Pretzel Chicken Tenders

By commercecook

These tenders can be prepared ahead, then frozen before cooking. Thaw and continue with the recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds chicken tenders
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups smoked almonds (canned)
• 12 large sourdough hard pretzels
• Canola oil for frying

Preparation

Step 1

In a small bowl, conbine basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Place buttermilk &half the spice mix into a double-lined resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and massage bag until well coated. Refrigerate 6 to 12 hours.

Place almonds in plastic bag. Break up with rolling pin or mallet until mixture looks part rough chopped, part crumbs. Remove almonds and place into shallow bowl. Put pretzels in same bag and mash with mallet or rolling pin until it looks like the texture of large breadcrumbs and powder. Add to almonds and mix to combine.

In a large frying pan, pour canola oil until it measures about 1 1/2 inches high in pan. Heat over high until oil is hot, about 350 degrees.

Remove tenders from buttermilk and dredge in almond-pretzel mixture, pressing into the tenders. Gently add tenders, in batches, to the oil. Don't crowd the pan. Fry until tenders are dark golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.