Tex-Mex Chicken Fingers

Well, folks. This is our last recipe from our Fix, Freeze, Feast cookbook tour. Have you enjoyed this cookbook as much as I have? I’m giving it a permanent home with my most-used cookbooks. Next week we’ll say an official good-bye, and I’ll introduce you to our summer cookbook. Ooh, you’re going to love it! I’m so excited to share it with you! But for today…..let’s discuss this chicken.

I think that might be one of my finest moments of food photography. Doesn’t that look delicious?

This dish was a huge hit with the entire family. Everyone ate it up the night I served it, dipping it into whatever sauce they preferred (salsa, ketchup, barbeque sauce, all of the above). We’ve enjoyed the leftovers sliced with veggies and hummus, or cut up and tossed with leftover pasta. You could also slice it and serve it over a big salad. The possibilities are endless.

Tex-Mex Chicken Fingers

Source: Fix, Freeze, Feast by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik

Grocery List

• 6 pounds boneless, skinless chicken half-breasts
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 cups plain dry bread crumbs
• 3 Tbs ground cumin
• 3 Tbs granulated garlic
• 2 Tbs chili powder
• 1 Tbs salt
• 1 Tbs cayenne pepper
• Plastic wrap
• 3 one-gallon freezer bags, labelled

1. Rinse and trim chicken as desired. Cut each half-breast lengthwise into three strips. Set aside.

You could do this. Or you could do what I did. Buy chicken tenderloins. Totally worth it in time saved.

2. Place eggs in a shallow dish.

3. Combine breadcrumbs, cumin, garlic, chili powder, salt, and cayenne in a large bowl.

When I went shopping for breadcrumbs, I couldn’t find plain old breadcrumbs that were unseasoned and preservative-free. So I opted for the panko, which turned out to be a great idea. The panko crumbs are a little larger and so the breading was so nice and crispy.

4. Dip each piece of chicken, first into the egg and then into the breadcrumb mixture. Place breaded chicken pieces onto one or more baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid.

I mixed everything together into a bowl, and then put a cup or two at a time onto a plate for breading the chicken strips. I was glad I did it this way (instead of dipping it directly in the bowl), because I only ended up using half of the breadcrumb mixture (and half of the eggs). By reserving most of it in the bowl, I could pour it back into the breadcrumb container and use it for the next batch.

Next time I make this, I think I’ll try cutting the breadcrumb mixture and the eggs in half. I’m not sure if I didn’t bread them thickly enough, or if the panko threw things off, or something else entirely. But it was more than I needed.

5. Once the chicken fingers are frozen, remove from baking sheets and divide evenly among the 1-gallon freezer bags. Seal and return to the freezer.

TO COOK

1. Completely thaw one entree in the refrigerator.

2. Preheat the oven to 35o degrees.

3. Bake chicken fingers on a greased baking sheet for 30 minutes, or until chicken pulls apart easily and is no longer pink in the center of the thickest portion.

I turned my chicken over halfway through cooking to brown both sides. Not necessary, just nice.