Panko Crusted Cajun Chicken Strips with Tabasco Ketchup

I try to consider myself a health conscious consumer. I avoid fast food at nearly all costs (unless I'm craving a diet soda or an occasional Diet Cherry Limeade from Sonic), and I usually try to stay away from most fried foods for my main dish. However, I can't deny the fact that fast food can sometimes be tempting, as well as a nice meal of fried chicken or chicken tenders. Sometimes I can't deny the fact that I am really craving a burger or a chicken tender. When that happens, I try not to give in. Instead, I go for my go-to cheat meal of panko crusted cajun chicken strips with Tabasco Ketchup. They are super easy to make, and I can control exactly what ingredients go into the dish I'll later be consuming. There are two similar versions, one which can be made with buttermilk, and one that can be made with eggs.

In my opinion, using buttermilk makes everything taste better, but using eggs helps to limit the amount of extra fat that goes into the dish. Either way, it's your decision and you get to choose what you are willing to consume and if you don't mind adding a few extra delicious calories, go for the buttermilk!

You'll need:

* 1.5 pounds  boneless chicken tenders

* Half a cup of Buttermilk (or 2 eggs)

* 2 tablespoons Tony Chacheries cajun seasoning

* 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

* 1 tablespoon pepper

* 1teaspoon red chili powder

*  1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

* 1.5 cups of Panko Breadcrumbs

* Ketchup

* Tabasco Sauce

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees while you prepare your workstation. In a small bowl, pour the buttermilk or if you prefer to use the eggs crack the eggs and beat them for several seconds.

Dump all of your seasonings into the buttermilk or eggs. Get a large baking sheet or glass baking dish and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In another larger bowl dump your breadcrumbs.

To prepare your chicken tenders, dunk each tender into the buttermilk or egg concoction until it's sufficiently wet. Then dunk the tender into the breadcrumbs until it's entirely coated. Lay the tender flat on the baking sheet. Repeat until all the tenders are coated. 

Once you've coated all of the raw chicken tenders with the breadcrumbs, pop them into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes (or until they are cooked through). 

As your chicken tenders are baking, you can prepare your Tabasco Ketchup. I like to use individual sized miniature sauce dishes that I have, so when I serve it each person has their own little ketchup container. However, you can create one bowl of ketchup for the entire table if you'd like as well. This is a meal that's clearly not very formal, and family style is always fun!

Dump the desired amount of ketchup into the bowl. Once you have enough ketchup to sufficiently feed however many people you're feeding, take out the Tabasco Sauce. Pour 6 to 8 shakes of Tabasco into the ketchup, and stir it in. Once it's been stirred in, take a fork and dunk it into the ketchup and taste the ketchup. If the ketchup doesn't have a little kick of heat to it, add several more shakes of tabasco until you have the desired heat. 

Once the Tenders are ready, they will be a delicious Japanese twist on Cajun flavor without any of the guilt of driving through the fast food window!