Crispy chicken tenders with a sweet-salty honey Dijon dipping sauce and zucchini rice make a delicious meal!
Rarely a day goes by when I don’t pick up a paintbrush. But instead of mastering fancy landscapes and portraits, I’m preoccupied with the four walls of every room we take on in our house. It’s great fun taking care of our new home, adding our touch here and there, but sometimes it leaves no time to think about dinner.
It’s always good to have some staples on hand for quick fixes, though, and some of my must-haves are boneless chicken breasts, panko breadcrumbs, zucchini, and white rice… not to mention a variety of dipping sauces (sweet barbecue and honey mustard sauces are my favorites, but my husband likes a mix of Ranch dressing and sriracha sauce)!
All I did was coat the chicken in a mixture of dijon mustard and melted butter, sneaking in a drizzle of honey for a touch of sweetness. Bread the chicken with panko breadcrumbs, or you could also use crushed crackers like Ritz or Saltine. Meanwhile, just boil some white rice, toss it with butter, salt and pepper, and sprinkle in some freshly grated zucchini. The crispy chicken is moist, flavorful and absolutely scrumptious with the soft, buttery zucchini rice. When you’re ready to serve, dip the chicken in a little sauce, do a little dance, and praise yourself for making a delicious, easy dinner in just thirty minutes!
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Honey-Dijon Chicken Tenders with Zucchini Rice
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:
Honey-Dijon Chicken Tenders
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
3 tbsp. butter, melted
heaping 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. honey
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced vertically into strips
Zucchini Rice
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
3 tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Honey-Dijon Chicken Tenders
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, Dijon mustard and honey; whisk until well combined.
Place the chicken strips into the mustard-butter mixture, then into the breadcrumbs. Coat evenly. Place onto the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the zucchini rice (see below for recipe).
Zucchini Rice
Cook rice according to package directions. Remove from heat, add butter and sprinkle zucchini over the rice. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork. Salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve immediately with the chicken tenders, or with your own favorite main course.
Enjoy!
warmvanillasugar says
That zucchini rice looks amazing! Great pictures too!
Maris (In Good Taste) says
This meal looks so delicious! Really great photos too!
Yasmeen says
Love the idea of zucchini rice. We often make chicken tenders this way as well – so quick + satisfying. I love your styling as well. Super elegant.
oneordinaryday says
The chicken tenders look great, but I’m even more smitten with the rice. What a good idea putting some zucchini in there! I’ll definitely be trying that next time I make rice. :)
Jenn says
My goodness, Georgia, that plate looks absolutely incredible… not very many people can make chicken tenders look so elegant :) YUM!
Sandra says
Zucchini rice will be on my menu today. Love your pictures they always make me smile.
savoringtoday.com says
The textures of this dish look very enticing. I love using panko, even switched to using it for my chicken parmesan–love it!
Nicole@HeatOvenTo350 says
The chicken tenders look delicious, but the rice is what is making me drool. What can I say? I’m a veggie nerd. :) I’ll have to try this soon. Good luck with your house projects.
Amanda says
What a great idea with the zucchini rice. A nice way to hide a veggie with a picky eater in the house. Love it!
Christina @ This Woman Cooks! says
Zucchini rice sounds fantastic! I’m definitely going to try this Georgia. Thanks for the recipe. :)
Wendy (The Weekend Gourmet) says
Even your comfort food is so pretty and colorful! Glad you’re having fun with all the house stuff…and hope you’re keeping cool. This summer has been hot, even by Texas standards. My term for this year’s heat? Gross hot!
Emily says
Yum! These looks great.
Leslie says
Yep..this is my kinda dinner! Coat it in butter .yes please.
Rivki Locker (Ordinary Blogger) says
Mustard and honey are so classic together. This looks perfect.
yummychunklet says
This dish looks fantastic! I think I’d get in a lot of trouble with too much of that yummy sauce!
thefooddoctor says
beautiful pictures as always Georgia
and I love the recipe..so easy yet packed with flavor
StephenC says
I constantly proselytize about buying whole chickens and dismantling them at home. You can see a hundred youtube demos of how to do it and it is so cost-friendly. On the other hand, I am slobbering over your chicken tenders and it isn’t even anywhere near lunch time yet. lol
brandi says
love the zucchini rice. that’s a good way to use it up – which we need! we’re stocked with it right now from the garden :)
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
StephenC – I try to do the same thing at home as often as possible. You’re right, very cost effective and a valuable cooking lesson. Thanks for stopping by!
Monet says
This looks lovely, Georgia. We need to get together soon! Thank you for sharing such a yummy meal with me. My long day at work will be all the more sweeter now that I’ve visited your blog. Hugs and love.
Pretty. Good. Food. says
Sounds like a great meal, love the new spin on rice! Now I’m hungry for dinner :)
Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum says
Yum! I’ve made a tilapia with similar flavors but I didn’t use honey – it looks so good! Maybe I missed it, but did you dip them in something?
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
Lindsay – I dipped them in a honey mustard sauce, but like I said, feel free to dip them in any sauce you like. The honey-dijon mixture that coats the tenders isn’t so overpowering that they wouldn’t be delicious with a barbecue sauce or something else.
Charles says
You know, I’ve been horribly off chicken for weeks now after a bit of a chicken overdose when I made chicken kievs some weeks back, but your picture above just looks so delicious it’s winning me back again. So crispy and golden… yummy! :)
amy grace says
Yum!! Looks so good. I love breaded chicken baked in the oven, all crispy and not greasy! That rice sounds great as well!
Anonymous says
I made this today and it is simple and delicious. It will be on my favorites list. I even got my husband to eat the rice – he is a notorious veggie-hater, but he liked this dish very much. Thank you. I am your fan form now on. :)
The Café Sucré Farine says
Looks like you made something out of nothing! Something wonderful!
Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray says
Yum! Both of these recipes look fabulous! I have some zucchini in the house right now!
jennaseverythingblog says
I agree with Rachel’s comment–both recipes look great. I have some zucchini in the fridge that I had planned to use your zucchini fries recipe on, but now I’m thinkig one could be zucchini fries and one could be zucchini rice . . .
Lynda @ TasteFood says
Perfect weeknight meal – yum!
Kelly @ Eat Yourself Skinny says
Georgia this looks so delicious and your pictures are gorgeous as always! :)
Anna says
this looks so simple and SO delicious. mm!
Baking Serendipity says
I love the zucchini in rice trick! I’m always on the hunt for simple ways to spice up white rice. Genius! I love decorating :) Have fun painting!
newlywed says
Looks incredible…and a lot healthier than the chicken tenders that tempt me when eating out.
Anne says
I made these chicken tenders tonight and they were great! I used about half the honey-mustard mixture on the chicken and then the other half was used as a dip for my husband. We loved it!
blackbookkitchendiaries says
this looks so pretty:) i love mixing honey dijon with chicken:) perfect combo really! thank you for sharing this.
Rinku Naveen says
Hi Georgia..First time to your say and I must say you have an amazing space.
Zucchini rice sounds fantastic! Loved the colours. Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes..
Christina @ This Woman Cooks! says
Hi Georgia! I know I already commented but I wanted to tell you that I made these chicken tenders last night for my husband and I. He took one bite and said, “oh my god.” :) Needless to say, we loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
Anonymous, Anne and Christina – Thank you so much for stopping by. I’m so glad that you and your husbands all enjoyed this recipe! :)
Victor says
I love the sound of this dish. So beautifully presented. Thanks for sharing!
marla {family fresh cooking} says
Hey Georgia I have missed you girl! Glad to hear you are having fun in your new home :) My kids would go nuts for this chicken.
Debbie says
Hey Georgia…long time no read :-) I needed a dinner recipe on the fly and I knew exactly where to come to get it and of course you delivered. The flavor from the honey dijon is amazing and everyone loved the zucchini rice! Thanks
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this dish, Debbie! Thanks for stopping by to let me know.
Dalia says
HI. I am excited to try this recipe. Can you tell me is the honey mustard sauce drizzled over the finsihed chicken reserved from the butter, dijon, honey mix or store bought honey mustard. Your recipe indicates to “Place the chicken strips into the mustard-butter mixture, then into the breadcrumbs” without reserving any for dipping.
Thanks,
Dalia
Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking says
Dalia – The honey-mustard mixture I dipped the raw chicken into isn’t meant to be reserved for dipping. The sauce I used for dipping was just a storebought honey-mustard sauce.
Anonymous says
I love it!!! I love that the chicken tenders were so flavorful instead of dull!!! Is there anything that could give the zucchini a boost of flavor with the rice?
Heather says
So yummy! Thanks for the great recipes. I used brown rice with chicken broth and everything was fresh and fabulous.
Gluten free says
WOW ! this is great blog thanks for sharing this recipe because I love zucchini rice again thanks…..gluten free recipes
Anonymous says
I made this chicken tonight and LOVED it!
Anonymous says
I made this last night for dinner with friends – it was a huge hit. I was especially happy with the zucchini rice: one of the men doesn’t like rice, the other doesn’t like vegetables, and both raved over it and cleaned their plates! Will definitely be making this again.
April was in CT now CA says
Had these tonight for dinner and loved them! The only change I made was to use chicken tenders and I baked them on a rack, other than that left everything the same and they were perfect. We’ll definitely be having these again.
Anonymous says
I made both of these recipes tonight and they were both delicious! Every recipe I make from your site is so good!! Thank You!
Stacy says
We had this tonight and everyone enjoyed it! My girls (5 years and 1 year) gobbled them up!
Karen says
I got a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken breast meat on sale. Will the prepped , unbaked chicken tender freeze well?
Georgia — June 7th, 2014 @ 6:48 pm
I’ve never frozen these after breading them, but if you do, thaw then reheat in your oven on top of a cooling rack.
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