Quinoa Crusted Chicken Strips with BBQ Honey Mustard.
I am hoping my brothers do not read this post.
Because they willingly ate… and loved, these chicken strips. Of course they had not a clue that quinoa was involved.
And I would really like to keep it that way so I can continue to make them, because they are good. Plus, the dipping/coating options for these strips are endless. So many options.
Side note: I recently made another quinoa bake only this one was heavy on the Mexican and included chicken. I decided to serve it to my oldest brother Creighton, knowing that the last time I tried to serve quinoa to him he almost lost it on me. Oh wait, he did lose it on me. But I gave it to him anyway, and oh my gosh, it is his new favorite dish. He and he alone has eaten the entire 9×13 inch baking dish over the course of the last couple days. He loves the stuff.
Obviously, I am in shock.
And obviously I am never telling him there was quinoa in it.
See why I hope the brothers are not reading today? I am revealing too many secrets. Must stop.
Point is, if my brothers went for the quinoa crusted chicken (and loved it), my guess is that whoever you are trying to please will love them too.
They never need to know they’re actually healthy.
Sometimes secrets are a good thing.
FYI, I hope when I finally have time for a guy (other than my brothers), that he is not so hard to please and eats things other than beef and chicken. Chances are though, he’ll be just like my brothers. For some reason this happens to me.
So BBQ Honey Mustard? The stuff is addicting and goes perfectly with these strips. They are the ideal Thursday night meal (hey does that rhyme?). Or better yet, the night before Friday. Which we all know is when the weekend really starts. Or at least we can start getting pumped for the weekend.
These strips will help to build the excitement for Friday. OK, really they’ll just make you happy, because who the heck does not love simple kid food like this? Apparently I like it a lot since I posted chicken fingers last week. Sorry, promise to lay off the kid stuff for a least another two weeks, just couldn’t help myself though!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Quinoa Crusted Chicken Strips with BBQ Honey Mustard.
By halfbakedharvest
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken fingers
A great Friday night meal
Ingredients
Quinoa Crusted Chicken Strips
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders, cut into stirps
- 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs use gluten free if needed
- 1 teaspoon fresh black pepper pepper
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
BBQ Honey Mustard
- 1/3 cup dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ Sauce
- 1/2 a lime juiced
Instructions
BBQ Honey Mustard
-
In a medium size bowl combine the dijon mustard, honey, BBQ sauce and lime juice. Mix well and season with salt and pepper if needed. Set aside
Chicken Strips
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
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Spread the quinoa on the prepared baking sheet and bake until toasted, golden brown and crispy, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool, then transfer all but 1/3 cup to a food processor or high powdered blender. Process the quinoa until half of it is ground into flour and the other half is in small pieces, about 1-2 minutes.
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Increase the oven temperature to 475 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray or brush it with the olive oil.
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Add the quinoa crumbs + the 1/3 cup of reserved quinoa to a large bowl and add in the Panko bread crumbs, pepper and seasoned salt. Stir to combine.
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In another bowl combine the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of the BBQ Honey Mustard sauce, add the chicken and toss well.
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Remove each piece of chicken from the buttermilk, and dredge through the crumbs, pressing gently to adhere. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the chicken has been used. Make sure not to crowd your pan, if necessary use two baking sheets. Lightly spray the fingers with cooking spray or a mist of olive oil.
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Bake for 10-12 minutes, then gently flip using kitchen tongs and spray the other side. Bake for 10-12 minutes more, then remove from oven and serve with the remaining BBQ Honey Mustard. Garnish with fresh cilantro and or parsley + a lemon wedge if desired.
So I’ll just come to your house for my fix. Sound good? Awesome.
Haha I always hope my husband doesn’t read my blog, or else he would know that I feed him healthy things too!
I had always wondered how quinoa would be on chicken…thanks for testing it for me 😉
I Cannot wait to eat these girl, chicken strips are a fav…especially when they are healthy and all that jazz!
AND I had no idea BBQ Honey Mustard was so easy to make. Imma put that on ALL THE THINGS! Pinned 🙂
Thanks Taylor!!
U hv the best pictures and the best recipes! It’s such a joy getting your emails! 🙂
Thank you so much! It means a lot! 🙂
Tieghan, guess what’s on tap for dinner tonight – yup chicken fingers. Just needed a recipe for them, and now I have it! Thanks!
Hope you loved these, Kathy! Thanks!
Love the Dijon and honey BBQ sauce as well as the crunchy quinoa coating, T! This is a fabulous and healthy chicken tenders recipe. Thanks for sharing! Pinning (of course)!
Thank you so much for all your sharing Stacy!! I very much appreciate it!! 🙂
Soooo making these! Question though. The link you have for the quinoa bake your brother loved is not Mexican and does not have chicken. Is the link you posted the bake he hated? My husband is a beef and chicken only eater too….so I want to make the one that received the thumbs up 🙂
Hey Bryn, the new quinoa bake I made him has not been posted yet, but you can add chicken or beef to this taco quinoa bake if you wish.
Thanks!
There is no such thing as a bad chicken strip – and quinoa is a genius idea Tiegs!!
Thanks Megan!
These look delicious and perfect for my 2 year old. She loves anything that can be dipped in a sauce. I think I’ll make myself a batch with buffalo sauce and blue cheese. Yum.
Thanks Jenna! Hope you guys love them!
So sneaky!! I would love to serve these up to Logan!! I think he’d go bonkers for this better-for-you crust!!
Thanks Steph!
How could I do it with fish? It would bake for less time? Still crunchy?
Up, just bake them for maybe 10-20 minutes. Everything would be the same. Let me know if you have any more questions and I hope you love the fish version!
Gotta love when you’r eating something healthy and you don’t even know it. These strips rock! Pinned.
Thank you!
I just started eating chicken again so I’m on the prowl (yes I just said that) for new recipes. This one looks perfect. Thanks Tieghan.
Oh yeah!! Thanks Brittany!
i love sneaking in quinoa and kale into whatever i can..this will be happening soon 🙂
Thanks Dixya! Hope you love them!
I’m definitely okay with you posting “kid stuff” if it’s anything like these chicken strips because these look insanely good! Such a great idea!
Thanks Beth!
What a great idea Tieghan, I can see me making this for my family.
Thanks Cheri!
These chicken strips look perfectly crunchy and golden — I love how you toasted it and ground it. I recently tried granola bars that called for uncooked quinoa and it was horrible — tough and overly chewy. Next time, I’m cooking it first!
Thanks Marcie! I hope you have better luck with these!
These look so crunchy and delicious, I want to take a bite out of my monitor.
Thanks Norma!
I never thought of using roasted quinoa as a coating, sounds epic! These look great!
Thank you so much!
not only is coating chicken with quinoa terribly creative, but I love that you sneak stuff to the men in your life too!! lol my fiance always loves to hate on me when I get him to eat stuff he normally wouldn’t, but secretly he’s into it! I’m sure your bros feel the same 🙂
Thanks Christine!
Yum! Luckily, my boyfriend is open to trying new things (more so than I am, probably – one time I suggested making vegan mac and cheeze and he was immediately on board!), so this shouldn’t faze him at all. Ingenious! 🙂
Thanks! Hope you guys love these!
I just found tonight’s dinner! Love your quinoa crust and that great dipping sauce. Way to pull one over on your brothers, too! 🙂
Thanks Laura!! They almost had heart attacks when they found out. Ha!
These look amazing, T! And the whole healthy thing is awesome too 🙂
Thanks Ashley!
Looks fantastic! I’m from Portland, Or and just recently moved to Italy and one of my all time favorite foods is chicken strips but I can’t find them anywhere here! I always make my own and this recipe looks great I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing! I’m going to trick my boyfriend hopefully as you did to your brothers. hehe.
Thank you! Hope they go over well!
what a great idea w/ the quinoa! can never go wrong w/ chicken fingers! yum!
Thanks Caitlin!
What a great idea to coat chicken strips in quinoa! These look so crunchy and so delicious!! And that dipping sauce – yum!
Thanks so much, Cate!
This was delicious! If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought I was eating something decadent and unhealthy, which makes this quite a win!
So happy you loved this!! Thanks!! 🙂
These look amazingly good, Tieghan! Pinning! (and, no, we won’t be mentioning the quinoa at our house either, lol!)
Thank you so much! Hope you love these!
I actually can get my husband to eat quinoa sometimes, but I know he’d prefer it in this form as opposed to a side or a salad. I’ll have to make these!
Hope you guys love these! Thanks!
Hey Tieghan! I made this recipe the other day and we all loved it! It actually reminded me of the potato chip-baked chicken your mom used to make years ago when I babysat you and your brothers. – Just a lil’ bit healthier:) Thanks for the recipe. Will definitely make this again.
Haha! Thanks Sarah! Everyone keeps telling em I need to post that recipe, but it’s so unhealthy!
Thanks Again!
That’s amazing, exactly the recipe I was looking for. I might throw in some chia seeds 🙂
Oh that would be great I bet! Thanks Mira!
what’s with all of these ridiculous “if only this or that inept male knew i was feeding him something nutritious! he would FREAK OUT!!” statements? why would they be averse to something as benign as quinoa (or whatever else you’re surreptitiously slipping your males) and how are they so dull they can’t tell they’re eating it? am i dealing with exaggerated stereotypes or some genuinely underdeveloped segment of the population? if it’s the former, it ain’t funny and it ain’t cute. you’re not living with cavemen. thanks for the recipe.
Has anyone tried Freezing these? If so, what’s the recommended temp and time?
I definitely made a mistake making these. My quinoa wasn’t toasted enough and ended up being a giant gummy mess when I tried to blend it. At that point I gave up and just used panko on the chicken. It was still decent, but not great. Don’t be like me–make sure your quinoa is dry so you can get a little flour mix out of it!
Can you just toast and grind up all the quinoa and just use it instead of adding panko?
You can try that, i think it would be fine. Hope you love these!! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your delicious recipe & introducing me to quinoa. I tend to steer away from hyped up foods however your recipe has open the window to many opportunities. You are a fantastic & generous cook.
Sandra
THANK YOU!! So happy you loved these!
I was wondering how i could go about prepping these, and if it’s possible to do so, throw them in the freezer, take them out and bake at a later day?
Freezing and the baking will work great! Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love these! Thanks! 🙂
Question: Since I am new to quinoa, I need help. In the ingredients you list cooked quinoa. But in the directions, it appears to me that the quinoa is raw when put into the oven and toasted. So–o-o do I cook the quinoa some way before the overn?
I’m so sorry to be so dumb.
Hi Mary! So sorry for the confusion. The quinoa is actually cooked when it goes into the oven and is not raw. It will get crispy and be delish on the chicken. Does that help clear it up for you? Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help in any other way I can! Hope you love the chicken! 🙂
I plan to make these tonight. How many servings would you say this makes?
These will serve about 4. Hope you love the recipe!
Hi what can use instead of butter milk because my grandmother got milk intolerance
Ps love the recipes
Thank you Lana! xTieghan
The best oven baked chicken tender recipe that I’ve ever tried! Takes more time than a basic recipe, but is completely worth it. Came out crunchy, browned, and juicy. With the added benefits of avoiding frying, and incorporating quinoa instead of all white flour breading. Thanks!
Yes!! So glad this turned out so well for you Kat! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
These didn’t even remotely turn out. The quinoa turned into a cement ball in the food processor. Loved the idea of it though
Hi Kaitlin! I am so sorry to hear that!! Is there anything I can help with? xTieghan
These sound delicious! What would you recommend to substitute for the buttermilk?
Hey Ginny,
You can make your own buttermilk with whole milk and lemon juice. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Is this 21 Day Fix friendly?
Sorry Nicole, I am not familiar with 21 day fix. I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan