How to portion, store, cook, and make them into easy low fat recipes!

When I started Weight Watchers a while back, I learned you need to make friends with white meat like chicken really fast (see my post on Surviving Weight Watchers). Chicken has zero WW points, and is packed with protein. If you follow an anti-inflammatory or heart healthy diet, it is perfect for you too.

So I got on board with buying it frequently and learning to make it tasty. Let’s face it, white meat, although it’s healthier, it can be dry. One day, instead of chicken breast, I decided to pick up chicken tenders. It took a good amount of trial and error, but I have perfected the way I work with chicken tenders, and I had to share it. It is so super simple, and my chicken comes out perfectly tender and juicy every time. Here’s how it goes!

Portioning

Usually the chicken I buy comes in packs of 12 pieces, which makes three servings of four pieces each. So when I get home from the grocery store, the first thing I do is get out three plastic containers to portion out the chicken.

I know people who do this using plastic bags, but learn from my experience and do it this way! Open the chicken packet, and just use a fork or knife to fill each container with four pieces.

Remember, if you use your hands in any part of this process and directly touch the chicken, be sure to wash them thoroughly. Moving the chicken pieces directly into the containers with a utensil works well to keep your hands germ free.

Once I have four pieces in each container, I get out some Italian salad dressing.

Any kind of Italian (I like all my dressings fat free) and any brand works. The idea is that the acid in the dressing breaks down some of the fibers in the chicken, and will make it very tender. I’ve tried other dressings for this marinade, and Italian is just honestly the best. It adds a bit of tangy flavor. So just squirt a bit of dressing over the chicken in each container until well coated and covered.

Storing

Refrigerate the containers of marinating chicken for as long as you need! I have such a good variety of meals I use with this chicken, that I usually go through all three containers in a week. But they can last well into the next week as well. The Italian marinade honestly acts as a bit of extra preservative.

Cooking

When you are ready to cook one (or more) servings, just bring the container(s) out, and dump it out onto a small cooking tray. Make sure you pour all the dressing onto the chicken, and spread the pieces out to give each some space on the tray. Set the oven to 350 degrees, and make sure it is thoroughly pre-heated (I have made the mistake of not doing that and had undercooked chicken, blah).

Cook the chicken for only TEN minutes, no more and no less.

That is it. I believe the entire secret of this being so perfect is the short cooking time. Under OR over-cooked meat, of any kind really, is not good. Unless I have a foolproof recipe like this one, I don’t bother making it. Meat isn’t cheap, but not only that, you are eating a living animal. I’m obviously not a vegetarian, but I don’t take the fact that an animal was killed for my dinner lightly at all. One of the worst things to me is wasting meat, and not cooking it well might force me to do that. So it’s very important I find recipes I trust, like this one!

After ten minutes- take the chicken out of the oven and let it rest for like five minutes. Sprinkle with a bit of finishing salt (see my post on the best kitchen gadgets and spices), and now it’s ready to add to any number of delicious dishes.

Five Delicious and Low Fat Recipes for Chicken Tenders

These are WW-friendly dishes that are my absolute favorites-and my family’s too. I make them all regularly, and cannot say enough about how delicious they are!

• Chicken with potatoes and roasted veggies. Here I’m using green beans, but honestly any vegetable you love works great. I like something green for color- asparagus or broccoli is perfect. But carrots, corn or cauliflower…anything pairs well!

• Chicken tacos on carb free tortillas. My husband loves this recipe, because it has SO much flavor! I love tacos because they can be customized to however you like them. Make a fun buffet with the cooked chicken, roasted or grilled red onions and bell peppers, jalapeños, shredded fat free cheddar, greek yogurt, green chiles, salsa, and tortillas (try Mission Zero Carb tortillas). Make a home-made guacamole too (mashed avocados, onions, garlic, salsa)!

• Salads. They just call out for adding a protein, hence why it’s always an option is restaurants. A tip: put your dressing on the side. instead of pouring it all over the salad.

Strawberry chicken poppyseed salad is an all-time favorite of ours for summer, and especially great when strawberries are in season and you eat them fresh-picked (see fun things to do with adult kids in the summer).

On a bed of romaine, add sliced strawberries and blueberries, mandarin oranges, and an oz of walnut pieces. Use a poppyseed dressing. Try Skinny Girl to cut fat and calories! If using it, this salad has a total of three points (if using walnuts), and is ridiculously delicious.

I like to assemble salads with all ingredients first, then add the chicken when it’s freshly cooked, like below.

Other salads that work perfectly with the chicken tenders as well:

Chicken Caesar salad, that’s pretty common in most restaurants, is so good. We have made our own Caesar dressing, which is hands-down the tastiest of any Caesars ever. But it’s full of fat. Once again, Skinny Girl dressing is your best friend! Even pre-made salads like Fresh Express are great, since they have all the parts and pieces for the salad included in a bag. The Caesar is four points for 2.5 cups of salad. If you limit to 1.5 cups, it’s only two points!

Greek salad (romaine, cucumbers, black olives, grape tomatoes, feta cheese and FF greek dressing) is also beautiful with chicken tenders!

If serving salad as a dinner, I love some fresh bread or maybe a baked potato to make it a bit more substantial.

• Pasta with Chicken. You can really add chicken to any pasta to make it a more filling and healthy meal. It’s a tasty and easy one-pot meal. Once again, get everything ready first, then add the freshly cooked chicken. Just cook your pasta and fresh vegetables.

A yummy vodka sauce works beautifully with this, but this sauce is typically made from cream, so is not the healthiest. I’ve seen sugar free varieties, but not FAT free.

However, you can make it yourself, fairly easily. Here’s how:

• Sauté a diced onion in a pan with olive oil until translucent.
• Add a 14 oz can of pureed tomatoes.
• Add salt and pepper to taste, and some crushed red pepper flakes.
• After simmering for five minutes, add 1/4 cup vodka.
• Slowly add a cup of nonfat milk or fat free half and half.
• Feel free to add sliced mushrooms (cooked with the onions) or other veggies, if desired.
• Serve this over pasta of your choice, or mix it together in one pot.
• Add some parmesan on top.

Regarding the pasta itself, it does have points. But if you opt for whole wheat, it’s better for both WW points and any health-conscious diet.

• Chicken pot pie. This is one of my youngest daughter’s favorite meals, especially in fall or winter. My version is so easy of course! Here’s how I make it:

• Get a package of puffed pastry (sheets or shells) out of the freezer and defrost it .enough to pull it apart into sections. Bake according to instructions on the packet.
• While that’s cooking, get out a big frying pan and coat with some olive oil.
• Take a big packet (32 oz) of frozen veggies and saute for a few minutes until they start to get soft.
• Add a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup (I like chicken better but either works).
• Get the soup up to boil, and keep a rolling boil for about five more minutes.
• Reduce the heat to simmer. Add the baked chicken tenders to the pan.
• Simmer together until the vegetables are soft to your taste- another five minutes or so.
• Ladle the soup mixture onto the baked puffed pastry.

Mashed potatoes are the perfect accompaniment for pot pie!

I hope you enjoyed these tips for working with chicken tenders. Every time you pull out another container of marinated chicken from the fridge, try another recipe. Let me know if you have any good ones you can share!