Baked Breaded Chicken Strips:
When it comes to freezer meals, they can dip into the creamy casserole territory a bit too often. Creamy casseroles stocked in the freezer made hearty, comforting meals for my family, but we need a change. While, I love creamy chicken spaghetti, cheesy freezer lasagna, and make ahead mashed potatoes as much as anyone else, these baked breaded chicken strips are a lean protein option for the freezer. It’s so comforting to have an easy-to-cook protein in the freezer that I can quickly build a meal around. I pull them out on the weekends for a quick and easy toddler lunch for Camille, and I pile them on a salad for adult lunches, too. They’re even great to serve on Game Day, doused with your favorite sauce or dip on the side. Basically, these baked breaded chicken strips please kids and adults alike! I took this recipe from my Mom’s files, but I made them for the freezer. There’s a method to making them freezer safe.
Chicken strips for the freezer:
The reason we cook these baked breaded chicken fingers on a wire rack is so that the heat can circulate evenly around them. These wire racks are small and fit over a quarter sheet pan. This results in super crispy, evenly-baked chicken fingers, every time! Be sure to spray the rack with cooking spray to prevent any sticking. I’m using a quarter sheet pan to bake this batch above, because I’m only baking a few chicken fingers.
Make ahead chicken strips:
If I could just offer a little tip: wait for chicken fingers to go on sale. Then, buy the giant package that seems impossible for a small family to use–you know the one, it’s 4-5 pounds worth of chicken fingers. If you bread all of the chicken tenders and have them in the freezer just waiting for you, you will be so glad you did! I can’t tell you how many weekend lunches have been saved by this bag of baked breaded chicken strips!
If you can remember to flip the chicken fingers half-way through baking, you’ll be rewarded with the crispiest chicken fingers I could ever give you. Be sure to serve these with your favorite dipping sauce; we love tangy barbecue sauce, of course! Be sure to check out all of my freezer meals here.
Oven Safe Wire Racks Fit Quarter Sheet Pan Quarter Sheet Pan
