Asian Lemon Chicken Tenders
A wonderful asian twist to your favorite chicken tenders, tossed in the most heavenly sweet, lemon glaze!
Remember those chicken tenders that you had as a child? Those thick, crisp strips of chicken that you’d dunk in ketchup? Well this is pretty much just like that, except it’s a million times better. And there’s no ketchup involved. Instead, these babies are slathered in the most amazing, sweet and tangy lemon glaze – a glaze so good, you’ll want to drink it!
Now these chicken strips have a simple flour-buttermilk-flour breading. You can use thin strips of chicken breasts or pre-cut chicken tenders. Either works amazingly well. From there, you’ll fry these bad boys until they’re golden brown. While that’s happening, you can go ahead and let that glaze simmer on and get nice and thick.
After all the chicken strips are fried, you’ll toss them in that heavenly glaze. From there, dinner is set! Now who still wants those boring ketchup-dunked chicken strips?
Asian Lemon Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup buttermilk
For the lemon glaze
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- To make the glaze, combine honey, soy sauce, pineapple juice, brown sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10-12 minutes.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Working one at a time, dredge chicken in flour, dip into buttermilk, then dredge in flour again, pressing to coat.
- Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet, 3 or 4 at a time, and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve immediately, drizzled with lemon glaze.
Did you make this recipe?
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Do you think it could be air fried instead of in oil for a lighter version?
These were incredible – and as you can see from all the responses everyone loved this recipe. Thank you for sharing. My only change was I added cornstarch to thicken like most people. I also topped with sesame seeds at the end. I just served with caesar salad and it was gobbled up. Might try adding red pepper flakes next time – and there will be a next time.
These are amazing!! Best lemon chicken I’ve ever had! My kids love it too!!
Could you bake or air fry these?
Oh my gosh this was so yummy!! Thank you so much for this recipe. I only did two minor changes. I used fresh garlic and I marinated the chicken strips in the buttermilk for at least an hour to help tenderize them. So delish! Might add a bit of heat next time? This is a keeper!
Wonderful. Wow. I brined the tenders so there was no need for salt and pepper. I also thickened the sauce.
My only complaint is I could not find anything about the calories, etc and I really needed that.
But so so good. Thanks.
This recipe was good, but I would consider it more of a honey chicken than a lemon chicken
Delicious
I’ve been following and cooking your recipes for over a year now and I had to write a review. You’re truly a lifesaver. Your meals and ideas help me in the kitchen, the flavors, the steps and ingredients are just amazing. Being a grandmother of 6, working fulltime in a healthcare laboratory and went back to college to finally complete my degree I get burned out on what to cook so thank you so much. I made this Asian Lemon Chicken Tenders over rice, broccoli and a salad it was so good.
I have made this 3 times now, and love it. Easy to prepare, and tastes awesome with a side of rice. Make sure to dribble some of the sauce over the rice also, but not too much. For a thicker glaze that you do need, mix 3 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, bring the glaze up to luke warm… add the cornstarch water mix into the glaze, and the cook for 12 to 14 minutes as needed. You can add or lessen the amount of cornstarch, but 3 1/2 tablespoons seems perfect. Thank You.
My mom and I made a deal and I was told to make dinner. I made this. I loved it and so did my mom, dad, and brothers. I would definitely make this again. It is so simple to follow and the recipe and directions are so short. I did pretty good as a 14 year old frying for the first time :). (don’t worry I had adult supervision and I have cooked before)
Honestly, I did not have the courage to make it as I am not so good at cooking but I followed each and every step and it turned out so good.
This recipe is now a family fav. Made a double batch by accident tonight and it’s all gone. I cut it up into smaller chunks and it’s awesome.
Very very good! I made glaze first this way it got thicker and also finished the same time the chicken was finished. Thank you great recipe.
Absolutely delicious- great meal to start the week! Will definitely make again.
sorry. I just sent a comment on the incomplete f the recipe. I read it wrong. I apologize. I will be making this soon.
Wanted to make this but some of the recipe is not there. it ends at the frying the chicken.
This was a delicious and quick to make meal! I will he making again. I started by cooking the glaze on low while I prepared and cooked the chicken. The sauce didn’t thicken up too much. I cooked some pineapple chunks separately and added everything in the same pan at the end which also helped to thicken the sauce (flour on the chicken helps sauce thicken and stick to it). I served this dish with a side of rice.
I’m a horrible cook. The chicken itself came out maybe undercooked, although it is white all the way through. And the timing is difficult. I set the glaze to cook before I started the chicken, big mistake. Glaze had to sit out until it was cool. Warming it up again helped it get runny again. Not to mention the rice and steamed broccoli I tried to put together simultaenously, I think I ended up with everything cold by the end. Lmao I am terrible at this.
But I decided I would come and leave a comment, because the glaze was REALLY GOOD! Even though everything else I prepared was a disaster.
Admittedly this is not the first recipe I tried, but the last two glazes were not the sticky delicious sort. And yes, this was my third attempt at cooking lemon chicken and I still failed. lol.
I am definitely going to try this recipe again (and again) until I get it right.
Thank you!
I made these for dinner last night and followed the recipe exactly. The sauce never did thicken, it was very thin. I’m wondering if the juice of 1 lemon (mine was a 1/4 cup) turned out to be more than needed. And I left it on the stove much longer than 12 minutes trying to get it to thicken. I poured off the extra sauce, garnished with sesame seeds and parsely and served it with steamed riced and asian vegetables. The flavor was outstanding ! I’ll make this again but will use cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Thanks for thr recipe.