Everything Pretzel Honey Mustard Chicken Strips

Aren’t you so sick of all those “Healthy 2021” emails/posts/billboards/bus ads? Do you feel like you’re drowning in a sea of images of salads, skinny people, and before and after photos? Well here’s a lovely little post to counteract all that nonsense!

Just because it’s a new year doesn’t mean you have to start punishing yourself for enjoying the month of December. Or enjoying any bit of 2020 for that matter. It was a rough year, so finding joy and happiness anywhere (or in any meal) is something you should be proud of, not punished for.

Taking care of yourself comes in many forms. Some days it’s salads and long runs and other days it’s ice cream sundaes and Netflix. But most days it’s somewhere happily in the middle. These chicken fingers are for those “middle” days. The ones where you work out because it’s good for you, but you don’t try to completely wreck your body in the process, and you eat because that’s good for you too, but maybe you sneak in a few nutrients while you’re at it.

These chicken tenders can be eaten on their own (with dipping sauces, of course. Honey mustard, ranch, barbeque sauce… You get the picture), added to a salad, served with root veggie fries (as featured in the photos), on a platter, or even in a wrap. I have used these tenders for so many different culinary endeavors and they never disappoint. My advice with tenders? Make a lot at one time. It can get a little messy and the process is a little tedious, so make a whole mess of them at once and either eat them throughout the week or freeze the leftovers.

Lucky for you though, these tenders are much easier to prepare that your traditional chicken tenders with all that messy egg dipping and coating. There’s nothing wrong with that method, I just hate how messy it makes everything. The secret to these tenders is to marinate them in a mixture of Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, and honey for at least a few hours then use that yogurt coating in place of that egg! It works great and I’ve never had a problem with the coating falling off.

The coating itself is a masterpiece. It’s a combination of pretzels and everything bagel seasoning (which you can find practically anywhere now. I know at least Costco and Trader Joe’s carry it or you can even make your own). It’s flavorful and salty and so easy to put together, since the everything bagel seasoning already has all the spices you need!

To cook these babies, I prefer to bake them. You can cook more at once and it doesn’t make a splashy, greasy mess all over your stove. Make sure you bake them on parchments paper though so the coating doesn’t stick to the baking sheet! There’s nothing sadder than coating sticking to a baking sheet. You can either melt a little bit of butter on the baking sheet and then place the tenders on to cook or you can go without any oil or butter at all. I find that these tenders already have so much flavor that the oil/butter isn’t necessary, but adding it would certainly elevate your chicken tender experience and I encourage you to at least try it both ways!

Anyway, that’s enough talk about tenders. I hope your 2021 is off to a healthy start, both physically and mentally. Remember to be kind to yourself and appreciate what your body can do. The world offers enough hardship, so do what you can to counter that (starting with chicken tenders, obviously). You are amazing, new year’s resolutions or no new year’s resolutions!

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Everything Pretzel Honey Mustard Chicken Strips

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 4-6 cups pretzels
• 1/2 cup everything bagel seasoning
• 6 tbsp butter, optional

Instructions

1. Mix together Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, and honey in a large Tupperware container or bowl.

2. Cut each chicken breast into 4-5 slices, the desired size of each of your chicken strips. Add strips to the Tupperware/bowl with the yogurt mixture and coat well.

3. Cover the container and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If baking with butter, cut four tablespoons into small pieces and distribute evenly on baking sheet.

6. Add pretzels to a food processor and pulse until they have the consistency of fine powder. You will probably have to do this in batches.

7. Mix together pretzel crumbs and everything bagel seasoning in a large, shallow dish.

8. Remove chicken from fridge and shake off excess yogurt before coating each piece in the pretzel mixture.

9. If using butter, melt the butter on the baking sheet in the oven for a minute or so before adding the chicken fingers. If not using butter, simply arrange the chicken strips on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

10. Repeat until all chicken strips are coated. Make more pretzel/everything seasoning mixture if necessary.

11. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove from oven to flip over each strip so they can bake evenly on both sides. If using butter, distribute the remaining 2 tablespoons in small pieces throughout the pan after flipping the chicken. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

12. Remove from oven and allow a few minutes to cool. Serve on salads, with dipping sauces, or in wraps.