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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!
So flavorful, tender chicken and pretzel crust was a hit, it was a nice change up to what I’ve made in the past!! I used GF pretzels so everyone could eat them and the sauce was good too, it had a great smoky flavor but was balanced by the honey butter.
Hey Cheryl! Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment as well! 🙂 xT
Hi there! I make a ton of your recipes almost daily! I have several on rotation but decided to give this one a try tonight. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that great. The flavor was amazing but they definitely did not crisp up. They are very soggy. Followed the recipe to the T, so I’m not sure what happened… anywho, your recipes are awesome and I’m grateful that you are sharing your talent with us all!! Xx
Hi there! I am so so sorry about that! I would maybe try to broil for a few mins to get them to crisp up! xT
Tastes good but they didn’t get crunchy
🙁 I even baked them on a cookie cooling rack to get the heat/air under the strips and drizzled with olive oil per the suggestion. What did I do wrong?
Hi Erica,
Thanks so much for making this recipe! Hmmm, that sounds odd, I don’t see why they wouldn’t have crisped up for you, especially on the wire rack! Any chance the pretzel pieces were too big? xT
Really easy and tasty recipe! Would only take a half hour if my oven heated faster 🤪
Hi Jules,
Happy Friday!!😎 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it and your comment! xx
Super delicious and easy to make, but be ready to eat it immediately! It does not heat up well if left on a buffet table too long. The result is a soft mushy chicken that still tastes yummy but has lost all the crunch.
Hey Patricia,
Fantastic!!🌺 I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks so much for making it! xT
This recipe is always a hit, thank you so much, Teighan! And your sauces are a perfect pairing 🙂
Hey Samantha,
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💌 I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was tasty! xT
Hi! I’m hoping to make this for the super bowl and can’t wait to try it. Am I supposed to use skinless tenderloins or already breaded chicken tenders? Thanks!!
Hey Emilie,
You are going to use skinless tenders:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This is the first of many recipes of yours I’ve tried that didn’t hit the mark for me. It was just ok, but I’m still glad I gave it a shot. Thanks for all the amazing content and getting me to try new things! On to the next one. 🙂
Hey Danielle,
Thanks for trying so many recipes, so sorry to hear you didn’t love this one! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
This recipe was very good. We couldn’t actually taste pretzel but plenty of flavor and crunch. Glad I made the sauce too – it was awesome! Used Aleppo instead of cayenne pepper for milder spice. Can’t wait to make this again!
Hey May,
Happy New Year!🎆🎈 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! xx
Hi,
I didn’t see anybody mention this so, sorry if I missed it -would this work with GF pretzels? Has anybody tried it?
Hey Melissa,
Yes, you can totally use gluten free pretzels here! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Made this tonight and it was SO GOOD! My whole family including 3 kiddos all loved it as well, which is a win in our house! Will definitely be making this again! Can the spicy honey be saved?
Hey Megan,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Sure, the spicy honey is good in the fridge up to 2 weeks. Happy Tuesday! 🎄
I drizzled the hot honey sauce on top, and then dipped in ranch. Hot damn.
Hey Corinne,
Happy Monday!! 🍁 Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xT
This is our go-to chicken recipe. Even if we don’t end up making the sauce to go with, we use the yogurt, honey and Dijon as the coating and sub in breadcrumbs for the pretzels since we always have them on hand. I’m usually awful at making chicken, and this comes out perfect every time!
Hey Jackie,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback and making this recipe so often, I am so glad it always turns out well for you! Have a great weekend:)
BIG Hit! We had a close couple of ours drive out to Vegas to our new home, for lunch. We made these chicken fingers and they were such a success! We made the sauce, too, and at first, our friends asked if they could also have a side of Ranch bottle dressing. They never touched it! I had doubled the spicy honey dressing for just the 4 of us, and there wasn’t a drop left!! 🙂 (I added more honey to taste, and it was marvelous). It is now on our rotation list, especially for summer! So easy, we cooked them in the air fryer, along with a homemade potato salad and rum butter cake for dessert. Honestly, it was delicious, and semi-healthy cooking in the air fryer!! Thank you!
Hey Denise,
Happy Monday! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing your feedback!! Have the best week:) xx