Smoked-Fried Chicken Tenders on the Traeger
Chicken tenderloins are given a flavor punch in this recipe-- pickle brined, seasoned, smoked, breaded in Lillie's Q Pimento Cheese Kettle Chips and fried up on the Traeger. We serve it with a trio of Lillie's sauces for the ultimate gamely spread.
Equipment
- Mesh sieve
- Traeger grill
- Baking dish or shallow pan
- Ziplock bag and rolling pin
- Wire rack and cookie sheet or tray
- Three shallow bowls for breading
- Cast iron skillet
- Tongs
- Paper towel lined tray
- Serving tray and bowls for sauce
Ingredients
- 1 bag Lillie’s Pimento Cheese Kettle Chips
- 2 pounds chicken tenderloins
- 1 cup pickle juice
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup Lillie’s Q Rub
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- Oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Lillie’s sauces for serving- Honey Gold Buffalo and White Wing sauced
Instructions
- Using a mesh sieve, pour 1 cup of pickle brine into a wide baking dish or pan.
- Add ½ a cup of water and mix well.
- Place the chicken tenders in the pickle juice and turn to coat.
- Cover the pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your Traeger grill to 225* with the super smoke feature enabled.
- Remove the chicken tenders from the brine and arrange on a wire rack over a tray or cookie sheet.
- Season the tenders on both sides with Lillie’s Q Rub.
- Place the tenders directly on the grates of the grill and close the lid.
- Smoke the chicken tenderloins for 30 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145*.
- While the chicken smokes, prepare your breading ingredients.
- Put the Lillie’s Pimento Cheese Kettle Chips in a gallon sized ziplock bag and remove the air.
- Using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer, smash the chips until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs.
- Transfer the chip crumbs to a shallow bowl.
- In another shallow bowl, add the flour and season liberally with Lillie’s Q Rub.
- In the third bowl, beat the eggs until well combined.
- Preheat a large cast iron skillet with about 1 inch of oil on the stove or Traeger induction burner.
- Remove the chicken from the grill.
- Working in batches, bread the chicken tenderloins by first coating each piece in flour.
- Then dip the floured chicken in beaten egg.
- Finally, cover the chicken tenderloins in chip crumbs, coating generously.
- Place the chicken tenderloins back on the wire rack as you bread them.
- Check the oil temperature to ensure it is about 350* for optimal frying results.
- In small batches, fry the breaded chicken tenderloins in the hot oil, turning once.
- Pull the chicken from the oil when the internal temperature reaches 165*.
- Place the cooked chicken tenderloins on a paper towel-lined plate briefly after frying and then transfer to a cookie sheet in the oven (at 200*) while cooking the remaining chicken tenderloins.
- Once all the chicken is cooked, arrange the Lillie’s Pimento Cheese Kettle Chip coated chicken tenderloins on a platter and serve with a trio of Lillie’s dipping sauces.