Crispy Corn Flake Chicken Strips

Even as an adult one of my favourite foods to order in pubs and restaurants is chicken strips.  Of course, I’m no longer a big fan of those frozen pre-packaged numbers that many places served when I was a kid but I have to say some of the pubs sure have got it going on with the fresh home-style versions. 

Problem is those delicious, crunchy juicy strips are usually deep fried.  Yumtastic for the taste buds, but not so much for the love handles!  So many of us health conscious peeps have taken all kinds of steps to make a baked version and I think I finally nailed my recipe.

Remember that bigass box of Corn Flakes I bought the other day?  Well those were purchased so I could attempt this Weight Watchers recipe I came across recently.  I am fairly certain I may have actually had a copy of this back in my Weight Watchers days but never got around to making it.

Sadly that recipe was kind of a fail.  I made a batch the other night and while they tasted OK, the corn flakes really didn’t stick and the bottoms were all mushy.  No beuno!

Obviously I took this as a challenge to fix things up and make a recipe that works.  Same flavour profile, different process.  I’m super happy with the results and think you will be too.  I’m also glad to eliminate the use of bottled salad dressing and include more real food ingredients.

Crispy Corn Flake Chicken Strips with Easy Dijon Dipping Sauce

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 x boneless, skinless chicken breasts (approx. 250 grams each), cut into strips (or buy chicken breast tenders)
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp fresh dill (or 1/2 tsp dried dill)
• salt & pepper
• 2 1/2 cups Corn Flakes, crushed
• 1 tsp paprika

Dipping Sauce: 

• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt or sour cream or mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
• 1 tbsp green onion, chopped

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil, then top with a baking rack sprayed with non-stick spray.
2. Prepare dipping sauce by mixing yogurt, Dijon, honey, and green onion together and setting aside until ready to use.
3. In a shallow bowl whisk together egg whites, Dijon, honey, dill and generous pinches of salt and pepper.
4. In a separate bowl toss together crushed Corn Flakes and paprika.  (The paprika likes to sink to the bottom so make sure to shake it around when dredging the chicken.)
5. One at a time, dip each chicken tender into the egg white mixture just until coated then dip carefully into the flakes.  Press the cereal into the chicken with your finger tips and gently turn over to coat both sides.  Place coated strips on sprayed baking rack.  Repeat with all strips.
6. Bake for 15 minutes until Corn Flakes begin to brown.  Remove from oven and let cool just long enough to be able to carefully remove from baking rack.  Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

According to MyFitnessPal these lovelies clock in around 285 calories per serving without the dip.  The dip calories depend on whether you used yogurt, sour cream or mayo…but on average figure on another 100 calories or so.  And what’s a chicken strip without dip?!  Sad, that’s what!  :)

Simple ingredients I almost always have on hand (especially now that I have that bigass box of cereal) and very little prep work.  Perfect for a quick lunch or easy dinner.  Something we are all always happy to have in our repertoire, no?

Add a side of baked sweet potato fries or a dish of your own healthy slaw and it’s almost like you’re at the local pub.  Minus the grease and bad music.