Julie Clark
Posted: Updated:
Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
These healthy, kid-friendly Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers are grain free, gluten free, dairy free and sugar-free. Lightly breaded and pan fried in coconut oil to a golden brown.
Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers
I’m super excited about this little recipe I’m sharing with you today. If your family is anything like ours, you are busy. Running to soccer practices, cross country practices, ballet, piano…by the time dinner comes and it’s nearing time to plop down at the table, I like something fast. And healthy. And easy. And tasty… my dinner has to be good! What makes a dinnertime recipe really stand out is when I see smiles on my kids’ faces (and my hubby’s, too!) and statements of “Now THIS is GOOD!”. These Paleo Italian Chicken Fingers hit every single one of those requirements.
What Chicken to Use for Chicken Fingers
To make these best paleo chicken tenders quick to cook, I used the chicken breast tenderloins that are already trimmed and ready. I know I’m not the only one out there that isn’t a huge fan of handling raw chicken. The fact that this comes trimmed and ready to cook is genius!
Breading for Homemade Chicken Fingers
To make this, you’ll dip each chicken tenderloin in egg first, and then in a mixture of almond flour, tapioca starch, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper. Then you place it in hot coconut oil and let them pan fry for about 5-6 minutes on each side. This is so easy, friends. There’s no real way you can mess this one up.
The flavor you end up with? Out of this world, finger-lickin’ good. I served this to my family two days in a row. Once we ate the Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers on their own. The kids dipped theirs in honey mustard or buffalo sauce. The second day we served it with spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash: it’s your very own paleo chicken parmigiana!
Crispy Chicken Fingers
I loved how crispy this chicken turned out. The key to getting this chicken crispy is to heat the coconut oil for about 5 minutes before placing the chicken in. Gently place the chicken in and let it sizzle. You’ll get a beautiful golden brown color. Because these chicken fingers have a light, gluten free “breading”, that crispy coating may come off if you are not careful. We used a spatula (instead of a fork) to turn the chicken fingers and remove them from the pan when they were done. Our crispy coating stayed perfectly on the chicken.
Your family is going to love this healthy recipe. Perfect for game day, birthdays or any day!
Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers
These healthy, kid-friendly Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers are grain free, gluten free, dairy-free and sugar-free Lightly breaded and pan fried in coconut oil to a golden brown.
Servings 8
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless skinless Chicken Tenderloins
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 11/2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs whisked
- 1/3 cup coconut oil for frying
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Heat ¼ cup coconut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
- While the oil is heating, prepare the chicken. Place almond flour, tapioca starch, garlic salt, salt, Italian seasoning and pepper in a bowl and mix.
- Put the whisked eggs in a separate bowl.
- Dip each chicken tenderloin into the egg and then coat each with the almond flour mixture.
- Place the prepared chicken into the hot oil and fry it for 5 minutes. Once the first side is browned, turn the chicken and fry the other side for another 5 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and shows no pink in the middle.
- During the last minute of frying, sprinkle paprika over the chicken.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or with spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 119mg | Sodium: 2038mg | Potassium: 443mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 170IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1.4mg
What’s up with the Tyson endorsement? I think most people looking for paleo recipes are going to shy away from buying a non-organic, hormone-infused brand of chicken. like Tyson.
These were AMAZING!! I have tried other paleo chicken fingers before and nothing else compares. Thank you for this recipe! I will definitely being making these again!
Thanks so much for the recipe! Yumm!
amzing I always was looking for a way to make it crispy ! the tapioca starch is my answer !!
Made this tonight for my family and company, it was so good!! Everyone enjoyed it, it def does not “taste paleo”. I butterflied a couple chicken breasts, cut into smaller strips, and cooked in Ghee on the stove. I also used garlic powder instead of salt. They were perfect, will def be making again thanks for the recipe!
Made this for dinner last night and I didn’t want to share! The crispy coating seriously just melts in your mouth. I don’t have garlic salt that is sugar free so I just subbed for garlic powder. I will definitely be making this over and over again!
just started paleo and this is the first dinner recipe that I have tried, I’m picky when it comes to chicken and these were amazing!!!! They are definitely better than some regular chicken cutlets that I’ve had. I will definitely be using this recipe a ton. Thank you so much!
Crushed up pork rinds work very well as a breading too!
I’m new the paleo so I don’t have a favorite chicken recipe yet but this one looks awesome.
hi! I love this recipe, I’m starting on the healthy path, and this looks like my husband would eat it lol! Do you have a break down of the nutritional information on the chicken with the “breading” on it! Just calories would be great info, thank you so much:)
I made these last night, but did not use salt and they tasted amazing!!! I substituted the salt for Mrs. Dash.
Do you know the nutrition facts about the chicken strips by chance?
Do you know if you can bake instead of cooking stovetop? If so at what temp and for how long? Thank you!
What can be subbed for the almond meal? Have a kid who is allergic to tree nuts
I am allergic to almonds, do you think this recipe would work with coconut flour?
Oh my goodness these were amazing. My 18 month old and my 7 year old cleaned their plates. We are new to Paleo and were scared to lose our chicken strips. Now we know we don’t have to! We will make these again (and again… and again… and again!). Thank you!
My 5 year old daughter said and I quote, “These are so good can you make them everyday? And make extra to put in my lunch box too!” I liked them very much, and so did my husband and my 3 year old son. But frankly, the men will eat anything I give them, it’s us ladies you have to impress. Something that all 4 of us liked and want again is almost unheard of. I had purchased the chicken to make fajitas (I marinate it in line ice and cumin and coriander, it is on fooodtv.com the emeril beef… Read more »