Bacon Brown Sugar Chicken Tenders with just five ingredients and 30 minutes are the PERFECT game day treat! A sticky sweet, salty appetizer.
If you love this Appetizer, you’re going to love other great party options to get the crowd going at any event, like my Cheesy BBQ Beef Bites, Caprese Pizza Bombs, and Cheddar Bacon Potato Wedges.
Sabrina’s Bacon Brown Sugar Chicken Tenders Recipe
You might need to triple this Brown Sugar Chicken Tenders recipe, I promise they’re that good! You won’t even miss the breading in most chicken strips because instead, you have crispy bacon. Plus its sweet and sticky and bacon-y, and if you can’t get enough of bacon, you should also try my Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog Recipe. This game-day treat will be the first to go.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts , boneless, skinless
- 8 slices bacon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cut chicken breasts into 4 tenders, each.
- In a bowl add the brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Add the chicken tenders and toss in the sugar mixture
- Wrap the tender in a strip of bacon and put into your baking dish.
- Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar mixture over the top.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes or until bacon is cooked through and crisp (as pictured).
Video
Nutrition
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Table of Contents
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can fully make the chicken tenders ahead of time and reheat them in the oven when ready to serve, or you could partially prepare them ahead of time and then cook them when ready to serve. Just slice your chicken, season it, and wrap it in bacon. Top with remaining seasoning and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator over night. Place the tenders in a baking dish and cook in the oven. Watch your cooking time as you might need to cook them for longer if they’re fresh out of the cold refrigerator.
Serving Ideas
- Spicy Tip: Want it a bit spicier? Add in ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper or a squirt of Sriracha.
- Flavor Boost: If you want an even deeper caramel flavor, try dark brown sugar.
- Dipping Sauce: Serve with ranch dressing or honey mustard for dipping sauces.
- Cleanup Tip: Have lots of paper towels to save smears from your couches as people are watching the game.
- Meat Swap: If you’d prefer to make with boneless thigh meat, cut the thighs in three strips.
- Bite-Sized Option: You can also cut your chicken pieces into bite-sized chunks and cook them as bites. Cut the bacon strips smaller too, so they fit the chicken pieces well.
How to Store
Freeze: Freeze leftovers by wrapping each tender in plastic wrap or foil, then you could put them all in a freezer bag and store for 2-3 months. Thaw them overnight before reheating.
Serve: Don’t leave your chicken tenders out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours.
Store: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the oven for best results, at 350 degrees.
Frequent Questions
Yes, you can purchase chicken breast tenders instead of cutting up chicken breasts. Buying the tenders, they will be a little more expensive, but will save you the time of cutting the breasts. The tenders will also be a little more expensive than the breasts.
You can use regular or thick-cut bacon for these tenders. Just use a type of bacon that you typically enjoy eating and they’ll taste delicious.
You can secure the bacon to the chicken with a toothpick while cooking. After it’s done, take the toothpick out of the tender before you serve it.
Use a thermometer if you are unsure that your chicken is fully cooked. You want chicken to be at 165 degrees and then you know it’s done.
Related Recipes
More Delicious Tenders Recipes
Photos used in previous versions of this post.
I was a little disappointed in this recipe.They tasted okay. All of the brown sugar melted off, which I expected, but there wasn’t any flavor from it on the chicken or bacon. Watery (or juicy) in the bottom of the pan. My son in law and grandson loved them. I might season the chicken differently next time, if I make it again.
I’m sorry the tenders didn’t turn out how you expected. One way to help keep the the tenders from getting too watery is by placing them on a cooking rack, or by using some crumpled foil balls to elevate the tenders. This allows the tenders to be above the liquid as it comes out. I hope you try this again, and I hope this helps!
Made this last night. My husband and I absolutely loved these. I like easy and good. This was both!!sh
Glad you both enjoyed the chicken tenders Shirley!
We really enjoyed this chicken tender recipe.
Great to hear Sherry and thanks for the five star review!
These are amazing, thank you so much! 30 minutes at 375 worked great for me. I will broil them for just 1 minute next time, to crisp the bacon. 5 minutes was a bit much this first time.
Do you recommend reheating them in the microwave or oven?
So glad you enjoyed them Allison and I’m giggling a bit, we never have leftovers to reheat but I would do it in the oven (foil your pan for easy clean up!). Thanks for the five stars.
Tried this for the first time and it will not be the last. Chicken is moist and tender and the bacon (well who doesn’t like bacon) adds a whole different Smokey flavor . The sweetness of the brown sugar tops off the whole experience.
So glad you enjoyed the Chicken Tenders Rick. A fave around here as well! Thanks so much for the five star review.
Would a brown sugar substitute work as well? I have to limit sugar intake.
To be honest, I haven’t tested this recipe with other sweeteners. I’m hoping that a brown sugar substitute would work for you. Let me know please!
I just used brown sugar and cayenne pepper like I do for little smokeys and they came out delicious.
I’m almost never attracted to bacon wrapped recipes but my brain had a glitch and I went for it.
Not one iota of regret. Super easy. My chicken was well done before the bacon so I hit it with the broiler for a few minutes.
So glad you enjoyed them Heather and thanks for the five star review!
We just made these ….so good!
We cooked bacon half-way first, drained and cooled it while chicken marinated in the brown sugar mixure.
We loved these!
Great! Glad you enjoyed the Chicken Tenders Ginny!
What are you pouring over the chicken at end of recipe on video?
It’s simply the juices formed while baking brushed over the chicken to add even more flavor! Let us know what you think of the recipe 🙂
LOVE BACON!!! Definitely need to try this one! Thanks.
Everyone who knows me well knows that I love all things bacon! Let me know how you like the recipe!
Could you do this in an air fryer?
I haven’t tested this recipe in an air fryer but if you do, I recommend lightly spraying the fry bin to help with the clean up!
Made it twice now less then a week so yummy.
I like my bacon really crispy, so I pre cooked it just a bit before wrapping the chicken. Sooo good!
What’s not to love in these super delicious and flavorful chicken tenders? The bacon was so crispy and the chicken was so juicy. Such a winner!
My kids really enjoyed these sweet chicken tenders! They were flavorful and pleasing, we can’t get enough of them.
This is so good, but what’s the trick to get the bacon crispy. Mine always turns out rubbery and chicken dry
Looks great! Can you use defrosted chicken strips chicken strips instead?
That’s an interesting idea. If you try it let us know how they turned out please!
So yummy! I like to put these on short skewers and serve them that way.
Going to try these soon,
I made these delicious bundles of chicken wrapper in bacon we all loved them turn out awsome wouldn’t change a thing
we have made these often using chicken tenders. they always are great! thanks!
Made this recipe a few weeks ago, fantastic. Used a foil shishkabob tray over a cookie sheet so the chicken cooked beautifully!!
Thank you
I am going to make this recipe tomorrow sounds so yummy I hope I am not disappointed and it sounds so delicious I will post after I try them. Can’t see why it wouldn’t be anything but awesome!!
I’m having to at this time get 60-70 mg daily.One piece has 29mg. Oh, I will have make this tonight.
Thank you
These are delicious! I broiled them for a bit to crisp them up a little more.
I thought this would end up being very sweet but most of the sugar cooks off and leaves a nice slightly sweet taste.
I make these all the time. I use a rack inside the baking pan to keep the chicken out of the grease released. I also mix a couple teaspoons of Chili Powder in with the Brown Sugar for a tad spicyness. Yum!!! Yep, and I also broil for a few minutes to crisp up the bacon. Delicious!!!!