Skillet BBQ Chicken Bits
Chicken tenders cut small, seared hard, and finished with barbeque sauce. Ten minutes from cold to dinner.
- calories
- 380
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 54
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Winter / snow
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Frozen chicken tenders | 1 lb | plain raw tenders, not breaded |
|---|---|---|
| Barbeque sauce | 1/3 cup | squeeze bottle, no decanting |
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp | only if the skillet is not seasoned |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Thaw the tenders in the cooler overnight, or in a sealed bag in cold water for twenty minutes. Cut them into bite-size pieces on a lid or cutting board.
- Get the skillet hot over the fire or stove before anything goes in. A cold pan makes the chicken weep and steam.
- Add the oil, then the chicken in one layer. Let it sit ninety seconds to take color, then stir every thirty seconds or so for five to seven minutes.
- Cut the biggest piece open. It should be opaque all the way through with no pink and clear juice. Salt and pepper it.
- Pull the pan off the heat, pour the sauce over, and toss for thirty seconds. Or leave the bottle out and let people sauce their own.
Frozen chicken is the one raw protein that makes sense in a cooler. It goes in solid, keeps everything around it cold for a day, and thaws right about when you want dinner. That is the whole logic of this recipe in winter camp, where the cooler is mostly a box that keeps food from freezing solid.
Cutting the tenders into bits is what makes the timing work. Small pieces cook through in five to seven minutes over uneven fire heat, so you are not guessing at the middle of a thick strip. Sauce goes on last, off the heat. Barbeque sauce is mostly sugar, and sugar on a hot pan turns black before the chicken is done.
Packing
Tenders stay frozen in a zip bag at the bottom of the cooler and double as an ice block for the first day. Sauce goes in a squeeze bottle in the door bin.
Variations
- Skewer the whole tenders and grill them over the grate instead of dicing, then sauce at the end.
- Spoon it over instant mashed potatoes or into tortillas to stretch one pound across four people.
- A pinch of smoked paprika and garlic powder before the sauce covers for a thin sauce.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/easy_barbeque_chicken_bits-232.asp