Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Copycat "Grilled" Chicken Tenderloins


I made this for dinner last night!  Too good not to re-post!!

I saw this recipe on Mommy's Kitchen and I had to try it for my kids.  It looks so easy and delicious.  It's a copycat version of a recipe served in Cracker Barrel restaurants called Grilled Chicken Tenders.  This name is interesting to me since this chicken isn't grilled at all.  Of course "my style" I always want to use ingredients I have on hand so I tweaked the recipe a little bit.  I used balsamic vinaigrette dressing instead of Italian dressing and agave instead of honey but the lime I kept the same ;)  You can find the original recipe on Mommy's Kitchen here.  Please check out her blog, there are a lot of fantastic recipes to try!

Ingredients:

4 - 5 chicken breasts, cut into pieces or 12 chicken tenderloins
1 cup Italian Dressing (I used Balsamic Viniagrette)
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons honey (I used Agave) 

Preparation:

Cut each chicken breast into strips or use tenderloins pieces. If using tenderloins cut and remove the white tendon off each end. In a bowl that has a cover or large Ziploc bag add the dressing, lime juice and honey; mix to combine. Add the chicken and mix to coat all the pieces. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Braise the tenders in a non-stick pan until golden brown in color, but not dry. Start the stove temperature at medium high to get things going. After it comes to a boil reduce the heat to low-medium and continue cooking. You just want them to simmer until all the liquid has cooked down. You still want a bit of glaze left in the pan. When chicken is done remove and serve.

**You pour the chicken with all the marinade into the pan to braise.  It will look like you have A LOT of liquid but do not worry, it will cook all the way down.  Below are 4 pictures showing the cooking process over a 40 minute period.

When I first put the chicken and marinade in the pan
About 10 minutes into the braising process
About 20 minutes into the braising process
About 40 minutes total cooking time

7 comments:

  1. I just tried this myself last week - great flavor, but mine dried out! Any tips on how not to get that to happen! I used tenderloins...

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  2. Let's see, the other night I made it with thin cutlets that I cut myself into strips and I feared that it would dry out but it didn't. Try using cutlets that you cut into strips yourself and I would reccommend a thicker chicken breast to start with. Also make sure your pan isn't too big, you want the chicken to be almost covered in the dressing mixture while it braises. Lastly, make sure after the sauce starts to boil that you turn down the heat so it simmers for the 40 minutes and reduces/braises slowly. I hope this helps.

    Ellen

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  3. what if the chicken marinades longer than 1 hour? does that alter the end result by much?

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  4. I think you risk having the chicken dry out

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    Replies
    1. I just realized that the poster was asking about marinating for more than an hour not braising more than an hour. Ooops, sorry. I think you can let the chicken marinate for up to 24 hours which will only make it taste better!!

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  5. thank you for the walk through with your pictures

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  6. Check out nutritional facts, and prices of chicken tenderloins from grocery stores at http://healthygrocery.blogspot.com

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