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Switching up the average weeknight meal with fun Coconut Chicken Fingers with Bang Bang Sauce. This coconut chicken is breaded in sweet coconut and sesame seeds, then oven-baked, and dipped in a spicy, tangy, creamy restaurant-style bang bang sauce. Serve these coconut chicken tenders along with extra limes and green onions and add a bowl of coconut or cilantro rice (or cook up some baked french fries). You’ll end up with coconut chicken strips in this recipe that everyone will love.
You all, I almost forgot all about these chicken fingers. Originally, I didn’t want to share the recipe, so I set it aside and forgot about it for a couple of weeks. That wasn’t smart. You see, I’d decided that I didn’t like the photos – but the recipe was great. Sometimes I’ll do that, not share a delicious recipe simply because I don’t love the photos.
But then I came back to it, adjusted a few things, and now I’m beyond excited to finally share these delicious chicken fingers. I also have to note, Creighton loves these. I think I made them four times over the last few months. This means it’s time to share the recipe!
Ingredients
- Cornflakes
- Shredded unsweetened coconut
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Sesame seeds
- Large Eggs
- Hot sauce or Tamari
- Boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Bang Bang Sauce for dipping sauce
- Mayo
- Sweet Thai chili sauce
- Coconut aminos
- Hot sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Garlic clove
- Lime zest
I’m sure we’re all familiar with coconut shrimp, and honestly, probably coconut chicken too. It’s served at a lot of restaurants. You’ll often notice that it’s served with a bang bang sauce, which is usually a combination of mayo and chili sauce. And if it’s house-made probably a few other ingredients too.
Creighton would always tell me that I need to recreate the entire meal at home. He’s a big chicken fingers guy (he loves my baked chicken fingers). And we all know how much he loves the sauces.
I thought this could be a fun, colorful, spring recipe to share. I’m so glad I decided to come back to it!
Here are the details
If you’ve made any of my breaded chicken recipes, you’re already very familiar with this process.
To start, blend up the crumbs. For these chicken fingers, I went with a combination of cornflakes, unsweetened shredded coconut, and sesame seeds. I like to quickly crush the crumbs in the food processor with some paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. This coconut mixture makes all of the difference on these tenders!
If you don’t have a food processor, here is a tip. Simply add the cornflakes to a ziplock bag (or use the cornflake bag itself). Then step on the bag with your feet to finely crush them. Or use your hands, but honestly, crushing them with your feet (I know it sounds weird) works best.
Now toss the chicken with a couple of beaten eggs and some hot sauce. Dredge the chicken through the crumbs.
Next, bake the chicken in the oven until it crisps all over. My secret is to gently dab/brush the chicken with olive oil before it bakes. This helps the coating to really crisp up nicely in the oven.
And for the sauce, sweet Thai chili sauce, mayo, lime, and seasonings. Mix everything up and that’s it. A delicious sweet chili sauce!
In addition to the bang bang sauce, I like to mix extra sweet Thai chili sauce with ketchup and lime. Totally optional, but a nice sauce to serve too.
It is SO GOOD with the creaminess of the bang bang sauce.
The chicken is a touch crispy, and sweet, but not at all too sweet. The sauce is spicy, creamy, and tangy. Put everything together it turns into the yummiest chicken fingers meal. So much (really) good flavor.
Looking for more recipes? Here are a few to try:
Baked Crunchy Hot Honey Chicken
Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Chicken and Feta Potatoes
Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Buffalo Cauliflower with Spicy Tahini Ranch
Lastly, if you make this Coconut Chicken Fingers with Bang Bang Sauce, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Coconut Chicken Fingers with Bang Bang Sauce
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 581 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 2 cups cornflakes
- 1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce or tamari (use preferred taste)
- 2 pounds boneless chicken tenders
- extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
Bang Bang Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/3 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or tamari soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice viengar
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a food processor, combine the coconut, cornflakes, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until you have fine crumbs. Mix in the sesame seeds. Dump the crumbs into a shallow bowl.3. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the hot sauce. Add the chicken and toss well to coat.3. Dredge the chicken through the crumbs, covering fully. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake 15-20 minutes, until crisp all around.4. To make the sauce: combine all ingredients in a bowl. 5. Serve the chicken with limes, green onions, and bang bang sauce for dipping. Add extra chili sauce mixed with a couple tablespoons of ketchup for a little double-dip action. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on April 12, 2023
Amazing flavor!!! Just couldn’t get the chicken crispy – followed the recipe to a T. Is flour or cornstarch needed to make it crispy before dredging in cornflakes? Did the bake time you listed but didn’t want to let it get overcooked. Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Cam! Thank you SO much! So happy to hear you’re loving this recipe! You could try to broil the chicken for a minute or two at the end to get it crispy! 🙂 xT
My partner and I recently made this recipe and we both loved it! It’s nice and crispy and coconutty! I had been craving coconut chicken lately and this recipe really hit the spot.
We did modify it a little bit. We doubled the corn flake mixture since we double dredged our chicken. We also added corn starch to our chicken before dredging. We both recommend the double dredging and adding the corn starch. Another change we did was add half a lime juice and extra hot sauce to the bang bang sauce. Four our hot sauce, we used sriracha. Both the addition of lime juice and extra hot sauce really brighten the sauce up.
Another note is do not skip the step of adding oil to your chicken before baking. We almost skipped it because we thought it was silly at first, but the oil really helps crisp the chicken up. Overall, really great recipe that we will be making again!
Hi Ashley,
Happy Monday! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your feedback, love to hear it turned out well! Thanks for sharing all of your notes. xx
Really easy to make and tasty, leftovers worked really well in a basic salad for lunch
Hey Maire,
Fantastic!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it and your comment! x
Love this recipe; the coating is crisp and tasty, with just a hint of sweetness from the coconut. I especially like that this can be easily made gluten free, as I have celiac. I didn’t make the sauce, though, I used the sauce recipe from Crispy Tumeric Chicken Tenders. Great combo!
Hey Annette,
Wonderful! I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and your comment, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!!
Can I use breadcrumbs or panko instead of corn flakes ?
Hi Lindsay,
Totally, either of those will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
This recipe is so amazing! I made it twice this week. Thank you. I had some trouble getting the crumb to stick but wasn’t impossible. Any tips would be appreciated. Also your crumb looks amazing, I am going to try the processor method as mine is more chunky nonetheless simply delicious.
Hey Sahar,
Thank you so much for making this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it was a winner! I would try the food processor, that should get the crumbs to be more fine and then help to stick! Happy Sunday! xT
Really delicious! Next time I’m going to roast broccoli to serve it with along with some rice. I followed another reviewer who said they broiled it for a few minutes, and that worked out great! Hot sauce didn’t make the chicken (used half hot sauce and half soy sauce) or the bang bang sauce overly spicy so my toddler and husband really enjoyed it as well! Adding this to our weekly rotation!
Hey Lyndsey,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! Glad to hear it was enjoyed:) xT
Another HBH victory! The chicken came out super crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I’ve made bang bang sauce in the past, but the addition of the lime, garlic and soy sauce really elevated the flavor.
Thanks so much, Kim:) I’m so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try! xT
These are absolutely delicious! I made them last night. The only change I made was slicing up the chicken breast in the morning, and marinating it in plain yogurt with some kosher salt (1 tsp), garlic powder and onion powder (maybe 1/2 tsp) for the day. This made them incredibly tender. I still dipped in egg before breading.
Served with smashed cucumber peanut salad.
Thank you so much!
Love to hear this, Julie!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing what worked well for you, so glad they were enjoyed! xT
Hi! I am getting a new air fryer. Have you thought about adding this cooking method to share with followers? I immediately thought of air fryer but I’ll do oven since the baking time is not long. But it prompted the question in my mind.
Hi Michelle,
Sorry, I have not tested this recipe in the air fryer, so I don’t have those exact instructions, but I think it has worked well for others! Let me know if you give this recipe a try! xT
These are the absolute best chicken tenders Ive ever had in my life. Not kidding!!!! They are so good! I just put the oven on broil for the last minute and they were super crispy. The kids loved them 😄 thanks Tiegan!
Hey Lynn,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it and your comment! Xx
This recipe has become one of our regular dinners! Love the egg/ hot sauce dip to get it started. I’ve started putting the coating all in a bag to crush , mix and then coat the chicken- good coverage for the tenders and an easy clean up ! The olive oil drizzle helps everything crisp up wonderfully!
Hey Tracy,
Amazing!! Love to hear that this recipe always turns out well for you, thanks a lot for making it so often! xT
Loved the flavor of the chicken and sauce. However, I think next time I will try in the air fryer. The coating wasn’t crispy enough.
Hi Michelle,
I am so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have a great week:) xT
These are delish and my kids loved them too! Definitely have become a staple in our house!
Hi Kathleen! I’m so so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for giving it a try! xT
Made this and served it on a bed of coconut rice. 10/10!!!!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Have an awesome weekend! xT