I love using boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin. They can go straight from the freezer to the oven and bake for only 20-30 minutes. I make baked chicken that way, or a chicken and stuffing casserole. On Sunday mornings sometimes I’ll put the frozen chicken tenderloin in a single layer in a baking pan and pour Italian dressing over it, let it marinate until we get home from church, then pop it in the oven while I make a side dish. I sometimes will put a plate of them in the microwave for 9-10 minutes, rearranging them about halfway through (bringing the ones on the outside of the plate toward the center and vice verse). If you sprinkle them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and minced onion, then cut them up into small pieces when done, you have chicken ready for a casserole or soup. If you do the same with the addition of chili powder, you have chicken ready for chicken tacos or enchiladas.
The only trouble is they are more expensive than other forms of chicken, so this is a time- and labor-saving tip rather than a frugal tip. You’re paying for the convenience of a shorter cooking time and being able to cook them immediately without deboning or skinning them. In our area they are sold in 2 1/2 lb. bags for $8.98, but they do go on sale fairly often, and sometimes stores will have a buy-one-get-one-free sale. Tyson makes them, but many stores have their own brand.
Here’s one of my family’s favorite recipes using them (you could also use leftover baked or stewed chicken):
Chicken Enchilada Bake
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces, or around 9 chicken tenderloin pieces, cooked and cut into small pieces
1 pint sour cream
3/4 lb. Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
6 flour tortillas or 8 corn tortillas
1 small can green chilies, diced (optional)
Mix soup, sour cream, chicken, chilies, and half the cheese, Tear tortillas into bite-size pieces and stir into chicken mixture. Pour into casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or, leave off the remaining cheese, microwave for about 3 minutes, stir, top with remaining cheese, and microwave for another 3 minutes.
Check out Rocks In My Dryer’s blog for great tips!
Great ideas! I can’t wait to try the recipe.
Sweet, not only a tip, but a recipe too. You’ve gotta love that! Thanks for sharing.
This is making me hungry! I always use chicken tenderloins mostly because I never learned how to bone or skin chicken and don’t really want to. Great tip.
Sounds yummy!
I would be lost without my big bag o’ chicken…and my family would go hungry too! I just printed out your recipe and will be adding it to our rotation…it sounds yummy!
Sounds Yumm!!! Thanks for sharing….
Ohhh yumm. I am so making that…
Great recipe ideas! Thanks for the tips!
My mouth is watering right now. The family will LOVE this one.
I use chicken tenderloins all the time, but I never thought of microwaving them with a little seasoning for my soups and stuff. Thanks!
The recipe looks great – I’m going to give it a try!
Great tip! I use them too, if you have an Aldi’s around you they have them in the bag there. I can’t remember how much they are exactly, but I think that they are pretty close to the same price as the regular chicken breasts.
Yum…I love enchiladas made with cream of chicken soup. I will be trying your recipe as soon as the weather cools down.
Thanks, Pam
Mmmmm, I tried a similar recipe in the crockpot once, but I think I’m going to try it your way, it made the tortillas mushy.
Sounds delicious! I love recipes. My family all likes chicken but not really dark meat. So this is helpful.
Sure they aren’t frugal. But you know what? Our time is worth something, too. I have come to the conclusion I’d rather pay extra per pound for chicken where I’m using 99.9% than to have to work on making the cheap stuff edible. I hate bloody, yukky, fatty chicken. I found that by the time I cut off and threw away everthing that was gross…I wasn’t saving all that much money. So go for the better stuff. I, for one, think it’s worth it.
Oh, and my family loves enchiladas…so I’m definitely going to try your recipe!
Great, I was looking for microwave directions for chicken tenderloin on Google, and this article poped up. Pilgrim’s Tenderloin sells for around $6-7 in Wal-mart, for 2.5lb
Wow, I am amazed that this would show up in a Google search!
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