Breaded with pretzel crumbs for a delightful crunch, these adult-friendly chicken tenders will win everyone's hearts at your dinner table. These tenders are plump and juicy on the inside, sporting a crunchy – and slightly salty – crust that goes perfectly with a side of refreshing cabbage slaw.

Chicken tenders are nothing more than long muscle strips, loosely attached to the chicken breast and resting across the breastbone. Being so called due to its soft texture, chicken tenders are quite tender indeed. If you can't locate them in your local store, you can substitute by creating four equal-sized strips out of the standard chicken breast.

The cabbage slaw, made with green cabbage due to its gentler taste, smoothly combines with numerous other flavors. The honey mustard mix used for coating the chicken is relatively thick, so our culinary experts recommend dragging each tender piece along the bowl's edge to scrape off the excess.

The chicken tenders should be flattened before cooking for an even and satisfying crunch. Work with one piece at a time, placing the chicken tender between two plastic wraps or a heavy-duty plastic bag. Use a meat mallet, the underside of a heavy skillet, or a rolling pin to flatten the chicken until it achieves a thickness of no more than 1/4-inch.

Breading the tenders employs the Standard Breading Procedure esteemed in restaurant kitchens worldwide. The tenders are coated with flour, dipped in a beaten egg and honey mustard blend – which adheres to the flour, and finally coated with crushed pretzels – which cling to the egg–honey mustard mix. These steps will prevent the crust from detaching from the chicken tenders post-frying.

The fully prepared slaw can be kept in an airtight container in your fridge for up to a day. While the cabbage and radicchio might soften a bit more, the taste remains refreshingly tart and sweet. The pretzel-coated tenders can be made ahead of time too and warmed up in an oven or an air fryer at 350°F until warmed completely – about three to four minutes.

To best appreciate the strong mustard taste of the sliders, a Chardonnay with citrus and saline notes makes the perfect complement. More specifically, a bottle of Presqu'ile Santa Barbara County would be ideal.

Finally, the sliders themselves. Bottom halves of slider buns are topped with two pieces of chicken each, followed by about two teaspoons of honey mustard spread over the top bun halves, and roughly a third of a cup of slaw. Sandwiched and then served immediately with the remaining honey mustard on standby, it guarantees to hit the mark.