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Keeping things fun and easy with these baked Spicy Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken Fingers. They’re seasoned with homemade honey mustard, breaded in salty pretzel crumbs, oven baked, then dipped in a spicy-hot honey sauce, followed up with a cooling ranch. These are the “grown up” version of chicken fingers…that kids love too. And yes, they’re even healthier (these tenders are baked, not fried), and so much tastier. Serve with oven baked french fries and veggies for an easy dinner that’s different, sweet and spicy, and full of flavor.
So what do you do when life tells you to stay and home and work with what’s in your pantry? You make chicken fingers…breaded in pretzel crumbs…and you serve them with your favorite spicy honey sauce. At least that’s what I do. When you don’t have a lot to work with, you gotta try and make the best of what you got. And these chicken fingers are some of the best I’ve made.
Tangy from the honey mustard glaze, salty from the pretzel coating, and sweet from the spicy honey sauce, these flavors are hard to beat. Not only are these chicken fingers fun to eat, but they’re pretty easy too! Perfect for a quarantined Wild Wednesday night.
The story.
If you look back through past HBH recipes, you’ll see a handful of chicken finger and popcorn chicken recipes. There’s also my beloved (and popular) southern hot honey chicken as well. Yes, breaded chicken recipes are big favorites in my family. Personally, I love to bake the chicken fingers…and then add plenty of sauces for dipping. They’re so good, fun, and a nice switch up from the average weeknight dinner. You know?
But these chicken fingers are extra special, they’re a mash-up of a few oldie recipes I’ve shared in year’s past. For those of you who’ve been following along all the way back since the start of HBH (in 2012). You might remember that I once shared a pretzel crusted chicken salad with honey mustard. For whatever reason, as I was staring at the back of a pretzel bag I had in the pantry, I thought back to that chicken. And then, I knew I was making pretzel coated chicken fingers. I mean why not? I had frozen chicken tenders in the freezer. What else would I make with those two ingredients? It was a no brainer.
From there, I added the seasonings, plus the spicy honey sauce. In less than a few hours, I had these pretzel chicken fingers perfected. From there, I sent photos to my older brother Creighton, who loves chicken fingers more than anyone I know. Wishing he could have been here to enjoy them. Very much missing the rest of the family these days.
Creighton loved the photos and said to freeze some for his next trip out to Colorado.
The steps.
To start, mix up the honey mustard and toss it with trimmed chicken tenders. The honey mustard is our flavor and our “glue” that helps adhere the pretzel crumbs onto the chicken tenders.
Next, finely crush the pretzels into crumbs to bread the chicken. The finely crushed pretzels are key. They flavor the chicken with the perfect amount of salt, which pairs wonderfully with the sweet and tangy honey mustard.
Tip? Pulse the pretzels in the food processor to really break them down into a fine crumb. If you don’t have a food processor, just add the pretzels to a ziplock bag, then step on the bag with your feet to finely crush them. Trust me, this works. You can even just use the actual pretzel bag and step on that. It’s what dad used to do when he’d make potato chip chicken when I was a kid. This trick is an oldie but a goodie.
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. You can’t skip this step, it’s crucial.
On to the sauce.
No chicken finger is complete without a dipping sauce…our two. In this family, you can never have enough sauce.
So first…the Spicy Honey Sauce. It’s inspired by the famous Nashville Hot Chicken and it’s the same sauce I use on my southern oven fried chicken. It’s spicy, but balanced with a touch of sweetness. The classic way to add sweetness to this spicy sauce is with brown sugar, but I prefer using honey for better flavor and texture.
In addition to the spicy honey sauce, I wanted to pair the fingers with something cooling…
Enter the cool ranch. I like to simply mix up a quick homemade ranch, but you can easily use your favorite store-bought ranch too. I like to use both sauces. Then you get a little buttery sweet and spicy sauce mixed in with a little creamy cooling ranch.
It is SO GOOD!
Once the chicken is done cooking, serve it up along with the sauces. I like to add these Tuscan style fries. If you’re going to do a chicken finger night, you might as well add the fries. Hey, this is quarantine life, we have to try to make some fun. Plus, just like the chicken, these fries are baked, not fried.
To sum things up, the chicken is a touch tangy and perfectly salted. The sauce is spicy, yet buttery. Put everything together and you’ll have tangy, salty, sweet, and spicy chicken fingers. So much (really) good flavor.
The best part about this recipe is that you’ll hopefully be able to find all of the ingredients in your pantry and your freezer. With such a large family, I always try to keep chicken tenders in the freezer at all times. They thaw much quicker than chicken breasts, and they make for a great last-minute protein source. The rest of the ingredients are all taken from the pantry shelves… honey, mustard, spices, and dried herbs.
Simple and easy!
Lastly, if you make these spicy honey mustard pretzel chicken fingers, 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!
Baked Hot Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken Fingers.
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 888 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt, sour cream, or olive oil mayo
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 pounds boneless chicken tenders
- 2 cups finely crushed salted pretzel twists
- 1 teaspoon each garlic and onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil for brushing
- ranch dressing for serving (optional)
Spicy Honey Sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper using more or less to your taste
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- kosher salt
Instructions
- 1. In a bowl, whisk together the mustard, yogurt, and honey. Add the chicken and toss well to coat. 2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.3. Add the pretzel crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and a pinch of pepper to a medium sized bowl. Stir to combine.4. Remove each piece of chicken from the honey mustard, and dredge through the crumbs, pressing gently to adhere. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the chicken has been used. Make sure not to crowd your pan, if necessary use two baking sheets. Lightly brush/drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.5. Meanwhile, make the spicy honey sauce. Melt together the honey, butter, cayenne, chili powder, paprika, and a pinch of salt. 6. Serve the chicken topped with flaky salt and spicy honey sauce for dipping. I'd add a side of ranch too. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on April 1, 2020
I was really excited to make these but they didn’t seem to turn out right. The breading was soggy/new got crispy and stuck to the bottom of the pan. Does anyone know why this might of been?
Hi Mackenzie,
So sorry you had issues with the recipe. Next time I would recommend drizzling with olive oil, this is key, and flipping the chicken halfway through baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made these today. I am gluten and dairy free so used gf pretzels and coconut yogurt. They were fabulous. My husband loves his chicken fingers and says…..best ever!
Thank you so much for trying this Catherine! I am really glad it turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Can I use chicken breasts Panko crumbs and regular mayo in this recipe? I have olive oil I can add to the mayo. Just trying to use what I have in my pantry.
Hi Darian! Yes, I think all of those will work great! I would suggest cutting the breasts in half so they are more tender size! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
While we’ve been eating really well at home, after a month of isolation, my family is missing going out to a restaurant, so this recipe helped fill the void. It was like a night out at a pub with amped up chicken fingers. Crunchy, sweet and spicy and paired really well with your sweet potato parmesan tater tots. My only change was using sriacha in the sauce instead of cayenne because I find the spice level a little easier to control. Thanks again!
I am really glad this helped you all out! And turned out so well! Thank you for trying this Raewyn! xTieghan
This was a huge favorite tonight for dinner! I will definitely be making this again. It came together so quickly. The pretzels are such a great idea. I never have the cereal that some baked chicken recipes use but I do have pretzels! It smells great, I thought the kids wouldn’t like it but they asked for seconds. Yummy recipe!
Thank you so much Felishia! I am really glad you all enjoyed this one! xTieghan
Needed something different for the chicken I had defrosted for dinner. We loved this recipe and the sauce was very tasty too! Your pictures are incredible as are all your recipes that I have tried. Thank you.
Aw thank you so much Maria! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Love! So delish and so easy to make
Thank you so much Rach! I am glad you like this! xTieghan
Spicy honey sauce is my new favorite thing, but I might stick to buying chicken tenders. The pretzel coating did not stick to the chicken (which is my usual problem with homemade fried and “fried” chicken). But! All is not lost! I will chop up the leftover tenders and toss them on top of spinach and add some veggies for a yummy salad. The pretzels can serve as “croutons”.
Hi Emily! I am sorry these did not turn out as expected! Please let me know if there is anything I can help with! Also, love that you are turning it into a salad! YES! xTieghan
I do not understand why people have to be so ugly. Why can’t they just enjoy the blog and be positive? If Half Naked Harvest had not given us this wonderful recipe, I may not have ever seen it. Some people have such a desire to be recognized, they will do or say anything to receive attention. They don’t care who they hurt in the process. You should think before you start typing your comments, ask yourself, “Will this hurt someone?”, Will my comments possibly be taken the wrong way? If so, be a good person and don’t send!
Hi Vickie! Yes, I completely agree with you. Over the internet it seems like people do not think an actual human is reading that comment, but they’re wrong. I hope that you are having a wonderful week and continue to! Thank you! xTieghan
I made these tonight and I plan on having these weekly until I am sick of them! The prep is very easy, as I finished right as my oven finished pre-heating. The ingredients are minimal and pantry-staples, so I did not need to make a special trip to the store. I’m also on weight watchers, and this recipe is very point-friendly. Highly recommend!
Haha that is so great! Thank you for trying this Mia! I hope you continue to love it! xTieghan
My husband and I loved these… devoured them!
I made them in the air fryer and they came out crunchy on the outside and perfectly moist on the inside. The combo of flavors was amazing. We will make again and again… Thanks Tieghan!
Love to hear that!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! xTieghan
I’m trying these out tmw but don’t have any dijon! I have yellow and honey! -_-. Any advice?
Hi Naraly,
You can use whatever your favorite mustard is. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My family declared this our best meal of quarantine and I agree! My very picky 13 year old was fighting everyone for seconds. Thank you! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Thank you so much Shari! I am really glad this turned out so well for you and your family! I hope you are all staying well! xTieghan
Hi, HBH!
I won’t be able to go to the store for a few days, but I have everything for this except for pretzels! (Not gonna name names, but SOMEONE in my house ate all the pretzels I had saved for this!!)
Do the pretzels totally take this recipe from regular chicken fingers to next level? Should I even bother making this with regular breadcrumbs/panko if I have everything else? Or just try and be patient and wait until I can get to the store.
Thank you!
Haha aw that is too funny! Honestly, I would try this with breadcrumbs and maybe the next time you will have pretzels available! During this time I just really encourage to use what you have available! I hope you love this Lauren! xTieghan
Made this yesterday for my mom’s birthday and it was a hit! We loved them. I tried the sauce and it was so spicy, so I only ate the chicken, which was still so good! Everyone else enjoyed the sauce so it all worked out! I’m sure I’ll be making this again! It was also incredibly easy! I’ve skimmed through a couple of recipes on here and the word ‘easy’ is said a lot. I used to think it wasn’t really that easy, but I’ve tried three amazing recipes from here and they are that easy! And so good! The crinkle-top brownies, a chocolate cake, and these are so good and so easy! I can’t stress it enough! If you have all the ingredients on hand, do yourself a favor and make one of the recipes! Thank you so much again for this amazing recipe!
Hi Maya! I am so glad these turned out so well and you have been loving my recipes! That is so amazing to hear! I hope you are all doing well! xTieghan