Baked Coconut Crusted Chicken

Have I got a recipe for you! These chicken tenders are so good, there's no way you can eat just one. They are so easy to make and I had all the ingredients already in my pantry and refrigerator. I like to buy chicken breasts at Costco. I get the ones over in the refrigerated section. They come with six packets with two breasts in each packet. They are great for us because I just freeze them and pull out a packet when I need it. The breasts are always large and two is more than enough to feed the four of us. This recipe called for tenderloins, so I just cut the breasts into strips to make tenderloin sized pieces. You could also cut them even smaller and make nuggets for the kids or stick them on little toothpicks or sticks for a fun finger food at a party. 

A friend of mine introduced me to the recipe. She had made it the night before and her kids just gobbled it up. I'm always looking for new things for my kids to try, so I decided to give it a shot. She had made a few changes and then when I made it I took her suggestions and then modified it a little more. My kids really liked the chicken but didn't care for the sauce. I did opt to use balsamic vinegar instead of white vinegar. I love balsamic, but it might have just been too much for my munchkins. Here's the Skinnytaste recipe that it was modified from.

Another thing I loved about this recipe.. my kids have been showing more interest in helping in the kitchen, so Thing 1 was my helper and he mixed the coconut crumb mixture, whisked the egg whites, and then mixed the ingredients for the potatoes au gratin (what can I say, I was trying to clean out the pantry). He felt really helpful and these were tasks he could successfully handle without making a huge mess. Here's our end result!

Ingredients:
For the Coconut Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts sliced into tenderloins
• 6 Tbsp shredded coconut (sweetened)
• 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 3 Tbsp panko bread crumbs
• 3 egg whites
• salt and pepper
• oil spray (I used my Misto with olive oil in it but you can also use Pam cooking spray)

For the Vinaigrette

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (but if you want less tang use white)
• 2 tsp dijon mustard

Directions:

Whisk all the ingredients for the vinaigrette and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut your chicken breasts into tenderloin sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk the egg whites in a small bowl. Combine the coconut, Italian bread crumbs, and panko bread crumbs in another dish/bowl.

Dip tenderloins into egg whites then into coconut crumb mixture. Lay flat on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper (makes for super easy clean up). Spray lightly with olive oil spray. Bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked completely through. Flip tenderloins once about halfway through for even cooking and to get a nice golden crust on both sides.

Remove from oven. The crust should have a nice caramel colored crust. When you serve the chicken, you can either use the vinaigrette sauce for dipping or just drizzle a little over the whole tenderloin. I opted for a light drizzle so I could keep the calories in check. ;)

Enjoy!