These captain crunch chicken strips are very similar to the sweet breading on the very popular Planet Hollywood chicken strips! As a bonus we are sharing the recipe for our favorite dipping sauce to go with it!
We recently visited Disney World and, by the time our flight landed and we had made it to Disney Springs, we were absolutely starving!
The first restaurant we saw that didn’t seem to have a wait was Planet Hollywood and we were like, yes, sold, give me a seat immediately.
I usually try not to eat at chain restaurants when travelling, but I’d never been to a Planet Hollywood before, there was no wait, and I was definitely bordering on being hangry in the most magical place on Earth. 😉
I ordered their World Famous Chicken Crunch basket – chicken strips breaded in a sweet and crunchy coating and served with a creole mustard sauce. Sounded intriguing, and WOAH am I ever glad I gave those a try.
Turns out the Planet Hollywood chicken strips are breaded in Captain Crunch cereal, making for a super crisp coating with the perfect amount of sweetness that pairs so well with a creole mustard sauce.
Sounds strange, but Captain Crunch Chicken is LEGIT and an absolute must make!
Ingredient Notes:
Chicken -You’ll need 1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts that you’ve cut into strips.
Cereal– We’ve tested this recipe with purely Captain Crunch and with the addition of cornflakes to balance out a bit of the sweetness. We all preferred them with a bit of cornflakes mixed in to tone that sweetness down, but I’ll leave it up to you.
Breading – To get the perfect breading, we first dip the chicken in flour and then eggs and then Captain Crunch.
Dipping sauce– You’ll need mayo, dijon mustard, yellow mustard, horseradish, white vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.
How to Make Captain Crunch Chicken Strips:
Prepare the breading– Set up a breading station with 3 shallow dish. One dish gets seasoned flour, one gets eggs, and one gets the cereal.
Helpful Tip:
Use a food processor to make fine crumbs out of the cereal. If you don’t have a food processor, place the cereal in a ziptop bag and seal, carefully pressing out as much air as possible. Use a rolling pin to beat the cereal into crumbs.
Bread the chicken – Take your chicken and dip into the flour dish, then the egg, then the cereal. For the cereal really press the strips into it with some pressure to help the cereal breading stick to the chicken. And fully coat the chicken in the cereal too, this is where the crispiness comes from!
Cook the chicken– Spray the chicken with your oil spray pretty liberally. Cook in your air fryer at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Do not let the chicken touch each other or the sides of your air fryer. Cook in batches if necessary.
How to Make the Dipping Sauce:
This is really easy. You just need to mix in all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. The beauty of this sauce is it counters the sweetness of the breading on the chicken strips magnificently.
The sauce ingredients are mayo, yellow and dijon mustard, prepared horseradish, white vinegar, salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix them all together well and done.
I mix this sauce while the chicken is cooking in the air fryer.
Dip Options:
We absolutely love these Captain Crunch Chicken Tenders with the Creole Mustard Sauce – that mustard flavor adds a little zip that balances out the sweetness of the chicken just perfectly.
Of course, ranch dressing is always a hit with chicken strips.
We also offer up honey mustard to our kiddos with these strips – I find it to be too sweet, but the kids love it!
FAQ:
If you have leftovers you can reheat them in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
Most cereals would work fine as a breading, so long as you think the flavor will work. Cheerios and Cornflakes should both work well.
Absolutely! Many people think air fryers are just for frozen convenience foods, like french fries, but they’re really just small convection ovens and you can cook the same fresh foods, like raw chicken, vegetables, and other homemade dishes, in the air fryer very easily and safely.
More chicken recipes you might like:
- Flaming Hot Chicken Strips
- Honey Chipotle Chicken Strips
- Air Fryer BBQ Chicken
- Frozen Chicken Wings in the Air Fryer
- Barbecue Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
Let us know your opinion!
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Captain Crunch Chicken Strips
These captain crunch chicken strips are very similar to the sweet breading on the very popular Planet Hollywood chicken strips! As a bonus we are sharing the recipe for our favorite dipping sauce to go with it!
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Captain Crunch cereal
- 1/2 cup cornflakes, see notes
- Avocado oil spray
For the Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Add the flour and salt and pepper to a shallow dish. Add the eggs to a second shallow dish and beat well.
- Add the cereal to a food processor and process until you have fine crumbs. Alternately, use a rolling pin to smash the cereal into crumbs. Place the crumbs into a shallow dish.
- Dip the chicken strips in the flour, then egg, then cereal. Press the strips into the cereal crumbs to ensure the chicken is evenly coated.
- Spray the chicken liberally with cooking spray.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Place chicken in a single layer in the air fryer basket. You may have to work in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Air fry for 6 minutes and turn the chicken over. Continue cooking for 6 minutes more or until chicken is cooked through and the coating is crispy and golden.
- While the chicken is cooking stir together the sauce ingredients.
Notes
You can make this recipe with just 2 cups of Captain Crunch, but we found the chicken strips were just a tad too sweet for us and that the mustard sauce was a MUST to balance it out. We replaced a 1/2 cup of the Captain Crunch with cornflakes and it balanced out that sweetness and still pairs perfectly with the mustard sauce.
These chicken strips are nice and crispy straight from the air fryer. They do lose crispness the longer they sit, so we recommend eating them as soon as they come out of the air fryer. To reheat, place in a 400 degree air fryer for 5 minutes or until heated through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 722Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 249mgSodium: 990mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 2gSugar: 7gProtein: 61g
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