Sweet and Spicy Paleo Chicken Fingers
These delicious Paleo Chicken Fingers are sticky and sweet with just the right amount of spice. They're a quick and easy, healthy dinner recipe your whole family will LOVE!
In the off chance that you can't tell by the picture, I'll say it here, “these sweet and spicy paleo chicken fingers are amazing.” Wait … paleo? Yep, you heard right. The chicken is coated in an almond meal (aka almond flour) crust that is both 100% paleo and gluten-free.
After a bake in the oven, it's dunked in a deliciously sticky sweet and spicy sauce. If you forget about your knife and fork, you'll be licking the sauce off your digits for sure.
One thing you'll notice is, because of the almond meal the chicken is VERY filling. The first time I made this I was super starving and thought that the recipe would only serve 2, at most. Even with the best of intentions my handsome man and I could barely finish half this recipe.
I should warn you that it is not quite as crispy as it would be if it were coated in panko or breadcrumbs. Maybe that seems obvious to you, but I had my fingers crossed that it would be.
The almond meal does give the chicken a nice coating that adds extra flavor and helps all the delicious sauce to cling better.
Watch the Video How to Make Paleo Chicken Fingers {1 min}
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These guys have become a family favorite for us. We've made them many times over the past few years and never seem to tire of them. Our little girl loves them as much as we do.
I think the best part about them is that they taste like something that shouldn't be healthy. They're like your favorite deep-fried Honey Garlic Chicken Wings or breaded chicken nuggets dipped in a sweet sauce.
But these chicken fingers are neither of those things. These babies are HEALTHY. It's crazy, I know. It does my head in each time we eat them.
While these chicken tenders are delicious all on their own, they're also delicious dipped in a little paleo ranch dressing.
If you include a little dairy in your diet, some plain yogurt (is there really any other kind?) or sour cream on the side for dipping is nice, too.
Enjoy!
Update: since first making this Sweet and Spicy Paleo Chicken Fingers recipe, I've played around with other versions. This Paleo Honey Garlic Chicken Fingers recipe is amazing, too!
Your Paleo Chicken Fingers Game Plan:
- Pour some tapioca starch into a bowl, whip some eggs, and season some almond flour. Dip the chicken fingers from one bowl to the next. Set them aside and go relax.
- Put the chicken in the oven. Quick boil the honey, hot sauce, and garlic powder. Go relax some more. (Truth: you might want to put on some cauliflower rice and make a quick salad.)
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and put it back in the oven for a few minutes to caramelize the sauce.
- Dig in and watch the smiles spread across everyone's faces!
How to prevent the crust from falling off?
- Start with the best quality chicken you can afford. Cheap chicken is typically pumped full of water, making it look like it's better value than a smaller piece of chicken. The problem with this is that when the chicken cooks the water is released, and it pushes the crust off. Don't be fooled!
- Let the chicken sit for 30-60 minutes after you coat it in the almond flour; this helps to bind the crust together so that it sticks to the chicken.
- Make sure to shake any excess egg off the chicken before dipping it into the almond flour. You need some moisture to help it stick, but not so much that it causes the breading to fall off.
PS. If you're looking for some more deliciously paleo inspiration, make sure to check out the Paleo Recipe Category. While I'm not strictly paleo myself, I eat a grain-free, bean-free, sugar-free diet about 90% of the time and totally love it!
What to serve with baked paleo chicken tenders?
I often keep things super simple and serve a big green salad on the side. But sometimes it's nice to make this an even heartier meal. Here are some of our favorite sides:
- The Best Greek Salad (paleo if you skip the feta cheese)
- Asian Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
- Sweet and Spicy Yam Wedges
- Cajun Sweet Potato Fries
- Honey Roasted Carrots
- Smoky Roast Potatoes
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popular Paleo Dinner Recipes:
- Creamy Paleo Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
- Paleo Orange Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
- Coconut Thai Chicken Zoodle Soup
- Cashew Coconut Salmon Curry
- Perfect Baked Chicken Breasts
Sweet and Spicy Paleo Chicken Fingers
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups almond flour, almond meal
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup tapioca or potato starch , *NEW INGREDIENT*
- 1 lb chicken tenders
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup hot sauce, Franks or Tapatio work great
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Optional: paleo ranch for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Trim any overhanging edges of the parchment paper.
- Place the almond flour, sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper into a bowl and stir it together. Place the eggs in another bowl with a splash of water and whisk them.1 ½ cups almond flour, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, 2 eggs
- *STEP CHANGE*: Dip the chicken tenders, one at a time, into the tapioca or potato starch, then into the egg then into the almond flour. (Keeping one hand for the egg and one for the starch and flour makes this a lot less messy.) Lay the chicken tenders on the prepared baking sheet.¼ cup tapioca or potato starch, 1 lb chicken tenders
- *OPTIONAL STEP*: Let the chicken rest for 30-60 minutes in your fridge before you bake it. This step will help the crust to stick to the chicken.
- Bake the chicken for 25 minutes, or until it is crispy and beginning to look golden brown.
- While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce. In a small frying pan over high heat bring the honey, hot sauce and garlic powder to a boil then set it aside.½ cup honey, ⅓ cup hot sauce, ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- When the chicken has finished baking remove it from the oven and turn the oven to broil. Dip each of the chicken tenders in the sauce then lay them back on the baking sheet. Save the extra sauce.
- Put the chicken back in the oven for 2-5 minutes for the glaze to caramelize slightly. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn.
- Baste the chicken with any extra sauce once they come out of the oven then serve immediately.Optional: paleo ranch for dipping
My kiddos and I loved it. We ran out of chicken, so they had to stick some chicken nuggets in the oven to dip in the glaze 😆.
This recipe is very delicious and will be making it many more times in the future. I made the original glaze and did a honey glazed one for my toddlers. My 2yr old loved them. My husband loved the sauce but is now inspired to make his own hot sauce glaze when I make them again (hot sauces enthusiast lol). He said they tasted like buffolo wild wings but better with no heavy stomach feeling from grease weighing you down. The original has just the right amount of kick for me while being sweet also. Perfect for followers of paleo craving those greasy chicken tenders just minus the grease. Follow to a tea, you won’t be disappointed! 10/10
I make these ALL the time. My son loves the spicy, my husband loves the sweet and I love the fact they are GF!
BEST CHICKEN TENDERS I HAVE EVER HAD! OMG!!!
Okay, I have to admit, I made this as a oven fried chicken with thighs and drumsticks and just added Mt favorite fried chicken spices: Himalayan salt, pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning (basically my spice cabinet), marjoram and oregano. Oh my it was off the chain delicious. I thought fried chicken was never gonna happen again. Even my kids couldn’t get enough and they are not so fond of my new eating style. Thank you so very much for sharing this recipe and your wisdom.
Is there an egg replacement I can try for this would love to give it a try however my daughter is allergic. Super excited! Thanks.
You could try a little milk or milk substitute.
Have you tried duck eggs, they have a different protein than chicken eggs, so if you can’t do chicken eggs, many can do duck eggs.
Wow, this is the best chicken recipe I’ve come across that’s both tasty and healthy. I make it a lot.
This is one of the best recipes I’ve come across. If your paleo these are a perfect sub for sweet and spicy chicken and they’re even better.
I love to cook healthy foods for my family and this recipe HIT THE SPOT!! It is absolutely delicious!
I tried this tonight with boneless chicken thighs because that’s what was in the freezer. It tastes delicious!
But……..The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because i didn’t check the nutritional info before I made it and 50.9 grams of carbs and 36.4 grams of sugar per serving is just way too much for us.
I just assumed the word paleo was low carb lol (my bad)
And I see I am in the minority here: I used Tapatia with the honey and it was too spicy for us.
If you make it, I would recommend starting out with a less hot sauce and then add more to the honey if you wish.
Thanks for the recipe it is definitely yummy!
These chicken tenders are amazing!
Thank you for letting us know you loved the recipe!
Made these in the air fryer and they’re the perfect amount of crispy. I LOVE this recipe!!
So great to know that these can be made in an air fryer!
What am I supposed to cook it at and how long there aren’t instructions on that, and I’m not the best cook, far from it, so cooking instructions would be helpful (don’t want to burn them)
425 for 25 minutes. You’ll see the detailed instructions in the recipe card. 🙂
This is a recipe I tried for the first time when I went paleo for health reasons. Since then I’ve added food to my eating habits but this is a recipe that we’ve kept in our dinner rotation. We’ve had it over 10 times by now, making little adjustments here and there. We’re sauce people so we always double the sauce on every recipe. Also putting it in the fridge before cooking definitely makes a difference. Parchment paper we’ve noticed is what holds the breading on the most through cooking. I normally don’t like leftover chicken but I always eat this cold the next day and it’s still amazing.
That’s so great to hear, Jill! Thanks for coming back to let us know!
Not enough tapioca for this coating and definitely nowhere near enough glaze I would probably double the amount of glaze to create to cover all tenders.
More glaze is never a bad idea. 🙂
These chicken fingers are a delight to have for dinner with your family not only are they delicious they are amazingly healthy.
It’s so great to hear that you like the recipe!!
My family LOVES these! Curious if you have the nutritional info anywhere? Thanks for the recipe!
So happy to hear the family loves them! The nutritional information is just below the recipe. Once in a while it takes an extra minute to load on the page. 🙂
I made this tonight. It was fabulous. My husband and my son raved about it. Will definitely make it again.
I’m so happy you liked the chicken!
I thought this recipe was. Too good to be true, so I left it on my pinterest board for almost a year. Made it 4 weeks ago, and have had it at least twice a week (sometimes leftovers) since.
It’s kept me from ordering takeout (particularly Chili’s honey chipotle crispers) and has kept me on track with weight loss.
I am so grateful for this recipe. You are a magician!
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!!
I cannot use almond flour./meal. What would a substitute be?
Thanks.
Tapioca starch makes a crispy substitute. I’ve used it on these sesame orange chicken thighs!
This is a recipe that we ALWAYS come back to. I came across the recipe while looking for paleo meals due to a recent health diagnosis. They are just as delicious as normal chicken fingers and even better! We have cooked the chicken both with and without putting it in the fridge first. I do think this step makes a big difference in getting the breading to stay on. We also double the sauce recipe because you can never have too much sauce!
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe! Hooray!!
Do you mean tapioca starch? I’m wanting to make these tonight ?
That’s right! Both potato starch and tapioca starch both work. 🙂 Cornstarch would work too if you’re not paleo.
Hi, I’m excited to try this recipe! For the 30-60 mins, of resting time, have you ever let it rest for longer, like 3-4 hours? I wanted to make this in the morning, and then bake it for lunch (to save time). 🙂
I haven’t tried leaving it longer but I suspect it would work just fine!
I made this the other night for my paleo boyfriend and we haven’t stopped talking about it. People in his office have been asking for the recipe because he’s been raving about it. I just ate the last piece for lunch and it was even better left over! I served it just like you suggested, with the arugula. I added cherry tomatoes. I made a dressing out of 2 tbs of the sauce and 1 tbs unflavored paleo yogurt (but regular would be fine too if you eat dairy). I truly can’t say enough good things! I used arrowroot as the base and coconut flower as the crust and let it rest as you suggested. Also I did the shake n bake method and I also salted the chicken and let it rest in the fridge before coating. All these things made it truly just as crunchy as a real chicken tender and I didn’t lose any breading, even with the leftovers. I’m literally craving them now!
I had a question about the nutritional content. It says serves 6. Does that mean your recipe of 1 pound of chicken tenders is meant to serve 6? Because it served just my boyfriend and I (it made 7 tenders, he ate 4, I ate two and had one leftover). There’s no way it would’ve served 6. Is it 491 calories for 1 pound of chicken divided by 6? Did we eat each like 1500 calories? Lol! Please let me know because if it’s 491 for real for each of us we will be eating this every night!
I’m so happy to hear you and your boyfriend like the recipe! Hooray!
I’m not really sure what’s going on with the nutritional information. It’s now reading 299 calories per person, which seems accurate when I double checked it. I normally serve these with a big salad and sometimes some sweet potato fries on the side so they go a little further. Amyway, don’t worry, you didn’t eat 1500 calories each!
I left it to rest while I took a nap and it was pefect for dinnertime!