I adore panko breadcrumbs. If you haven’t tried them yet, you should! Panko is the secret to making these chicken tenders crunchy like fried chicken strips without any of the guilt (and mess). Mixing taco seasoning into the breading to make these the perfect topping for a taco salad.
I also whipped up a quick taco ranch dressing to go over the top. The coolness of the ranch helps cut some of the spiciness of the taco seasoning.
Thanks to bountiful garden, we’ve been eating a lot of salads for dinner this summer. This is, hands down, one of our favorite creations.
Here’s what you’ll need:
It looks like a lot of ingredients, but once it’s all on the salad it works well. Try substituting your favorite taco toppings – the chicken makes for a very versatile accompaniment!
Crunchy Chicken Taco Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb. boneless skinnless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 package taco seasoning divided
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Green pepper
- Green onions
- Red onion
- Corn
- Black olives
- Cheddar cheese
For Dressing
- 2 Tbsp. sour cream
- 2 Tbsp. ranch dressing
- 2 tsp. taco seasoning
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice chicken breasts into strips.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and flour. Stir in 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning. In another bowl, stir together panko and 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning.
- Dip chicken strips into egg mixture and then roll in the panko. Place on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until crunchy and cooked through.
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the salads. Chop lettuce, tomatoes, pepper, green onions and red onions and divide between plates. Top with corn, black olives and cheddar cheese.
- In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, ranch dressing and 2 tsp. taco seasoning to make the dressing.
- Top salads with cooked chicken and dressing. Serve immediately.
Kate is a home cook living and working in New Jersey. In addition to sharing recipes with Eat at Home readers, she blogs her cooking adventures at Kate’s Recipe Box. When she’s not in the kitchen, you can find her reading or tending to her garden.
We enjoy taco salad often, but I’ve not ever tried this great idea with the panko and then baking the chicken. I think that’s brilliant! Would love the dressing too. Thanks so much for sharing!
Kate, this looks so good, I wish that I had it made up right now. Tiffany, thanks for introducing me to Kate and her blog, I am popping over to check it out now. Have a great week.
this recipe came just in time for Taco salad night at my house as I didn’t have any ground turkey or beef on hand but did have chicken tenders and panko crumbs. Nice twist to a stand by for us. My nine year old even didn’t mind this as a taco filler.
Recently I am organizing meal planning using a theme structure and giving that a try for awhile:
Monday: Taco salad or mexican
Tuesday: luck of the draw
Wednesday: One pot meal (includes a salad or bread)
Thursday: luck of the draw
Friday: Fun food (take out or eat out)
Saturday: Pizza or italian
Sunday: Seafood or fish
We’ll see if this keeps everyone happy.
Rocky