Buffalo Chicken Tenders made with a classic buttermilk soaked extra crispy chicken tender dredged in homemade buffalo sauce.
Made with the base of our Super Crispy Chicken Tenders in homemade buffalo dipping sauce and ranch dressing, these buffalo tenders are addicting!
Buffalo Chicken Tenders
Buffalo Chicken Tenders were my go to order when I was in high school and we’d all go out to eat together. I somehow felt more like an adult ordering them because they weren’t like regular chicken strips.
Truth be told most people I know now don’t actually coat their chicken strips, they dip regular chicken strips into buffalo sauce, then in ranch dressing because then all of their strips aren’t getting soggy while they’re eating.
BUT the best part of buffalo chicken strips are when the sauce soaks into the coating a tiny bit making it both crispy and juicy, so a full dip is highly recommended here. If you are going to have any time in between cooking these and serving these I do not recommend coating them until you are just ready to serve though.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Tenders for a Crowd:
Don’t forget if you are making these in a big batch and need to keep them crispy or if you’re making them with any more than 5 minutes before serving, you can keep them warm and crisp in an oven heated to 250 degrees. Keep a cookie sheet in there and add the chicken tenders, single layer, not crowded to the pan as you finish cooking them.
We use a super crispy coating on the chicken tenders here because it gives the buffalo sauce more edges to adhere to. The recipe is easy but tastes like the best restaurant chicken tenders you’ve ever had.
Buffalo Wing Sauce Recipe
- 2/3 cup Franks Red Hot pepper sauce
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a saucepan while whisking. Once boiling and incorporated turn off the heat.
Ranch Dressing Recipe:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Mix all the ingredients together and store in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
How to make baked buffalo chicken tenders? (Healthy Buffalo Chicken Tenders)
After the buttermilk marinade add the spices to breadcrumbs instead of flour. Dredge the chicken from the buttermilk into the breadcrumbs then add to a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Toss with the sauce ingredients just before serving.
Looking for some more fun fried chicken and sides?
- KFC Potato Wedges (Copycat)
- KFC Coleslaw (Copycat)
- KFC Original Recipe Chicken (Copycat)
- Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Copycat)
Tools Used In This Buffalo Chicken Tenders Recipe:
Deep Fryer: Easy for keeping temperature on point and kind of fun to use!
Accent Seasoning: The x factor in the original KFC copycat recipe (this is MSG, I did not use it in my recipe, so use at your discretion).
Pigtail Flipper: I LOVE this tool for frying. I am able to drop and pick up pieces without removing any breading at all thanks to this awesome tool.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- canola oil for frying
BUFFALO WING SAUCE
- 2/3 cup Franks Red Hot pepper sauce
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into four tenders each and soak them in a bowl with the buttermilk and hot sauce for 30 minutes.
- Add the eggs to one bowl and the flour and spices to a second bowl.
- Dip each piece of chicken from the buttermilk bowl to the flour mixture.
- Dip it into the eggs then back into the flour mixture.
- Shake excess flour gently off and put the chicken onto a baking sheet.
- Repeat with all the pieces.
- Heat the oil (three inches deep) in a dutch oven on medium high heat to 350 degrees.
- Fry the chicken in small batches for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.
- To make the buffalo wing sauce add the ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking.
- Dip the tenders into the sauce and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Can I make this in my air fryer. I just got a new stove. It is a convention oven and air fryer. Plus a lot of other methods.
yes, you can!
Not a bad recipe, crispy & juicy… but big NO to the ranch, should be blue cheese.
I have made this a few time. It is consistently very delicious . We love the Buffalo sauce ,it does taste like something you would order at a restaurant.! It’ s always nice when the kids are asking for your Buffalo chicken tenders instead of a restaurant. The recipe is easy to follow. I appreciate the variety of recipes on your site. Everything I’ve tried has been easy to follow and very tasty. The Mongolian Beef is one of our favorites
Thank you, Ron. I’m glad you’re loving all of the recipes.
So I made this tonight and they were amazing! I did end up marinating in the buttermilk for several hours and they came out so tender! I used this to make a buffalo chicken wrap and it’s so much better than any restaurant around. Just advice for anyone else who doesn’t fry things often… I would probably put the flour mixture in a bag to shake the strips around. I got so frustrated with the flour clumping and trying to get them in and out lol. I almost gave up because I got so annoyed, but I’m glad I did! I have extra and re-heated them in my air fryer, almost like just made! Thanks for sharing this… everything about this was perfect.
I’m so glad you didn’t give up, Sara. Thanks for the 5 star rating.
I’m excited to make this! Just wondering if it is okay to marinate in the buttermilk for longer than 30 minutes? I’m going to try for a few hours and see how it goes!
Yes, that would work to marinate a few hours longer if you’d like. Enjoy!
Hi Sabrina, My family has been enjoying the recipes that I’ve made from your site. When my 13 year old son saw the picture of the Buffalo Chicken Tenders he said that looks awesome! It really does look awesome, . I had to try it . The instructions are easy follow. The buffalo chicken results are terrific. Not too spicy. At at time when we can’t go to restaurants this is a great option for yummy food we or our kids might crave
It makes me so happy to know how much you are loving the site!
This recipe is Absolutely Amazing!! The tenders were absolutely perfect and delicious I will make this again, and again, and again! My son is so picky and he could not stop eating them. Thank You!
I’d call that a winner!
These were delicious! But mine got soggy ? what did I do wrong?? Help please!
Oh no! Glad they were still delicious though. Did they get soggy after sitting for a bit? You can keep them on a baking sheet in a low oven (250 degrees f) to keep them warm and that’ll help keep them crispy. Hope this helps for next time.
Great Recipe! The chicken turned out super crispy and was delicious. It was my first time frying chicken ever and this recipe was easy to follow and to replicate. Would recommend!
So happy to hear that! Thank you so much for coming back and recommending!
We are hooked on this recipe !
The only modification being I used sour cream instead of buttermilk ( buttermilk isn’t something I usually purchase).
Gotta go, making it tonight lol
How awesome! So glad you enjoy it so much!
Can this be frozen?
Yes but you will want to freeze before coating in the sauce. When you are ready to eat, reheat and toss in the sauce 🙂
Very tasty! Only omitted the Worcestershire sauce, as I didn’t have it on hand. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Marie.
Just made this tonight. Over all the years I kept telling myself I wanted to make this type of recipe at home. Well thank you so much! It was delicious and not as scary as I thought it might be. My new recipe this week! It will not disappoint.
So glad you decided to give it a try! Thanks so much for the 5 stars, Julie.
I am making this…RIGHT NOW….Literally. Not kidding. However, I am a little stumped. reading down from the top, you tell about taking chicken out of butter milk and into breadcrumbs then on to baking sheet anf to bake at 400 degreesw etc…
Then Below that where it sauce RECIPE you list flour and eggs, and NO breadcrumbs, and then deep fry……???not bake???? So, I am smart enough to and old enough to knkow what to do, but there’s some inexperioenced cooks out there who are REALLY going to be confused…jus saying…if someone actually makes this and does not know what they’re doing or how to fix it? They will be very disappointed sticking milky chicken in breadcrumbs on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 for TWENTY to TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES ….CHICKEN TENDERS? at 400 Degrees? for 20-25 Minutes?
They surely wil;l be MORE than disappointed when they feed their family some over-cooked sad, sad looking chicken….covered in hot sauce…
Anyway…sorry, but you should fix it up. I looked three times before I wrote this to make sure I was reading it right, but I AM OLD, so who knows?
UPDATE: Okay I made this per the ingredient list and deep frying, and it was terrific, made the Ranch dressing as per your recipe, AND Blue Cheese, according to mine, and a hearty mac cheese I made from recipe at Chunky Chef (?) I think?
Five stars for recipe that I followed and four for being confusing.
Did not change one thing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them. I only mention the oven option as an alternative to frying.
I think the flour and oven baking method you are referring to is under the heading for a “healthy” version so its not a poorly written recipe/post its just a misunderstood one.
This recipe came out delicious as written
I have made this twice now, and it’s my favourite Buffalo tenders recipe by far! Family and friends loved it.
Fantastic! Thanks for the 5 stars, Carly.
Is there anything that could be substituted for the Worcestershire sauce? (My daughter is allergic to wheat and anchovies)
A lot of people actually use tamari soy sauce as a substitute. Blend together a teaspoon each of tamarind paste, GF soy sauce and white vinegar. Then add a pinchful of ground cloves and just a tad hot pepper sauce. Hope this helps!
I’m confuse about one part. Do I mixed the buttermilk and the hot sauce together to dip the chicken in?
Yes 🙂
Awesome! Just made the wings for lunch (12-2-2018) and they were really good. The real trick for the batter and crispness is the 2x-dunk in flour! The buffalo sauce is easily thickened by mixing a few drops of water with a Tablespoon of corn starch, then whisking it into the warm sauce. My boys loved it, even though I forced a bunch of carrot and celery sticks on them before they took seconds! Effective tool to get some balance. Thanks
Awesome! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! And I love the tip for the batter’s crispiness! Glad your boys enjoyed it!
Flour works just as well for thickening sauces.. for anyone else that’s allergic to corn, like me. 🙂
This was terrific. My teens went nuts. We are gluten free, and I was able to substitute the 2 cups of flour with 1/2 cup gluten-free flour, 1/2 cup cornstarch, and 1 cup of rice flour (rice starch). That way it added serious crispness. My kids made me make it again a week later.
Thanks for the GF suggestions. I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I made a couple of changes. The breading was bland so I added salt and more seasoning. And the sauce was…not nice…so I added honey. Worked out well that way.
Glad you were able to customize it to your liking. 🙂
Great recipe. My daughter is so picky but she loved it. I put all the ingredients in it. I just pour the spices over my food without measuring cups because my eyes never lie. LoL thanks for another good dinner.
Yay! I know how hard it is to please a picky eater!! So glad you all loved it!
My sauce came out soupy not thick like the pictures but still delicious regardless
To do this with thighs how many boneless skinless thighs would you suggest? I am thinking around 6.
That sounds work depending on the size. Enjoy!
Mouthwatering is not the word for how amazing this looks.
Thank you Ivory!
I see that you listed accent seasoning but no measurement?
I listed it as reference but didn’t actually use it because it’s MSG. I wanted others to have the information if they decided they wanted to use it. Sorry for the confusion.
I love the buttermilk soaking! Juicy & spicy, this recipe sounds like a dream come true!
Thanks Jenny!
Whoa, this has me totally drooling – I WANT!!!
I know, right?! It’s so good!!
Oh wow do these look AWESOME! Perfect for a Friday night!
Thank you Cathy!
I am going to dream about these until I make them!
Haha, sweet dreams!
Why would you rate this 5 stars if you haven’t even made it? Nothing irks me more than that, other than when people say, “well I didn’t have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 items and I substituted x, y, z etc and they were AWESOME.” WTF?
Buffalo sauce is the way to my heart! I loooove these!
Thank you!
That sauce looks fantastic!
Thanks Amanda! It’s so good!!
Great for an easy dinner. These look so delicious!