Coconut Chicken Tenders with Honey Marmalade Dipping Sauce

In my wonderful hometown of Manchester, NH, there is a Greek-American restaurant called The Puritan Backroom. It is famous throughout New England for having the best chicken tenders in existence and a “special sauce” for those tenders that might be classified under “a” for ambrosia. Last time I was there,

I discovered they had recently added a new option: Coconut Chicken Tenders. I decided to give them a try, and wow! They were delicious! The coconut added a sweet, satisfying crunch. I wanted to see if I could make my own version of these tenders at home. Thanks to SavorySweetLife at TastyKitchen, I was able to make these lovely coconut tenders right in my own kitchen.

They were tender, moist, and very tasty. Honestly, you don’t even need the dipping sauce. The condensed milk and coconut adds plenty of sweetness.

Note: Make sure you use long tongs and an oven mitt (or some sort of hand protection) when moving the chicken in and out of the oil. It will pop and those hot oil splatters hurt.

Also, don’t dip the chicken into the entire bowl of panko/coconut mix, because it will get soggy and resist sticking to the chicken. Instead, put some of the mix in another bowl for dipping the chicken and add more of the mix as needed. For the chicken tenders, I found that slicing up raw chicken breast worked well.

2 lbs. chicken tenders

salt and pepper

1 c. sweetened shredded coconut

1-½ c. panko breadcrumbs

½ c. orange juice

½ can sweetened, condensed milk

1 egg

Peanut oil for frying

½ c. honey

½ c. orange marmalade

1. On a cookie sheet, season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside. 2. In a medium bowl, mix orange juice, condensed milk, and a beaten egg until your ?wet? mixture is well incorporated. 3. In another bowl, mix coconut and panko crumbs. 4. Heat peanut oil in a medium pan or skillet on medium-high heat. Fill pan to about 1/2 inch of oil.

5. Dip and fully coat each tender in the egg mixture first and then the panko/coconut mix. 6. Fry each tender for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Serve with Honey Marmalade dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Honey Marmalade Dipping Sauce Instructions:

In a small bowl, add honey and marmalade. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir everything until well mixed and serve with coconut chicken tenders.