Welcome to the three ingredient dinner.
As in 1 + 1 + 1 = dinner. It’s like Einstein’s theory for lazy, healthy eating.
And okay, before you start rolling your eyes and snapping your fingers with a well choreographed hair toss, there is salt & pepper in addition to the main three ingredients. But does a dash of seasoning really count? Is a cookie eaten alone actually a cookie eaten?
Of course not.
But semantics aside, consider these chicken tenders kid-food gone classy – They have all the wondrous crisp and crunch of traditional chicken fingers, but without any of the frying, mystery meat, or fast-food guilt.
The holidays are always insanely busy, so I try to tone down my daily chaos wherever I can. Quick + easy dinners are the perfect starting point, especially since November is exactly when my diet/nightly cooking routine tends to go haywire. It starts innocently enough – A pre-made Citarella dinner here, a Seamless order there. But these harmless habits quickly escalate into eating candy for breakfast, completely skipping lunch, and capping off my day with a bottle of wine, a wheel of brie, and a side of self-loathing – It’s not cute. So a recipe like this gets me a real, homemade dinner that fits seamlessly into the holiday grind, all while packing a healthy splurge that feels naughty, but isn’t.
This recipe has mass-appeal for a whole slew of reasons, the obvious one being the 3-ingredient trifecta. But the preparation is beyond simple, too – Marinate the chicken in honey mustard dressing, roll ’em in pretzel crumbs, and bake! You can marinate the chicken in the morning before work, or at night while you’re at the gym – It’s flexible and fits into your life however and whenever you need it to.
The combination of honey mustard dressing + honey mustard pretzels proves an unbeatable duo, making these tenders juicy, flavorful, and teeming with texture. They’re crazy sweet ‘n salty, but most importantly they are simply FUN – fun to make, fun to eat, fun to instagram.
Ya know, all the important stuff.
Three-Ingredient Pretzel Coated Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders
Ingredients:
- 1 lb boneless/skinless chicken tenders
- a few pinches salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup honey mustard dressing (I used Newman’s Own)
- 1 1/3 cups honey mustard pretzels (I used Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzel Pieces)
- cooking spray to grease
Directions:
- On cutting board lay out chicken tenders and lightly season with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl, then pour over with honey mustard dressing. Cover and allow to marinate in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F. Fit wire rack to a baking sheet, then amply grease with cooking spray.
- In food processor pulse pretzels until they resemble breadcrumbs, scraping the sides with a spatula as needed – Some bigger chunks may remain, that’s okay! Spread out pretzel crumbs onto large plate.
- One chicken tender at a time, shake off excess dressing, then coat in pretzel crumbs before placing on greased wire rack. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until chicken begins to brown/crisp, then immediately plate and serve, pairing with extra honey mustard dressing if desired.
>> If you don’t have a wire rack and/or one that fits into a baking sheet, make sure you turn the tenders half-way through cooking.
honey mustard heaven.