Thinly sliced chicken breast breaded in crushed up pita chips and seasoning, baked to crispiness & dipped in a tzatziki dipping sauce with some added ranch seasonings. Need we say more? Follow this delicious recipe created by our friend at Quarter Soul Crisis.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken Fingers
- 1lb thin sliced chicken breast
- 5.3oz plain yogurt (Nounós yogurt)*
- ⅓ cup any milk
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Onion powder
- ¼ tsp Dill weed
- Salt & pepper
- 4 cups crushed pita chips
- Olive oil
- Optional Garnish: crumbled feta, fresh dill
Tzatziki ranch
- 5.3oz plain yogurt (Nounós yogurt)*
- Juice of one lemon
- ½ cucumber, grated fine
- 1 small clove garlic, grated fine
- tsp Dill weed
- ½ tsp Fresh chives or dried chives
- ½ tsp onion powder
- Salt & pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 425°
Make Tzatziki Ranch: Add everything to small bowl and stir until combined. Add water to thin if you’d like & make sure you TASTE. Add salt & taste and then add more if you need.
Make Pita Chip Chicken Fingers: Pat the thin sliced chicken breast dry. Cut in half vertically to make chicken tenders. Trim ends if you need to or cut in half horizontally if the chicken is very long. In a large bowl, yogurt, ⅓ cup milk, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp Dill Weed, salt, pepper. Stir until combined and then add chicken. Toss until all chicken is fully coated.
Add crushed pita chips to a flat plate or dish. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat. Pull chicken from yogurt marinade & coat each piece of seasoned chicken in the pita chip crumbs, pressing lightly to get as many on there as possible. Repeat with each chicken tender and lay on baking sheet. Drizzle all pieces with olive oil.
Bake Chicken Fingers until totally cooked through and browned and crispy. 10 minutes, then flip and 10-12 more minutes. Broil and let sit on baking sheet for 5 mins before serving. Serve with extra chopped cucumber and tomato, crumbled feta and a side of tzatziki ranch.
TIPS FROM QUARTER SOUL CRISIS:
Pita Chip Crust
“Crusting the chicken tenders is very simple. I personally prefer to buy thin sliced chicken breast & cut that into strips. Buying chicken tenders tends to require some trimming & let's be honest, for a recipe like this I don't want to spend any extra time on it. Making your pita chip crust is easy. I actually like varying chunks, so I crush the pita chips in a freezer bag, but a food processor also works!
Toss the chicken in the yogurt and seasonings. This will ensure all of the seasoning soaks into your chicken and we don't lose any in the crust or baking process. Then finally coat in the pita chips. Drizzling with olive oil gives us a golden, crispier look & then we just bake in the oven at a high temperature until they are perfect.”
Tzatziki Ranch
“There is so much overlap in some of these flavors. A more traditional tzatziki uses a yogurt base, grated cucumber and grated garlic. I absolutely love the fresh, slightly garlic-spiced taste of that. Adding dill, chives and a bit of onion powder is how I made that "ranch" combo. And it takes literally 5 minutes to make while your chicken fingers bake.”