This easy recipe for baked potato chip chicken fingers is a lighter version of fried chicken that the whole family will love! The perfect quick supper with a veggie or salad on the side.
Jump to:
Why we love this recipe
Okay, let’s all admit it…no matter how old we are, we all love crispy, tender chicken fingers.
They may be a staple on children’s menus everywhere, but at age never-you-mind, I am still a charter member of the chicken finger fan club.
However. One of the things about chicken fingers, delectable as they are, is that they usually come fried, and while I do love a deep fried chicken tender from time to time, I decided to try my hand at making a version that still had an irresistible crunchy crust, but that went into the oven instead of the frying pan.
And the answer (as with my favorite crab cake recipe) turned out to be potato chips. Not an official health food, but a step up from frying, I think!
You want to get the traditional version of potato chips – think Lays or Wise – nice thin chips that you are going to crush up into teensy crumbs.
Dunk some boneless chicken tenders into a little butter, coat them with the potato chips and bake. 30 minutes later you have a nice plate full of these delectable chicken fingers.
If you like them extra crispy (we do!) you can run them under the broiler – just watch them closely so they don’t get too brown.
I serve them up with various dipping sauces. Ketchup is the old classic, but we also love ranch dressing. And while yes, there are extra chips on that plate, I do try and add a green veggie on the side.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
Equipment we used for this recipe
- Silpat: These silicone mats are reusable and perfect for anything that you don’t want to stick.
- Rimmed Baking Pan: The sides on these pans keep stray ingredients from falling on your kitchen floor.
- Rolling Pin: Not only is this pin great for rolling out dough (hello, grilled flatbread!) but it is great for crushing things like potato chips.
Other chicken recipes we love!
Could you leave us a review?
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section.
Potato Chip Chicken Fingers
This easy recipe for baked potato chip chicken fingers is a lighter version of fried chicken that the whole family will love!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter (one and a half sticks), melted
- 2 cups potato chips, crushed into fine crumbs (an 8 ounce bag of chips)
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- Dunking sauce (optional) – ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing and/or ketchup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil or a silicone mat.
- Pour the melted butter into a shallow bowl or rimmed baking dish. Put the potato chip crumbs in a separate shallow bowl or rimmed baking dish and mix in salt and pepper (yes, you really are going to want a little extra salt).
- Dunk each chicken tender into the butter, and then roll in the potato chip crumbs until coated, pressing gently to make them stick. Lay them on the prepared baking dish as you go along.
- Sprinkle the chicken fingers with pepper and bake for 30 minutes. You want the chicken to be cooked through and the coating to be browned. Run them under the broiler for a minute or two if you want an extra crispy crust!
- Serve with your choice of something to dunk them in. We like ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing and good old ketchup – and of course they are just fine eaten plain as well!
Notes
Good old Lays potato chips work best with this recipe – or any light and thin potato chips. The thicker, kettle-cooked variety doesn’t stick as well.
Morgan says
Love a chicken finger that you can bake in the oven instead heating oil and frying it. These came out fabulous! Ranch dressing as a dipping sauce was amazing!!
Yes, not having to deal with all that leftover oil is a gamechanger! Happy long weekend.
Theresa Murphy says
Mmmmmm….chicken fingers; the perfect “finger” food! I miss Wise potato chips. i remember those from my child hood when we lived in upstate NY. No Wise chips in the mid-west. :( Lays has a lot of interesting flavors for their chips these days; I’m thinking some of those might translate pretty well into a chicken finger coating to make for some tasty appetizers, like cheddar sour cream or sour cream and onion. The jalapeno chip might be good, too. Then you could dip them in salsa or put it in a taco shell for extra crunchy chicken tacos!
Martha in KS says
I’ve purchased Wise chips at Big Lots in Kansas. I’ve got a new air fryer – will have to try this recipe in it.
I’m so curious about air fryers! Let me know how it comes out!
I love how you think, my friend! Let me know if you try any of these amazing variations!