Thank goodness for meatless meat substitutes. I know it’s not everyone’s fave in the vegan world, but seriously, why not?
Chicken fingers are such a popular restaurant appetizer, and meat substitutes make chik’un fingers a dream come true for vegans! This will convince anyone still dealing with the ominvore’s dilemma that you can go vegan no problem.
In Canada, I used to use President’s Choice Blue Menu Vegetarian Chicken Breasts but they’re no longer being made! But brands like Gardein make mock chicken products that are pretty dang good and work great in recipes like this one.
If you’re a big fan of these chik’un fingers (which I’m sure you will be), you’ll also go crazy for my popcorn chik’un!
Let’s just eat apps for every meal and call it a day.
crunchy coconut cashew chik’un fingers & mango dipping sauce
Meatless doesn’t mean tasteless! Take a bite out of my crunchy coconut cashew chik’un fingers.
Ingredients
crunchy coconut cashew chik’un fingers
- 3 vegetarian chicken breasts
- 1 C canned coconut milk
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 C salted roasted cashews
- 1/2 C sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 C panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 C all-purpose flour
mango dipping sauce (makes 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 C red mango chunks (approximately 1 large red mango)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400°F.
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Make sure the vegetarian chicken breasts are thawed fully. Cut each breast into 4 strips. NOTE: this is an old recipe and the chicken breast product that I used is not available. I suggest replacing this with unbreaded vegan chicken strips or the scallopini from Gardein.
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In a food processor, grind together cashews and coconut until a fine meal is formed, about the same size of pieces as the Panko bread crumbs. Put this mixture in a shallow dish and combine with Panko bread crumbs, paprika, garlic powder, and sea salt.
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Place all-purpose flour in one dish, and combine coconut milk and lime juice in a separate dish.
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Take one vegan chicken strip and dredge in flour, then coat in coconut milk mixture, then cover in the coconut cashew breading. Place all the chicken strips on a parchment lined baking sheet once breaded.
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Bake for 24 minutes total, but flip strips half way through. The breading will be very delicate, so be careful while you are flipping the chicken strips.
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While the strips are baking, prepare the mango dipping sauce.
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Blend all mango dipping sauce ingredients together in a high-powered blender until smooth.
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Serve chicken strips immediately after baking with mango dipping sauce.
3 thoughts on “crunchy coconut cashew chik’un fingers & mango dipping sauce”
What brand did you use for your "chicken breasts"?
What’s the oven temp?
If the amount of dredge looks absurd… that’s because it is WAY too much. I would use 2/3 the amount of flour and 1/3 the amount of coconut milk + cashew/coconut mix. I was left with an enormous amount of the coconut cashew mixture.