Crispy golden chicken strips (Printable)

Tender strips marinated, breaded, and fried to a crispy golden finish, paired with savory sauces.

# What you'll need:

→ Chicken

01 - 1.1 lb chicken breast fillets, cut into strips

→ Marinade

02 - ½ cup buttermilk
03 - 1 teaspoon salt
04 - ½ teaspoon black pepper
05 - ½ teaspoon garlic powder
06 - ½ teaspoon paprika

→ Breading

07 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
08 - 1 teaspoon salt
09 - ½ teaspoon black pepper
10 - ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
11 - 2 large eggs
12 - 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

→ For Frying

13 - Vegetable oil, for deep frying

→ To Serve

14 - Barbecue sauce
15 - Honey-mustard sauce

# How-To Steps:

01 - Whisk buttermilk, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a bowl. Add chicken strips and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.
02 - In separate shallow bowls, place flour mixed with salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika; beat eggs; and place panko breadcrumbs.
03 - Remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Dredge each strip in the flour mixture, dip in beaten eggs, then coat evenly with panko breadcrumbs.
04 - Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches in a deep skillet and heat to 350°F.
05 - Fry chicken strips in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
06 - Present hot with barbecue and honey-mustard sauces for dipping.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • They're ready faster than takeout and taste infinitely better, especially when you taste that buttermilk tenderness the first time.
  • The double-dredge method guarantees a shatteringly crisp coating that stays put, no sad soggy breading falling off into the oil.
  • Kids and adults eat them without complaint, which alone makes this worth keeping in your regular rotation.
02 -
  • Don't skip the marinade thinking it's wasting time—those thirty to one hundred twenty minutes are when the buttermilk actually makes the chicken tender, and skipping this step leaves you with tough, dry results.
  • The double-dredge (flour, egg, panko) is what prevents catastrophic breading separation in the oil, which I learned the hard way by trying to shortcut it.
  • A thermometer is the single most important tool you'll use here; eyeballing oil temperature leads to either pale, greasy chicken or burnt exteriors with raw insides.
03 -
  • Marinate your chicken the night before if you're planning ahead—it becomes even more tender, and you'll feel brilliantly organized when dinnertime arrives.
  • If you're feeding a crowd, set up a warming oven at 100°C (210°F) so finished batches stay warm and crispy while you fry the rest instead of cooling down and becoming chewy.
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