Strawberry Sriracha Chicken Tenders

There can never be too many ways to make chicken tenders, which is such a fast cooking cut of chicken, a perfect pick for hurried weeknight cooking and a favorite amongst kids of all ages.

I love that portion controlled tenders can be cooked so quickly, whether you’re making them in a skillet, on a grill, or by other methods, but this Strawberry Sriracha chicken tender dish is the epitome of sweet heat happiness.

HOW INCREDIBLY EASY ARE THESE INGREDIENTS?

I think the ease of the sauce is what makes this so desirable. All you have to do is add strawberries, Sriracha, and strawberry preserves into a blender and process until it's very smooth.

You use a portion of the sauce to marinate the chicken tenders for just a short amount of time, and then the rest of the sauce can be used as is with the finished chicken or can be mixed with equal parts of mayonnaise to make a really delicious strawberry Sriracha mayo dipping sauce.

You can do these particular chicken tenders on a stove top grill or on an outdoor grill. Either way works equally well. You could also put these in a 425° oven and bake them but I really like the char that you get on these chicken tenders when you apply the grill to them. There's nothing like the sauce charring onto the tender chicken meat. They are just so finger licking good.

I love to douse the rest of the chicken tenders with more sauce and a sprinkling of cilantro for color.

Strawberry Sriracha Grilled Chicken Tenders
Serves 4


1 pound chicken tenders
8 ounces strawberries, stems removed & roughly chopped
2 tablespoons strawberry preserves/jam
2 tablespoons sriracha (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1 teaspoon olive or avocado oil
Small handful chopped cilantro for garnish



Place chicken tenders in a plastic bag.

In a blender process strawberries, sriracha, preserves and salt until smooth.  Pour half of the mixture over the chicken in the plastic bag and let marinate for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator.


Decant the remaining sauce to serve with the chicken.


Heat a medium grill pan to medium high heat and drizzle over the oil.  Add chicken tenders to the hot grill pan, letting excess sauce drip off and grill on one side until they’re starting to char and turn golden brown.  Flip and sear on the other side about 2-3 minutes until chicken tenders are cooked all the way through.  The natural sugars in the strawberry sriracha sauce will ensure these get a great caramelization to them and the sear can also be done on an outdoor grill.


Garnish chicken with cilantro and serve with the rest of the sauce.
I also like to mix equal parts sauce and mayonnaise for a nice dipping sauce that diffuses the sriracha heat a bit.