Slightly crispy, slightly sweet, and incredibly delicious, these Coconut Apricot Chicken Tenders are a yummy spin on coconut chicken!
Nothing says summer like coconut. Am I right? I know it’s not summer yet, but a girl can dream, can’t she? Lately, I’ve been throwing coconut flakes into everything. Like the banana bread I made the other day. IN-credible. But I didn’t take pictures of it, so I’ll be sharing the recipe soon! In fact, I have some bananas on my counter that are just starting to ripen as I wait not-so-patiently for them to be ready.
Another thing I’ve made with coconut are these Coconut Apricot Chicken Tenders. I blew the digital dust off my email folder of recipes I want to try (yes, I know Pinterest exists, but I found some recipes BEFORE I started using Pinterest, if you can believe it) and low and behold, I found this one from Betty Crocker. With a few tweaks here and there, I created these Coconut Apricot Chicken Tenders and was freaking blown away at how amazing they were. I mean, coconut chicken is delicious as is. But brush on some apricot glaze and holy moly, it’s dang good. We’re talking knock-your-socks-off, where-have-you-been-all-my-life good.
First of all, they’re chicken tenders that are dipped in a mixture of Dijon mustard and sweetened condensed milk (heaven help me), coated with a bread crumb and coconut flake mixture, and baked (not fried..woot woot!) to golden perfection. Yeah, baby! But that’s not all. Then they’re brushed with an apricot-honey glaze. F’reals, friends. This is what you’d call a keeper. The shiz. A rotation regular. Whatever you choose to call these babies (love me tenders?), you’re going to love them.
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard, divided
- 1-1/2 cups plain bread crumbs
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- ¼ cup apricot spreadable preserves
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ½ Tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread 2 Tbsp (1/8 cup) of melted butter in a 13x9 baking pan.
- In a shallow bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and 2 Tbsp of the Dijon mustard.
- In another shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, coconut flakes, salt, and paprika.
- Dip chicken tenders in the milk mixture, then the bread crumb mixture, pressing to make sure crumbs adhere. Place tenders onto prepared pan.
- Drizzle remaining butter over tenders and bake tenders, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine apricot preserves, honey, vinegar, and remaining 1 Tbsp of Dijon mustard.
- Flip chicken tenders and brush each with apricot glaze. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and glaze is bubbly.
[…] you know how I said awhile back that I’ve been putting coconut in everything? Totally not lying. Plus this is the web and […]