try this next week!thankss