Spicy Buttermilk Baked Chicken Tenderloins

Chicken tenderloins are one of my favorite protein sources to cook. They’re easy to work with, fast cooking, and just as lean as whole chicken breasts. And once you try these buttermilk baked chicken tenderloins, you’ll know how flavorful they can be!

This recipe makes 10 spicy buttermilk chicken tenders, each with 16 grams of protein, 1 gram of carbs, virtually zero fat, and 0 WW Smart Points! I’ll walk you through the recipe (it’s super easy) and how to make the Greek yogurt ranch dipping sauce below. And you can find the printable recipe card at the end of the post.

Baked Chicken Tenderloins Recipe Walkthrough

Similar to my pan fried naked chicken tenders recipe, marinating is the key to juicy and flavorful chicken tenderloins. If you’re marinade averse, not all hope is lost.

Marinating for as little as 30 minutes will go a long way! Since chicken tenderloins are smaller, marinades work their magic faster than in recipes like my crispy buttermilk pan fried chicken breast.

Spicy Buttermilk Marinade Ingredients

• low fat buttermilk
• hot sauce of your choice (I used Cholula)
• paprika, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper*

*If you’re spice sensitive, you can swap the cayenne for equal parts paprika.

Stir everything together and go straight in with the chicken tenderloins. Give it all a whirl to fully coat the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Once the chicken tenderloins and marinade have gotten to know one another, it’s time to bake. Add the chicken to a baking sheet with a wire rack and sprinkle with additional salt, pepper, and cayenne (or paprika to reduce the heat).

If you don’t have a wire rack, no worries! Bake them directly on the sheet. This may slightly accelerate the cook time so check them a bit earlier. 

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the chicken tenderloins reach an internal temperature of 165F. Like a good marinade, having a food thermometer on hand is another key to juicy chicken that’s never over cooked, dry, and tough. You can check out the food thermometer I use, along with all my other kitchen tools, on my Amazon storefront.

More Flavor Ideas

If you’d like to make your baked chicken tenderloins with a different seasoning blend, check out my blackened chicken tenders, buffalo chicken thighs, pulled BBQ chicken, or my post with 7 ways to make air fryer chicken nuggets. These recipes have seasoning blends you could just rub on chicken tenderloins and bake.

Important Chicken Tenderloins Note 

I’ll add that chicken tenderloins can vary in size. You’ll notice this recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenderloins and yields 10 chicken tenders. Go by weight, not the number of tenders. And if you have more tenderloins, that means they’re smaller and will cook a bit faster.

And that’s it! You’re ready to serve.

If you’re not a fan of chicken tenderloins, you can cut chicken breast into strips or use a pre-cut chicken breast option like I used for my garlic parmesan air fryer chicken tenders.

Homemade Greek Yogurt Ranch Dipping Sauce

Speaking of serving, here’s a quick and easy ranch dip that goes great with these baked chicken tenders:

• 1/2 C (113g) Fat Free Greek Yogurt
• 2 Tbsp (30mL) Skim Milk (or any milk)
• 1 Tbsp Ranch Seasoning

Mix it up and serve! You can easily scale the recipe up and save some for later in the refrigerator.

And since you’ll have ranch seasoning on hand, you might as well make my air fryer ranch potato wedges or the wedges from my spicy baked chicken thighs and potatoes recipe as a side dish.

Other Side Dish Ideas

Here’s a shortlist of my favorite sides for chicken:

• Air Fryer Potatoes and Carrots
• Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
• Garlic Parmesan Carrot Fries
• Citrusy Garlic Air Fryer Green Beans
• Crispy Air Fryer Radishes

And that should cover it. If you have questions about these spicy buttermilk baked chicken tenderloins, drop a comment below or join my Facebook group along with 17,000+ other home cooks who’d be happy to help! 

Spicy Buttermilk Baked Chicken Tenderloins

A quick buttermilk and spicy hot sauce marinade for juicy chicken tenders that are essentially carb and fat free!

4.63 from 72 votes

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Marinate: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 Tenders

Calories: 81kcal

Author: Mason Woodruff

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenderloins*
• 3/4 C 180mL Low Fat Buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp 30g Hot Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt divided
• 1 tsp Black Pepper divided
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper divided (optional)

Instructions

• For the Marinade
• Whisk the buttermilk, hot sauce, paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper together in a resealable container. Add the chicken tenderloins and marinate for at least 2 hours.
• Baking the Chicken Tenderloins
• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Transfer the chicken tenderloins from the marinade to a baking sheet with a wire rack.** Discard the remaining marinade.
• Mix the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper with the remaining 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper to sprinkle on top of the tenderloins.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the chicken tenderloins reach an internal temperature of 165F. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

*Chicken tenderloins vary in size. Use 1 1/2 pounds of chicken. Smaller tenderloins will cook a bit faster and affect nutrition information.

**If you don’t have a wire rack, bake directly on the sheet. This may accelerate cooking so check on them earlier.

For Air Fried Chicken Tenders

Using my Nashville Hot Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets as a guide, 8-10 minutes at 400ºF should do the trick. Though you’ll likely need to cut the recipe in half or cook in two batches unless you have a BIG air fryer.

Nutrition Facts Notes

• Each chicken tenderloin has 0 Smart Points.
• The nutrition facts include the marinade (even though it’s discarded) since there’s no way to accurately track what’s absorbed/discarded. As always, nutrition facts are an estimate.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Tender | Calories: 81kcal | Carbohydrates: 1.1g | Protein: 16.3g | Fat: 0.8g

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