Crispy baked almond crusted chicken tenders with Chinese 5 spice seasoning on a chopped romaine salad! This meal makes for the perfect light and healthy lunch or dinner.
I can’t get enough of chicken finger salads lately. My cashew crusted buffalo chicken finger salad [3]is my go-to. But, I love this Asian inspired one too. I just coated my chicken fingers with coconut flour (almond flour or basically any flour will also work!), egg, then processed almonds with Chinese 5 spice seasoning and baked them.
For the salad I did chopped romaine lettuce, chopped green onion, mandarin oranges, wonton strips, and cucumber. I tossed my greens with rice vinegar. Then drizzled my baked chicken fingers with Trader Joe’s [4]organic sesame oil dressing. This combo is so delish!
Five Spice Almond Chicken Finger Salad
- Yield: 2 salads 1x
Ingredients
Almond 5 Spice Chicken Tenders
1 lb. chicken tenders
1/2 cup coconut flour (or almond flour)
1 cup raw almonds
1.5 tsp 5 spice seasoning
1 egg
salt and pepper
Salad
1 head of romaine, chopped
1/2 cup mandarin oranges
1/2 english cucumber, sliced/halved
wonton strips to taste, optional
chopped green onion to taste
2–3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp Trader Joe’s Organic sesame dressing or dressing of choice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease with non stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
Add almonds to a food processor and process until they are finely chopped, but make sure to not over-process them (they should look like panko breadcrumbs and hold some texture)
Add almonds to a shallow dish or bowl with a pinch of salt, pepper, and the 5 spice seasoning.
Add coconut flour to another shallow dish, and whisk the egg into a 3rd shallow dish.
Using forks or tongs carefully take each chicken tender and toss in the coconut flour, then the egg (drip off the excess egg, should just be lightly coated), and the almond mixture. You can press the mixture onto the chicken so it sticks.
Repeat with every piece of chicken and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Lightly spray with chicken with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake for about 20-22 minutes, flipping them half way.
For the salad – in two bowls combine romaine, mandarin oranges, cucumber, and green onion. Toss with rice vinegar. Add wontons and baked chicken fingers and drizzle your sesame dressing (or dressing of choice) on top.
Serve immediately and enjoy.
Find it online: https://dashofmandi.com/five-spice-almond-chicken-finger-salad/ [7]