You’ve heard of coconut prawns or shrimp. Meet its cousin, coconut chicken. Last weekend we celebrated my daughter’s 8th Birthday with a house filled with girls, Hannah Montana, and food fit for a princess. When deciding on a menu my daughter requested her favorite dish, coconut chicken tenders. Who could blame her? Each tender is dipped in sweetened egg batter, coated with a panko coconut mixture and pan-fried to perfection.
Although the kids prefer them without a dipping sauce, my husband and I love dipping them in a marmalade honey sauce. This kid and adult friendly finger food will be a hit with or without sauce. You are going to love these! Enjoy!
- 2 lbs of chicken tenders
- 1½ cups of panko bread crumbs (can be found in the Asian aisle of grocery stores)
- 1 cup of shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 egg
- ½ can of condensed milk
- ½ cup of orange juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- Peanut Oil for frying
- Marmalade:
- Honey Marmalade Dipping Sauce Recipe:
- ½ cup of honey
- ½ of marmalade
- Directions: In a small bowl, add honey and marmalade. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir everything until well mixed and serve with coconut chicken tenders.
- On a cookie sheet, season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix orange juice, condensed milk, and a beaten egg until your "wet" mixture is well incorporated. In another bowl, mix coconut and panko crumbs.
- Heat peanut oil in a medium pan or skillet on medium-high heat. Fill pan to about ½" of oil. Dip and fully coat each tender in the egg mixture first and then the panko/coconut mix.
- Set each coated chicken on a cookie cooling rack.
- Fry each tender for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Serve with Honey Marmalade dipping sauce. Enjoy!
On a cookie sheet, season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix orange juice, condensed milk, and a beaten egg until your “wet” mixture is well incorporated. In another bowl, mix coconut and panko crumbs.
Heat peanut oil in a medium pan or skillet on medium-high heat. Fill pan to about 1/2″ of oil. Dip and fully coat each tender in the egg mixture first and then the panko/coconut mix.
Set each coated chicken on a cookie cooling rack.
Fry each tender for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Serve with Honey Marmalade dipping sauce. Enjoy!
I love chicken and all chicken recipes are mt favorite recipes. thanks for share..
Are we baking or frying??? What is the peanut oil for???
This recipe certainly does sound great! Thank you!
Great recipe,must try it.Thanks for sharing
Hi SF,
Hi, you can make ahead and reheat quickly before you party. They shouldn’t dry out, but keep in mind they will not taste as fresh as just been fried. Thanks.
This recipe looks delicious! I’m thinking about making it for a cocktail party… could these be made ahead and then reheated? How are they after being refrigerated? (I’m worried they may dry out after reheating.) Thanks!
This is a great recipe and I love the step-by-step pictures and instructions. I’ve never made them before and I am pretty sure my boys will LOVE them!
hello. please tell me if you use unsweet condensed milk ou sweet condensed milk. Because in france I have both and I don’t know which one to buy to make this recipe. Thank you.
We make this all the time. We first ate it at DeShes pronounced “deeshays” in Maysville Ky. We use honey mustard as a dipping sauce. Mmm good. Gonna try it on shrimp next time. Good to eat with mozzarella sticks and or potato skins for supper but awesome on Sunday watching football and NASCAR haha.
I made this coconut chicken tenders last night and my husband and I both enjoyed them very much. They are quite easy to throw together and I will definitely make them again.
CN U BAKE THIS ?
I want to make this for a Christmas Party. Hoping it will turn out a success this time.
These were absolutely wonderful! I can’t wait to serve these at our Christmas party! Thanks for posting the recipe!
I use sweetened condensed milk, but you could easily use evaporated or regular milk too.
Hi Alice,
I made your coconut chicken last night and my husband and I both loved it! I have noticed 4 people have asked you if the recipe calls for ” sweetened” condensed milk, but couldn’t find your reply so I am asking also. I used evaporated milk and we loved the dish. It looked just like yours! Thanks! This will be a regular at our house from now on.
We made these and not only are the simple they are insanely good!
I was just thinking I may use coconut oil instead! I would think it would be delicious, and better for you than frying them in peanut oil. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I use coconut oil for EVERYTHING, so using it with this seems like it would work beautifully!!
I too would like to know if you used regular condensed milk (as in evaporated), or sweetened condensed milk (as in Eagle Brand)?
Is there another oil you would recommend? I can’t use peanut oil in my house due to allergies.
Thanks
Glad you liked it Lynn!
Made these tonight for dinner and even my son (who claimed he hated coconut) loved them! The honey/marmalade dip was really sweet and it was a new experience for me to eat a “sweet” tasting chicken, but I loved it!