Vegan chicken tenders made with tofu strips dunked into chickpea flour batter and nut parmesan, served with dill pickle ranch sauce! These are the best healthy vegan chicken tenders!

While my proclamation that I’ve always disliked meat is mostly true, I have one confession: I did enjoy my mom’s homemade chicken tenders before going vegetarian. She would make a crunchy coating with crushed corn flakes cereal, parmesan cheese, and herbs, and serve them with plum sauce. They were delicious, and I seem to remember requesting them for dinner on more than one occasion.

I’m not typically a sentimental person, but I do have bouts of nostalgia, particularly surrounding foods that brought me joy as a kid. Because I’ve had a lot of time to play in the kitchen over the past several months, I decided to try my luck at creating a vegan version of my mom’s chicken tenders. I’m happy to say that it was a success, and I get to share the recipe with you all today- just in time for your New Year’s Eve at home fun!

This recipe is really quite simple: All that you’ll need is firm or extra firm tofu, which you’ll slice into strips that resemble chicken strips; chickpea flour; almond milk; and nuts, nutritional yeast, sea salt, and garlic powder for the vegan parmesan coating. I didn’t even bother pressing the tofu beforehand (I can be impatient like that), and they were still plenty “meaty” textured for our liking! I will say that, in spite of the simplicity of the ingredients, preparing these does require some time and patience, since there is a lot of dipping involved. But I promise you that the results are worth it!

As far as dipping sauces go, you can keep things simple by serving ketchup on the side, or you can take it over the top by making my dill pickle ranch. (Or, be really wild and crazy and serve both.) And be sure to make a batch of crispy oven fries to serve alongside the vegan chicken tenders if you have the time.

ingredients you’ll need

Tofu (2 blocks, each 14-16 ounces of firm or extra firm tofu)
For the batter: Chickpea flour, unsweetened non-dairy milk, salt, and pepper.
For the nut parmesan: Raw almonds, raw cashews, nutritional yeast, sea salt, and garlic powder.
For the dill pickle ranch: Mayonnaise (such as Chosen Foods brand vegan avocado oil mayonnaise), lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, dill, and pickles.

step by step instructions

If you wish to press the tofu, do this first. I didn’t bother, and the tofu was still plenty firm and “meaty” once baked, but you can for a firmer result, if desired. Instructions for pressing tofu can be found here.
Start by slicing the tofu into strips. The size is really up to you; I went with a total of 16 strips (8 strips per block of tofu), for rather large strips.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and line one large or 2 medium baking sheets with parchment paper. It is very important to use parchment paper to prevent sticking to the pan.
In a good sized bowl that fits the tofu strips, whisk together the chickpea flour, non-dairy milk, and a pinch each sea salt and ground black pepper.
Make the nut parmesan: Combine the almonds, cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder in a food processor. Process until a coarse meal forms. Transfer into a wide, shallow container or dish that fits the tofu strips.
Make the vegan chicken tenders: Take a tofu strip and carefully place it into the chickpea flour batter, turning so that all four sides are coated. Gently shake off excess batter before placing the strip of tofu in the nut parmesan. Turn to coat all 4 sides and both ends with parmesan.
Transfer your first tofu strip onto a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining tofu. Avoid overcrowding on the baking sheet- leave some space between each strip for optimal crispiness.
Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and carefully flip. Bake for 10-12 minutes more, or until browned and crispy all over.
Meanwhile, make the dill pickle ranch: Combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, adding a splash of non-dairy milk to thin, if desired. (I added too much liquid to mine, as you can see in the photos… be judicious with the milk unless you like a runny ranch sauce!) Transfer into a container and add the chopped dill and pickles.
If there is leftover batter, place it in an airtight jar and refrigerate for a few days. You can use it to batter practically any vegetable, following the same steps as above!
To serve, arrange the tofu tenders on a platter and serve the dill pickle ranch and ketchup on the side.

ingredient substitutions

For a nut-free variation, use sunflower seeds instead of almonds and cashews, and make sure to use a nut-free milk.
If you don’t have any chickpea flour on hand, regular all-purpose flour or brown rice flour should work in a pinch.

more mouthwatering tofu recipes

I hope you love these crispy baked vegan chicken tenders! If you make them, let me know how they turned out by leaving a comment and rating below. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made.

I had said that I would only be sharing one NYE recipe, but I will be sharing another one tomorrow! I haven’t finalized what it will be- either pizza or quesadillas- but I can’t wait to share, regardless!

Have a great night!!