Enjoy one of Cracker Barrel’s most popular menu items with our version of their grilled chicken tenders recipe. Cracker Barrel is known for making delicious home-cooked food. We all loved the family favorites we had when we were growing up.
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Marinated Grilled Chicken Tenders
Who captures them better than Cracker Barrel? This taste-alike recipe gives you the restaurant taste without having to leave home.
You can pick up chicken tenders at the grocery store or at most warehouse clubs, and with a couple of extra ingredients, we will show you how to get the restaurant taste in your kitchen.
Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenders are Simply Scrumptious
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is known for making delicious home-cooked food. We all loved the family favorites we had there when we were growing up.
Now you can enjoy one of Cracker Barrel’s most popular menu items with our version of their chicken tenderloin recipe. And, best of all, this taste-alike copycat chicken recipe gives you the Cracker Barrel taste without having to leave home.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken Tenders
- Honey
- Italian Dressing
- Fresh Lime Juice
How to Make Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenders
This recipe is super easy to make. The marinade is easy and well-balanced for chicken.
- Mix dressing, lime juice, and honey together.
- Pour the marinade over chicken tenders, making sure all tenders are covered.
- Cover the chicken and place it in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.
- Discard marinade after the tenders are ready to be cooked.
- Cook the tenders in a non-stick skillet or grill them until lightly golden in color and done but not dry.
Why a Chicken Breast Isn’t the Same as a Chicken Tenderloin
A chicken tenderloin is that part of the muscle that runs along the inside of each chicken breast half and is closest to the bone. Because it’s not a working muscle, it’s more tender than the breast and cooks more quickly.
If a recipe calls for marinating your chicken tenders, you are marinating for flavor, not tenderness, because they are already extremely tender.
If you want to substitute chicken tenders for boneless, skinless breast halves, allow two or three tenders per serving, depending on their size.
For dishes that require you to pound the meat flat, tenders are easier to work with than breasts. Since chicken tenders are stickier than breast meat, coatings stick to them really well. This makes tenders perfect for breading or wrapping with prosciutto.
Tips for How to Cook Chicken Tenderloins
- Before going ahead with your recipe, cut off the small gristly white nob that you will see protruding from the top end of the tenderloin.
- Cook whole chicken tenders for approximately half the time as chicken breast halves.
- Chicken tenders are more porous than chicken breasts, so over marinating will cause them to take on too much liquid. If the marinade is a salty one (like many Asian marinades), don’t marinate for more than fifteen minutes or the salt will draw moisture out of the chicken.
- For stir-fry recipes, cut the tenders into one-inch pieces rather than thin slices, so that the meat doesn’t dry out.
- Add bite-size pieces (1-inch) of raw chicken tenders to soups close to the very end of cooking time. If you boil the tenders, they will toughen up. Gently simmer them until they are just cooked through – about three minutes.
- If baking whole tenders of different sizes, place the smaller ones at the front of your baking sheet. This makes it easier to remove the smaller ones from the oven a minute or so earlier than the larger ones.
Love Cracker Barrel? Try these copycat recipes
- How to Make Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake
- Brussel Sprouts and Kale Salad
- Egg In a Basket Breakfast
- Fully Loaded Hashbrowns
- Cracker Barrel Hashbrowns Casserole
More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Katsu
- Chick Fil A Chicken Nuggets
- Baked Chicken Leg Quarters Recipes
- Chili’s Chicken Crispers
- Berry Burst Chicken Salad
- Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
- Keto Chicken Divan
- Long John Silver’s Chicken Tenders
Be sure to check out more copycat restaurant favorites and easy chicken recipes.
Can’t get enough Copycat recipes? Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list. Drop me a comment down below on what you serve with your grilled chicken.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Grilled Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast tenders
- 1/2 cup Italian Dressing
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- Mix dressing, lime juice, and honey together. Pour over chicken tenders, making sure all tenders are covered; marinate for 1 hour.
- Discard marinade after the chicken tenders are ready to be cooked. Braise tenders in a non-stick pan or grill to lightly golden in color but not dry.
Michelle C.
I found this recipe in 2012. I haven’t made it often, but I’ve made it repeatedly. This is my go-to when eating at Cracker Barrel, and your recipe nails it on the head! Perfect! I made it tonight.