KFC Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken Tenders

The formula

Every ingredient resolved to grams, expressed against the recipe's own base — next to the median of all 41.

	this recipe	typical
dairy	30%	0%
egg	0%	4%
liquid	30%	0%
salt	3%	0%
aromatics	1%	0%
fat	5%	3%

Where it stands out

• #3 of 41 for saltiness
• #41 of 41 for crust crunch

Adapts cleanly: egg-free, nut-free (documented swaps, applied on the dish page)

Ingredients

Weights computed by us.

3 g	1/2 tsp salt
18 g	1 tbsp celery salt ((Note 1))
6 g	2 tsp garlic powder
1 g	1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 g	1/2 tsp dried basil
1 g	1/2 tsp dried oregano
4 g	1/2 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
13 g	1 tbsp mustard powder
14 g	2 tbsp paprika ((not smoked, use sweet or plain))
2 g	1 tsp ground ginger
2 g	1 tsp cayenne pepper or ground pure chili ((optional - for KFC "Zinger" flavour!))
700 g	1.2 - 1.4 lb / 600 - 700 g chicken tenderloin ((10 - 12 pieces) (Note 2))
245 g	1 cup buttermilk OR 1/3 cup plain yoghurt + 2/3 cup milk ((Note 3))
120 g	1 cup flour
108 g	1 cup panko breadcrumbs
	1/4 cup cornmeal ((Note 4))
28 g	2 tbsp butter ((unsalted))
14 g	1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
	Oil spray

Method: 10 steps, published by www.recipetineats.com — open the original ↗ or use bake mode for a follow-along with a screen that stays on.

“I saw in the comments that these could be prepped up to the point right before baking and then frozen. I did that and followed the rest of recipe exactly but they never got crunchy or crispy. The topping even started coming off. I don't know what went wrong si” — a cook, 3.0★

“I made this with whole chicken thigh fillets. Cranked the fan forced oven to 230 and didn’t turn half way just checked on them. 25 min cooking time. It’s the second time I’ve made this with my kids. I don’t actually like KFC but these are great and much better” — a cook, 5.0★