Give Chicken Fingers A Better Crunch With A Unique Fruit Coating

Chicken fingers have been encrusted in so many various crumbles over the years, including cornflakes, potato chips, almonds, and coconut flakes. One ingredient that's a stellar option that may have never crossed your mind? plantain chips. In addition to generally being gluten-free, this unique fruit coating gives chicken fingers a better crunch than traditional breadcrumbs or corn cereals, and adds a hint of sweetness. While they are related, plantains are generally less sweet than bananas, so they won't overpower the chicken. If you've ever snacked on a plantain chip before, you know how particularly crunchy they are — and that they are usually thicker and more substantial than potato or tortilla chips. 

There are so many ways to prepare and enjoy plantains in either sweet or savory applications, be it frying into the vastly different maduros or tostones, mashed like in the traditional Puerto Rican dish known as mofongo, or even in a dessert like sweet plantain bread pudding. But the next time you make chicken fingers, think outside the box of panko breadcrumbs and give them a better crunch with a unique coating of plantain chips. 

Since they can vary in thickness and size, it's important to break plantain chips down into small, fairly uniform pieces before using them to bread chicken. You can use a food processor to pulse into finely crushed pieces, or you can go old school by placing them in a zip-top bag and hitting them with a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat tenderizer, being careful not to puncture the bag.

As always when breading chicken or other fried foods, it's important to season the chicken all over with salt after patting them dry. While the plantain chips are usually already salted enough that they don't require additional seasoning, you could add some garlic granules or cayenne powder to the flour or directly onto the raw chicken for a bit more flavor. To make the tenders coated in this crunchy tropical fruit, follow the classic dredging method of coating the dry, seasoned chicken first in flour, followed by beaten egg, and finish by pressing down firmly into the finely crushed plantain chips so they adhere well to the chicken. Set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. 

While our favorite recipe for plantain-crusted chicken fingers, created by Tasting Table developer Tess Le Moing, cooks the chicken by shallow-frying in oil in a large skillet, they would also be great coated with a spray oil and baked in an oven, or air-fried to juicy, golden brown perfection.

To counter the sweet-and-salty flavor of plantain chips, these chicken fingers would be delicious paired with a spicy, herbaceous Peruvian ají verde sauce. And while, of course, tasty eaten on their own, the plantain-crusted chicken tenders would be a great protein topping for a salad or served with something bright and tangy, like this grilled cabbage and mango slaw. Give a crushed plantain crust a try next time you're in the mood for a tropical twist.