These healthy, baked Pistachio Crusted Chicken Fingers bake to golden perfection, and are sure to be a new family favorite! We serve ours with a homemade chili orange sauce – a tangy (clean eating) version of sweet and sour sauce.
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Baked Chicken Fingers
One of the reasons I encourage others who aren’t intolerant to gluten to try more gluten free recipes is because they offer a wider range of nutritional benefits.
The SAD (standard American diet) is wheat-heavy. If you think about a typical, non-gluten free day, it’s so easy for wheat to account for half of someone’s daily calorie intake. Two slices of toast at breakfast (along with eggs or fruit), a sandwich for lunch (more bread), a cookie or muffins with your coffee in the afternoon, and then pasta for dinner. Wheat, wheat, wheat, …and more wheat.
If you’re choosing whole grains, wheat isn’t terrible for you. However, modern wheat is grown to increase yield, not nutrition density, and the crops that are most widely grown (dwarf wheat) is has vitamin densities 20-30% lower than ancient varieties.
On top of that, grains themselves are already less nutrient-dense than foods such as nuts, seeds, and vegetables, so relying too heavily on grains also deprives your body of valuable nutrients.
Replacing some of your typical fare with (healthy) gluten free alternatives is a great way to counteract that. Gluten free goods aren’t always better for you– if you check the ingredient labels of a lot of the supermarket options, they are packed with starches and gums.
A big reason I make mine at home. The same reason I prefer homemade salads to the ones in most restaurants (packed with cheese and bacon and mayo-laden dressings, rather than the good stuff– veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds).
These baked Pistachio Crusted Chicken Fingers pack in the nutrients. Pistachios are such a nutritional powerhouse. One of the lowest calorie nuts, they are full of fiber, protein, and antioxidants. They are recommended for people who want to lose weight and have been found to reduce belly fat.
Little changes, like swapping the breading on your chicken, add up to a clean eating lifestyle that improves overall health (without sacrificing your favorite meals!).
If you love these green nuts as much as I do, I also use them on my Pistachio Crusted Salmon and in this delicious Roasted Beet and Carrot Quinoa Salad.
Pistachio Crusted Chicken Tips
- Make is Gluten Free:Â Be sure to buy certified Gluten Free Brown Rice Crisp Cereal.
- Make it Ahead: These are delicious the next day cold! I haven’t tried freezing this recipe yet, but imagine they would be just fine – I do freeze my oven baked chicken nuggets, halfway thaw them, then reheat at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and we love them.
- Make it Paleo/Whole30:Â You can omit the brown rice crisp cereal and double the amount of pistachios in this recipe to make these Paleo, however, they don’t get as crunchy.
- For the Family:Â Xander isn’t the biggest chicken fan, but he loved these- he even was dipping his in the chili sauce! This baby loves flavor.
Pistachio Crusted Chicken Fingers
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts or chicken breast tenders
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 1/2 cup brown rice crisp cereal
- 3/4 cup pistachios shelled
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line a baking tray with white parchment paper (or baking paper). The coating sticks to baking trays, even when sprayed with cooking spray.
- Prepare chicken by cutting into thin, somewhat uniform strips. I use my knife to cut diagonally down through the chicken to make the strips flatter than a typical chicken breast.
- Add chicken strips to a bowl, and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt, and mix to evening coat.
- Prepare the coating by adding the brown rice crisp cereal to a blender, and processing until a flour is formed. Add pistachios and spices, and process until pistachios are broken up, but some pieces remain, and then add to a bowl.
- Dip chicken strips into beaten eggs, and then fully coat in pistachio mixture, then place on baking tray. Repeat until all chicken strips are coated, making sure to leave a little space between each strip on the baking tray.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, and then flip, and continue to bake for another 12 (or until chicken is fully cooked).
- The chicken won't looked browned yet when you flip it, but both sides brown beautifully after it's fully cooked.
- While chicken is baking, prepare dipping sauce by adding all ingredients (except arrowroot and water) to a small saucepan. bring to a low boil, and whisk in arrowroot mixed with water. I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of chili, and adding more to taste, depending on how spicy your chilis are and how spicy you like your dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Other Baked Chicken Recipes:
- Artichoke Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Sesame Baked Chicken Legs, by Sunkissed Kitchen
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I have never tried crusting chicken with pistachios. Seriously! Almonds, yes. But pistachios is something new. Thanks for the idea! Oh and I love the dipping sauce!
Thanks Igor 🙂 Pistachios are a way under-used nut. So yummy.
My hubby is a fan of chicken and myself fan of pistachios. Your pistachio chicken is like bringing both our interests together. Looks so gorgeous and mouth watering 🙂
Great Revi! We both really loved these.
Pistachio crust? What a great idea! I love the chilli orange dipping sauce that goes with it!
Love the look of the pistachio crusted chicken. it looks so healthy baked too. I bet the sauce adds a bit of zing
These look amazing!!!!! YUM!
Thanks Deanna. They are!
Love this!! ANd it’s so pretty!
Wow this chicken looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it!!
Thanks Sam. We all enjoyed it a lot 🙂
That sounds wonderful with that dipping sauce and the pistachio flavors!
That dipping sauce sounds incredible! So flavourful…mmmm…..
The dipping sauce really added a ton of flavor to these!
You got me at chili-orange dipping sauce and the chicken looks so awesome.
I have to find some brown rice crisp cereal and try this recipe. I love the dipping sauce too. I didn’t know that pistachio nuts were on the low end of fats!
The brown rice crisp is usually not with the regular cereal– it’s usually wherever the store keeps the gluten free products! Good luck finding it! Or, Amazon 🙂 I love Prime Pantry for things like this.
Awesome idea! I’m so not gluten-free haha, but using nuts instead of bread crumbs is a great way to get more nutrients and some fun texture, too 🙂
What a tasty sounding recipe, I often use hazelnuts in crumb toppings but never pistachio, it sounds wonderful.
Hazelnuts sound amazing!
I will definitely try this recipe. Combinations are awesome. Thanks.