My homemade gluten-free chicken tenders are about to become a weeknight dinner staple – golden, crispy, and ready in 30 minutes using nothing but an affordable bag of potato chips for an extra crunchy baked coating. No breadcrumbs, no flour, no pricey specialty ingredients needed. Air fryer method included, plus a creamy honey mustard dipping sauce to tie it all together.

Chicken fingers on a serving plate laying next to a bowl of sauce.
Let’s skip the pricey gluten-free bread crumbs and make crispy, baked GF chicken strips with just a bag of crushed potato chips. It couldn’t be easier or more tasty.

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Easiest Baked Gluten-Free Chicken Fingers Recipe

I’ve always been budget conscious when it comes to groceries because our larger family means things can get out of hand quickly. Writing my cookbook, Frugal Gluten-Free Cooking, made me hone in on my thrifty tendencies even more, and the inspo behind creating a gluten-free chicken tenders recipe without using bread crumbs.

Skipping a traditional bread crumb or panko breading doesn’t mean complicating things. I wanted the baked chicken strips to fit right in with loads of other easy GF chicken recipes, meaning it has to be fuss-free and easy enough for a weeknight. How do we do that? A bag of potato chips, friends.

Make a crispy, crunchy, and uber-flavorful GF chicken tenders breading is as simple as crushing up potato chips. To get the coating to stick to during baking (or air fry option), shake the tenderloins in cornstarch first, then egg, and finally in crushed GF potato chips.

This means no hard-to-find speciality ingredients, no complicated dredging process, no messy frying, and absolutely no complaints from family members – a big bonus for making one gluten-free dinner idea the whole bunch enjoys.

For dipping, I included my easy creamy honey mustard sauce but sometimes I make this quick BBQ ranch sauce instead or as a second option. For sides, serve with frozen GF french fries, but the ultimate accompaniment? World’s creamiest gluten-free mac and cheese. No notes.

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(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)

Prep the dipping station

If I can find a shortcut, I’m taking it. Coating the chicken doesn’t take long, so have everything prepped and ready to go. Finely crush the potato chips with a meat mallet or rolling pin.

Recipe ingredients
Season the tenders with salt and pepper first before shaking in the cornstarch mixture.

Time to dip

Shake off any excess cornstarch, move the chicken strip to beaten eggs, then coat with potato chips on each side. That’s all and it goes pretty fast.

Coating the chicken fingers with chips.
If you’d like to use something besides egg for dipping, milk or dairy-free milk also works.

Bake or air fry option

If baking, lay the breaded chicken on a liberally greased baking sheet. If you’d like to air fry, I still dip all the chicken and lay it out on a baking sheet so I can cook in batches. Baking will take about 14-16 minutes, while air frying takes about 7-9, both at 400℉. This is a good time to mix together the honey mustard sauce for dipping!

Coated chicken fingers on a pan.
Using a cornstarch dredge first helps the breading stay on the chicken, even with flipping. White rice flour or a GF flour blend also works.
Cooked chicken fingers on a pan with dipping sauce.
Personally, chicken fingers dipped in a honey mustard sauce is essential. My go-to recipe is shared below!

I mostly use chicken tenderloins because they stay juicy with baking or air frying and are cut in perfect chicken-tender-size already. If you have chicken breasts on hand, those can but cut in strips or into bite-sized nuggets.

Any flavor potato chips work, as long as the ingredients are all safe for a gluten-free diet. I typically use salted ridged chips, but BBQ, sour cream cheddar, or even tortilla chips taste great.

Chicken finger cut in half laying on a dish of sauce.
Crunchy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside, and all within 30 minutes. This is your easy weeknight dinner win!

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Gluten Free Chicken Fingers on a serving plate laying next to a bowl of sauce.
5 stars (5 ratings)

Crispy Effortless Gluten-Free Chicken Tenders

Melissa Erdelac of MamaGourmand headshot in patterned dress.Melissa Erdelac
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
My homemade gluten-free chicken tenders are about to become a weeknight dinner staple – golden, crispy, and ready in 30 minutes using nothing but an affordable bag of potato chips for an extra crunchy baked coating. No breadcrumbs, no flour, no pricey specialty ingredients needed. Air fryer method included, plus a creamy honey mustard dipping sauce to tie it all together.
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Ingredients
 

Honey Mustard Sauce

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven or air fryer to 400℉. If baking, pour 2 tbsp oil on a baking sheet and spread evenly. Set aside.
    2 tablespoons oil
  • In a gallon ziplock bag combine the cornstarch, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and salt. Shake to combine. Season both sides of the chicken tenderloins with additional salt and pepper on each side. Add seasoned chicken to the bag and shake to coat evenly.
    ⅓ cup cornstarch, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon seasoned salt, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • To season the chicken before tossing in cornstarch mixture, lay it out on a cutting board or baking sheet and season both sides with salt and pepper. It may seem unnecessary because of the potato chip coating, but without it I found it to be under-seasoned after baking.
  • In a separate gallon ziplock bag crush the potato chips finely with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Pour into a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl beat two eggs with a fork.
    2 cups crushed potato chips, 2 large eggs
  • Remove the chicken from the bag, shaking off excess cornstarch. Dip in the egg on both sides. Move to the potato chips to coat on both sides. Transfer to the greased baking sheet if oven baking or ungreased baking sheet if air frying. Repeat with remaining chicken strips.
    1 ½ pounds chicken tenderloins
  • Bake for 14-16 minutes, flipping halfway through. For air fryer, spray the tray and cook in batches for 7-9 minutes, flipping halfway through.
  • While chicken is cooking, combine the honey mustard dipping sauce ingredients. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
    ½ cup mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, ⅛ teaspoon salt
Calories: 497kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 42g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.05g, Cholesterol: 191mg, Sodium: 1036mg, Potassium: 1193mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 0.3g, Vitamin A: 417IU, Vitamin C: 11mg, Calcium: 34mg, Iron: 2mg
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