Healthy Seed Crusted Chicken Tenders with Maple Sriracha Dipping Sauce

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These seed crusted chicken tenders are a delicious twist on your traditional breaded chicken. Coated in three different types of seeds and oven baked until toasted and crunchy. Served with a spicy maple sriracha dipping sauce, they make for the perfect family friendly weeknight meal. Another great thing about these seed crusted chicken tenders is that they don’t have a traditional breading, so not only are they healthier but also naturally gluten free and allergy friendly!

Because I’m allergic to eggs and dairy, I feel like I never really got the full chicken nugget experience as a child. I couldn’t have McDonald’s or even the basic frozen aisle chicken tenders, but my mom did occasionally buy these breaded chicken cutlets that she’d defrost in our toaster oven for nights when my parents went out. I’d always eat them with ketchup, frozen corn and lima beans. Looking back, that may have been kind of a weird combo but it was fine dining as far as I was concerned.

When I first made these seed crusted chicken tenders they totally reminded of what I used to eat as a kid, only so much more flavorful! I just love how toasted and crunchy the seeds get in the oven, and paired with that amazing maple sriracha yogurt sauce. So good! They’re also super easy and come together in about 30 minutes!

Instead of a traditional breading, this recipe for seed crusted chicken tenders calls for mayonnaise which helps keep them super well, tender. Chicken tenders have a tendency to dry out when baked in the oven, which is why I stayed away from them for a while before I figured out this trick. Because I’m a dairy free, I used a vegan mayonnaise made with avocado oil, it’s healthier and tastes great, but normal mayonaise would work too!

For the maple sriracha dipping sauce, I like to use an unsweetened coconut yogurt to keep it dairy free, but again, normal plain yogurt will also work.

pumpkin seed crusted chicken dipping sauce

Tips for making seed crusted chicken tenders

When coating the chicken tenders, I like to use one hand to dip them in the mayo mixture and the other hand for the seeds. This just helps keep things a little neater.
If your oven has a convection setting, turn it on to help toast the tops of the tenders. Alternatively, broil them for the last 3 minutes of cooking. Watch them closely! Seeds burn easily.