Chip-Crusted Chicken with Maple Dijon Dipping Sauce

So, it’s safe to say that I ate my fair share of chips, salsa, and guacamole last week!  Due in part to Cinco de Mayo, but it’s also my family’s favorite snack!  When we all got together for a Mother’s Day dinner last night, there were bowls and bowls of plantain chips, sweet potato chips, creamy guacamole, and chunky fresh salsa.  While we polished off MOST of the chips, there were those unavoidable chip scraps that remained at the bottom of the chip bags.  It’s nearly impossible to use them for dipping, so I always feel like they go to waste!  This time, instead of throwing away the scraps and crumbs, I decided to save and repurpose them into this Chip-Crusted Chicken with Maple Dijon Dipping Sauce!In this easy and delicious Paleo dinner, I used plantain chips and sweet potato chips to crust my chicken, but you could use tortilla chips, potato chips, or any variety of chips you have on hand!  Since my chips were on the sweeter side, I put together a simple dipping sauce using maple syrup, dijon mustard, and thyme.  It tasted amazing with the chicken!  You can use chicken tenders or chicken breasts in this recipe.  I prefer the chicken tenders because they are easier to pick up and dip and take less time to bake!To begin this yummy chip-crusted chicken dinner, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with foil.  If you have a wire baking rack, grease and use that.  I didn’t have one, so I just used plain foil, which needs to be greased WELL!  I neglected to do this and my chicken stuck a little bit, but I was still able to salvage them without losing too much of the coating.

Season your chicken with some salt and pepper, then grab three bowls to prepare the batter.  Put your flour and spices in the first bowl.  (I liked this recipe with either coconut flour or Otto’s Cassava Flour.)  Eggs go in the second bowl, whisked until beaten.  The third bowl will be for your chip pieces/crumbs.  Crush your chip scraps up in the bag to make sure they’re in small enough pieces to stick to the chicken.  Time for an assembly line!   Dip each piece of chicken into each bowl- first, the flour, then the egg, and lastly, the chips.Place your chicken spaced out on your prepared baking sheet.  Once you finish dipping all of the chicken pieces, bake them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.While your chicken is baking, whisk the maple dijon dipping sauce ingredients together.  I’ve had plenty of honey mustard sauces, but I really like the dijon and maple combination with the addition of some dried thyme.  Sweet, savory, creamy, delicious.  And if you have extra dipping sauce left, it makes a good salad dressing!Once your chip-crusted chicken is cooked through and crispy, remove from the oven and let it cool for a couple minutes so that it’s not too hot to handle.Time to plate and serve!  I LOVED my chip-crusted chicken with the maple dijon dipping sauce.  If you’re not into mustard, these chicken tenders would be yummy with barbecue sauce, too!If you have leftovers (which is unlikely because these are so dang good), store them in the refrigerator wrapped in foil.  The chicken won’t stay crispy, so I recommend reheating it in the oven rather than the microwave.  You could even stick them under the broiler for a few minutes to help crisp up the chip coating.

Now you have a great reason to save your chip scraps and give this Chip-Crusted Chicken with Maple Dijon Dipping Sauce a try!  This is a great family meal that’s quick and easy to make on a weeknight, and one that your kids could even help you with! ???? Enjoy and have a wonderful Monday!

Chip-Crusted Chicken with Maple Dijon Dipping Sauce

 

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Created by: Joanna Smith

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 1 lb. chicken tenders
• a pinch of sea salt and pepper
• ½ cup cassava flour or coconut flour
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups chip scraps or crushed chips (I used plantain chips and sweet potato chips)

For the Dipping Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with foil. If you have a wire rack, grease that and put it on top of the foil. If you don't, just grease the foil REALLY well!
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Get out three medium bowls. Place flour and spices in first bowl and stir well. Crack eggs into second bowl and whisk until beaten. Pour chip scraps into third bowl. (If needed, crush chips in bag or in the bowl to make sure they are broken up into tiny pieces.)
3. Dip each chicken tender into flour, egg, and then chips. Place on prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake chicken for 20-25 minutes.
5. While chicken bakes, whisk dipping sauce ingredients together.
6. Remove chicken from oven when the inside is cooked through and the outside is brown and crispy. Cool for a few minutes until it's safe to handle. Serve with dipping sauce.

Notes

~I didn't test this using a wire rack since I don't have one. I just used foil, which worked great, but I imagine the rack would help to yield the crispiest results.
~Store leftovers wrapped in foil in the refrigerator and bake or broil to reheat and crisp up again. If you microwave them, they will be soggy.

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