Sweet and Spicy Pecan-Encrusted Chicken Tenders
So many years ago, 22 to be exact, my husband took me to Florida and proposed. He also took me to eat at one of the restaurants owned and operated by Emeril Lagasse. That restaurant is long gone, but the memory of that meal lives on. I had a pecan-encrusted snapper that was easily one of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten – before then and since.
For many, many years, my husband begged me to try to recreate that recipe and I did come up with a version that is pretty close and we all love it. When we go to the beach (we live about 3 hours away), we take a cooler and load up on fresh caught snapper to bring home.
But alas, it’s not always fresh fish season, and our favorite fish monger does close for a few months each winter, so I decided to adapt this recipe to chicken.
One new addition however, is that I will be drizzling these chicken tenders with some Mike’s Hot Honey. There’s a restaurant in town that serves gluten free chicken tenders with a variety of homemade sauces and my hubby’s favorite is the hot honey. When I saw this Mike’s Hot Honey on the shelf at Whole Foods, I snatched it up for his Christmas stocking. He’s just been waiting for me to make chicken tenders so he can have some.
Here’s the recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do. One note, if using this same recipe and method with fish, substitute the seasoned salt with Old Bae or your favorite seafood or cajun seasoning.
I made this recipe with snapper in the video below. It’s an old video, but I include it here knowing that it can be helpful sometimes to visualize a recipe in action!
Sweet and Spicy Pecan-Encrusted Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2-4 Tbsp. avocado oil divided
- 1 large shallot
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 1/2 cups pecans finely chopped
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt (such as Lawry's) or cajun seasoning or just use additional salt and pepper
- 3 Tbsp. arrowroot
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tbsp. coconut or almond milk or other dairy free milk
- Mike's Hot Honey* for drizzling optional
- 1/4 tsp. salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and allow to heat. Once oil and skillet are hot, add finely minced shallot to pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Stir and allow to cook until translucent and slightly browned, 3-4 minutes.
- Chop pecans very finely. I prefer to use a food processor for this. Add the pecans to the pan with the shallot. Sprinkle on a little more salt and pepper.
- Crush the garlic and chop as finely as possible. Add that to the pan with the nuts.
- Stir nut mixture frequently. You want the nuts to toast, not burn. Over medium heat, this takes 5-8 minutes. You should be able to smell the pecans when they're ready.
- While nut mixture is toasting, prepare the rest of your breading ingredients.
- In one pan or plate, beat one egg with milk.
- In a second pan or plate, add arrowroot and 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. black pepper. Mix to combine.
- In a third pan or plate, add lemon zest and seasoning. When nuts are fully toasted, add that mixture to this plate with the lemon zest. Toss all of this together to mix well. The heat from the nuts will activate the oils in the zest and you will smell the lemon. It smells yummy! Taste this mixture for seasoning. Add more salt, pepper or cajun seasoning to your taste.
- Cut chicken into portion sizes you prefer and blot both sides with a paper towel.
- Wipe out the skillet you used to make your nut mixture and heat it again over medium heat. Add oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the arrowroot, shake gently to remove any excess. Then dip in the egg mixture. Again, shake gently to allow any excess to drip off. Then lay carefully in the nut mixture and press down. Using your dry hand, scoop the nut mixture onto the top of each piece of chicken and press gently.
- Once the piece of chicken is coated with the nut mixture, add it to your pan. Fit as many pieces of chicken in the skillet as you can without over-crowding. You need space to get your spatula in there to flip them and they need space to "breathe" so they brown rather than steam.
- Allow each piece of chicken to brown for 3-4 minutes, then flip. Once browned on each side, place on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven. At this point, the chicken will be almost cooked through, but needs a few minutes the oven.
- If you can't fit all your chicken in the skillet at once, be sure to wipe it out with a paper towel and start with fresh oil before frying your second batch.
- Once all the chicken is fried, give it about 5-10 minutes in the oven, then test for doneness. A thremometer should register 165 degrees or you can pierce it with a knife and the juices should be clear, not pink.
- Serve with Mike's Hot Honey to drizzle as much or as little as desired. I am not even a fan of the taste of honey, and I loved this combination! Of course, you can leave this off altogether and it's still a delicious dish.
- I realize this may sound complicated, but it really isn't. Please watch the YouTube video linked above if you'd like to see this preparation.