Ritz Cracker Crusted Chicken Fingers

I love the week leading up to the Super Bowl because blogs are filled with recipes for appetizers and other party foods. Everywhere I look there are soft pretzel bites, chips with cheesy dips and desserts shaped like footballs. This is a great sight for someone like me, who is a big time snacker. I don't need there to be a main course served at my Super Bowl party. I am all about snacking on different appetizers and desserts throughout the night. And ever since the Patriots were eliminated from the playoffs two weeks ago, I find that I am more excited about the food than I am about the game itself. 

In order to get ready for the Super Bowl, I decided to make chicken fingers, aka my boyfriend's favorite meal in the entire world. I think that he could live on chicken fingers if I let him. For this recipe, I made Ritz Cracker Crusted Chicken Fingers. Only three ingredients and 25 minutes in the oven! Super easy and delicious. From what I have learned, there are two secrets that result in crispy chicken fingers from the oven. First, make sure to line your baking sheet with an oven-safe rack. If you do not have an cooking rack, you can always just bake the chicken on a cookie sheet. But the chicken fingers will be a lot crispier if you use the rack. Second, make sure to use a non-stick cooking spray before placing the chicken onto the rack.  Using these two secrets, you can serve crispy chicken fingers just like you get at your favorite restaurant. 

Ritz Cracker Crusted Chicken Fingers

from My Life as a Mrs.

1 pound chicken tenderloins

1 sleeve ritz crackers, crushed

1/2 bottle ranch dressing

salt and pepper to season

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take an oven-safe cooking rack and place inside of a cookie sheet. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. 

Pour ranch dressing on to a plate. Combine  ritz cracker crumbs in a bowl.

Season chicken tenderloins with salt and pepper. One at a time, place seasoned tenderloins in the plate of ranch dressing and cover completely. Then transfer to the bowl of ritz cracker crumbs. Make sure that each tenderloin is completely covered with in the ritz cracker coating. Place each tenderloin on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Using a meat thermometer, make sure that the chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 170 degrees. 

Enjoy :)