Dad’s Famous Captain Crunch Chicken Tenders
by This post may contain affiliate links.
My Dad’s Famous Captain Crunch Fried Chicken is a delicious recreation of Planet Hollywood’s Captain Crunch Chicken Tenders! This recipe is the MOST REQUESTED amongst my friends and family whenever my Dad is in the kitchen!
The chicken is tender and juicy, while the Captain Crunch breading is sweet and crispy, it really is the perfect combination! While Dad’s recipe is always fried, in this blog post, I’m also sharing my tips for making baked Captain Crunch Chicken Strips!
When I was a little girl, chicken strips were the name of the game! Seriously, every restaurant we went to, I ordered chicken strips.
One year on summer vacation, we went to Planet Hollywood and I ordered, you guessed it, chicken strips. But these weren’t just any chicken strips, these were Cap N Crunch chicken tenders!
I immediately fell in love and that’s when my Dad came home and began perfected his recreation of Planet Hollywood’s Captain Crunch Chicken! More than 2 decades later Dad’s Famous Fried Chicken is still one of my all-time favorite recipes and the most requested amongst my friends when I come home to visit!
Using my Dad’s tips and tricks, it’s easy to make perfect Captain Crunch Chicken at home for your friends and family!
Table of contents
How to make it
- Place Captain Crunch cereal in a blender or food processor and pulse until it turns into a fine crumb mixture, then pile it up on a piece of wax or parchment paper.
- Pile up a combination of flour, salt and pepper on a separate piece of wax or parchment paper.
- Combine milk, salt and pepper in a large shallow bowl. Add slices of chicken breasts and let them soak in the milk for 15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken strips from the milk, one or two strips at a time, and roll in the flour until well coated.
- Place the floured chicken in a bowl of whisked eggs with seasoned salt and pepper.
- After the chicken is coated in the egg wash, roll the chicken strips in the cereal crumbs.
- Gently place the coated chicken strips in a large skillet, or electric skillet, filled with 1 inch hot vegetable oil.
- Use a fork to gently lift up one corner of the chicken. Once the chicken is lightly browned, use two forks to flip the chicken. Each side should cook for approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Once the chicken is golden brown, use two forks to remove the chicken from the oil and place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up some of the oil.
- Continue on until all of the chicken is cooked.
Dad’s tips and tricks
- If you don’t have a food processor to grind up the cereal, use a ziplock bag and rolling pin. Add the cereal to the ziplock bag and close tightly, use a rolling pin the smash the cereal in the bag, until the texture is a fine crumb mixture.
- Seasoned salt and pepper add extra flavor to the chicken but are not necessary. You can substitute regular salt and pepper if that’s all you have on hand. If you’d like to use seasoned salt and seasoned pepper, it can easily be found near the other salt and pepper on the spice aisle at the grocery store, or you can order it online.
- When breading the chicken, use one hand for wet ingredients and one hand for dry ingredients. Keeping one hand only for wet ingredients (the milk and eggs) and another hand for dry ingredients (the flour and cereal crumbs) will prevent the ingredients from combining and getting clumpy!
- Be sure to not cook the chicken at too high of heat or it will burn, because of the sugar in the cereal. Always keep the heat at medium and never leave the chicken while it’s cooking. You want to keep an eye on it to make sure it does not burn.
- Only flip the chicken once in the skillet or it will get too greasy if it is flipped back and forth. Use a fork to lift up one corner and see how it looks before flipping it or removing it from the oil.
- The amount of oil may vary depending on the size of your skillet. The goal is to have approximately one inch of oil in the skillet. The oil should be about half way up on the chicken when it is in the skillet.
Can you bake the chicken?
Yes, instead of frying the captain crunch chicken, you can bake it using the instructions below.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bread the chicken just as you would if you were frying it. Soak in the milk, roll in the flour, dip in the egg, then roll in the cereal.
- Once all of the chicken is breaded, place the chicken strips on an oiled wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
I used this method to make Honey Bunches of Oats Chicken Strips and it turned out delicious!
What to serve with it
At my house, we always serve this chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Dad’s Famous Baked Beans! Stick with our combo, or try one of these other scrumptious sides!
- Crock Pot Creamed Corn
- Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- 10 Minute Broccoli Salad
- Baked Potato Gnocchi
- Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
- Corn Casserole
As for dipping sauces, I’m so obsessed with the chicken that I eat it without a sauce! If you’d like to add a sauce on the sauce, I recommend honey mustard or bbq sauce. Something sweet to compliment the Cap’N Crunch Cereal!
More Bond family famous recipes
- Mom’s Famous Strawberry Pie
- Meme’s Pink Lemonade Pie
- Dad’s Famous Red Sangria
- Meme’s Cherry Coke Salad
- Mom’s Famous Cherry Pie
Dad’s Famous Captain Crunch Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 cups milk
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 2 teaspoons black pepper, divided
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 12 strips
- 6 eggs
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon seasoned pepper
- 4 cups flour
- 6 cups captain crunch cereal, put in a food processor and grind to a fine crumb mixture
- 3 cups canola oil, or vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place the milk, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.
- Add chicken strips to the milk and soak for 15-30 minutes.
- Place the eggs in another large bowl and whisk in the seasoned salt and seasoned pepper.
- Place the flour in a shallow bowl or on a piece of wax or parchment paper, and season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper
- Place the ground cereal in another shallow bowl, or on a piece of wax or parchment paper.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet on the stove, or an electric skillet, over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, begin breading the chicken.
- Take the chicken out of the milk one or two strips at a time, roll in the flour until well coated.
- Place in the egg wash and coat the strips well, then roll in the cereal.
- Gently place the chicken strips into the oil. Be sure to not cook the chicken at too high of heat or it will burn because of the sugar in the cereal. Only flip the chicken once in the skillet or it will get too greasy if it is flipped back and forth. I usually lift up one corner and see how it looks before I flip it.
- Cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes per side in the skillet.
- Once the chicken is golden brown, use two forks to remove the chicken from the oil and place the strips onto a paper towel lined platter to soak up some of the oil.
- Continue on until all of the chicken is cooked.
Notes
- Salt and pepper: If you do not have seasoned salt or pepper, regular salt and pepper can be used in the eggs.
- Amount of oil: The amount of oil can vary depending on the size of skillet you’re using. You want about an inch of oil in the bottom of the skillet. The oil should be about half way up on the chicken when it is in skillet.
- Serving size: this recipe makes 12 good-sized chicken tenders. I always plan for 2-3 tenders per person.
- Baked chicken method: to bake this chicken, bread the chicken according to the instructions above. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the breaded chicken strips on an oiled wire rack on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
3 Comments on “Dad’s Famous Captain Crunch Chicken Tenders”
The whole family loved this recipe. Very very good
Looks good Bill ! Have to try it soon.
Thanks for stopping by the site Jeanne!! Hope you enjoy Dad’s “famous” fried chicken 🙂