If you need a family-friendly weeknight dish, you’ll love these baked Chicken Tenders Parmesan. My family loved it!
Chicken Tenders Parmesan
Two family favorites – chicken tenders and chicken parmesan – combine for an easy weeknight dish. I wasn’t sure how chicken parmesan would come out with chicken tenderloins, but I was pleasantly surprised. The chicken was so tender, and my picky husband loved it. If you need more chicken tenderloin recipes, these Air Fryer Chicken Tenders and these Pickle-Brined Chicken Tenders are both very popular! And if you love your air fryer, try this Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan.
Are chicken tenders just cut up chicken breasts?
Chicken breasts and tenderloins, also called chicken tenders, are actually not the same. The tenderloin is a muscle underneath the breast that is removed and sold separately. As their name implies, tenderloins are more tender than breasts.
Chicken Tenderloin Parmesan Ingredients
- Chicken Tenders: Season 12 tenders, about 1 ¼ pounds, with salt. If you don’t have tenders, you can slice breasts into long strips.
- Egg: Beat one egg in a shallow bowl. The egg will help the breading stick to the chicken.
- Breadcrumbs: I like to use seasoned breadcrumbs because it reduces the number of ingredients. If you don’t have them, you can sprinkle in some dried herbs, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Marinara: Use your favorite brand or make your own with my quick marinara sauce recipe.
- Cheese: Shredded part-skim mozzarella, grated parmesan cheese
- Basil: Chop fresh basil leaves for garnish.
How to Make Chicken Tenders Parmesan
- Prep: Line a sheet pan with foil and spray it with oil. Season the chicken with salt. Crack the egg into a shallow bowl, and put the breadcrumbs in another.
- Dredge the Chicken: Dip the tenders in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, and shake off any excess. Place the tenders on the pan, and spray both sides generously with oil.
- Bake the chicken at 425°F for 18 minutes, flipping it halfway. Don’t worry about it getting crispy – it will get covered in marinara anyway.
- Cheese and Sauce: Transfer the chicken strips to a 9” x 13” baking dish. Spread the sauce over the chicken and top it with both kinds of cheese. Bake for eight to 10 minutes until the marinara is hot and the cheese is melted. Top the chicken parmesan with fresh basil.
What to Serve with Chicken Parmesan
This healthy chicken tender recipe would pair well with a green salad or roasted vegetables, like garlic butter mushrooms or broccoli rabe. You could also make a chicken parmesan sandwich with a hoagie roll or baguette or serve the tenderloins with your favorite pasta and extra marinara.
How to Store Chicken Tenders Parmesan
Leftover chicken parmesan will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days, or you can freeze them for up to three months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight and reheat them in the oven or microwave when you’re ready to eat them.
More Chicken Parmesan Recipes
More Chicken Tenderloin Recipes You’ll Love
- Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce
- Sesame-Encrusted Chicken Tenders
- Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken
- Skillet Sazon Chicken Tenders
- Tortilla-Encrusted Chicken Tenders
Chicken Tenders Parmesan
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 chicken tenders, 1 1/4 lbs
- 1 large eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, 1/2 gets tossed
- olive oil spray
- 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- chopped basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray.
- Season chicken with salt. Place egg in a shallow bowl. In a second shallow bowl, add the breadcrumbs.
- Dip chicken in the egg, then into the breadcrumb mixture and shake off excess and place on a sheet pan.
- Spray both sides of the chicken generously with oil.
- Bake the chicken 18 minutes flipping halfway until cooked through. It’s ok if it’s not crispy, it’s going to get covered in marinara anyway.
- Transfer to a 9×13-inch baking pan, arrange the chicken strips. Spread the marinara sauce over the chicken and top with the mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until marinara is hot and the cheese is melted. Top with basil.
We will be making the recipe tonight, but why did you add “1/2 cup gets tossed” in your ingredients list? Are you trying to convey that you do not expect the cook to use up all the breadcrumbs when breading the chicken? I would hope that would be understood, but we are laughing at the mental image of people tossing around 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs like confetti while the chicken cooks! (I’m not sweeping that up! LOL)
Lol yes.
This was fantastic!! My favorite Skinny Taste recipe to date! And not hard to make at all.
Easy and tasty weeknight dinner 🌟
Ended up only using 1/2 c of breadcrumbs (I used Parmesan breadcrumbs), but these were delicious. Adding to the rotation.
Excellent, Easy to prepare . Perfect for a weeknight dinner.
My husband and I loved this. Usually leftovers don’t get eaten, but these did!
I love almost all Skinny Taste recipes, but this is now one of our favorites! Pretty low effort for terrific taste. I served it with whole wheat spaghetti – just yum! And the cleanup was also quite simple. Huge plus to have great taste and little cleanup.
Thanks Mary!
Made this for my grandchildren (one who is very picky) last week. He called it Pizza Chicken. Big hit and let me stay within my eating goals.
Perfect!
So easy yet so good! My family loved it. I have not found a recipe on skinny taste that I did not like.
Made this for dinner this evening. Both my husband and I really liked it and it will become a repeat with meal planning. Chicken was really moist and tender. Since it’s just the 2 of us we will get another meal out of this.
The best chicken parm recipe I’ve ever tried! Chicken was tender and delicious!
Love this simple recipe! The tenderloins make is so tender and delicious. It’s gonna be a regular in my WW dinner lineup!
Is the calorie count inclusive of sauce and cheese?
Yes.
My entire family enjoyed this and I have a few picky eaters! Easy to make and the chicken came out perfect. I didn’t use the foil in the pans as I have nonstick pans that I simply sprayed. Everything else according to directions. I served with the garlic knots and a salad. So good. I love healthy, easy, and tasty recipes. Thank you!
Have made this 3x so far! Delicious. I slightly pound the chicken tenders down before baking because I don’t like them as thick…gives them a nice extra crisp without being overdone! 🙃 Always enjoy Skinnytaste recipes!
Made this dish last night for dinner. It was absolutely delicious. Quick and easy to prepare and oh so good! This recipe is a definite keeper.
Made this for dinner, the chicken was very moist, I used my homemade marinara and used pepper jack instead of mozzarella. Is definitely going to be made around here often.
So delicious! My family of five loved this. I loved that it was easy and didn’t require tons of ingredients and prep. I’ll definitely make it again.
This looks and sounds amazing. It says it is FF, but I didn’t see a breakout for that option in the recipe. Is it truly FF? Can’t wait to make it.
You can freeze leftovers and thaw overnight in the fridge to reheat.
This was delicious! Made it with my parents here and should have doubled it with extra people and it being so good. We all loved it and the breading actually got and stayed a lot more crisp than I expected. Going into rotation!
Definite keeper! 8 and 2 year old loved it as did my husband. I used my homemade marinara, whole wheat seasoned bread crumbs and served with whole wheat spaghetti and frozen veggies. Very easy to make and the chicken was not dry.
This recipe was super easy and a big hit tonight for dinner! I air fried the chicken tenders before baking with the sauce and cheese — I also did the giant zucchini parm recipe with it for my vegetarian husband. Served with roasted brussel sprouts and a salad. Chicken was perfectly cooked and juicy. Great recipe.
Really delicious. Quick and easy too.
Made this dinner for my “picky eater” family last night… Used my own marinara from the freezer (used up the basil at the end of last summer)… And all family members were only unhappy that I made just one painful! They want me to make it again tonight! Perfect recipe, for which we all thank you!
Glad everyone enjoyed it!
I have to say that this is the best recipe I’ve found for this dish!!!
My grandkids couldn’t even wait for the marinara sauce!! Straight out of the oven, cooled them and away they went!
Thank you !
This was pretty quick and easy and so good! My whole family loved it.
Loved this recipe!! Perfect for a Saturday night dinner. Thanks, as always!!!
Quick and easy! I made this after a long day of work. I was happy that I didn’t have to cut up anything or measure out a lot of spices. I was sooooo tired. This came together quick and it was very tasty! I used Rao’s marinara and served with chickpea spaghetti and steamed broccoli/cauliflower/carrots.
Can you airfry the chicken? If so what’s the temp and timing?
Sure follow my air fryer chicken tenders recipe
Made your baked chicken parm last night.Was absolutely delicious.My husband is not a big fan of chicken and said this was great.He ate quite a bit.thank you
Just made this for dinner tonight-excellent! Served with It’s Skinny Pasta Spaghetti
I’ll definitely try this out.
How do I transfer this recipe and it’s WW points to the WW app?
if you click on the blue button in the recipe card that says WW points it will take you to WW recipe builder.
When I click on the ww points it’s showing as chicken tenders casserole. Is that the same recipe?
yes
This is such a handy feature for your site and I greatly appreciate that you break it down for us. 🙂