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This quick and easy Chicken Tender Sauté combines chicken tenderloins, fresh spinach, peppers, garlic, and onions, plus sour cream for a touch of creaminess.

A Delicious Dinner in Just Thirty Minutes
This Chicken Tender Sauté is a quick, easy, and very delicious one-pan meal! From start to finish, you can have this dish on the table in half an hour.
Super tender strips of chicken are sautéed in a skillet along with red bell pepper, spinach, onions, garlic and scallions. A little bit of sour cream is added at the end for a light touch of creaminess.
Reader Review
“I made this last night and it is one of the most delicious chickens dishes I have ever made. My boyfriend and I both inhaled it.” -Debi
Cooking with Chicken Tenderloins
- Most of the time, chicken tenderloins are sold with a tough little membrane running through the meat.
- This membrane looks like a skinny white tube and should be removed from the tenderloin before cooking. (Otherwise, it’s tough and chewy to eat.
- To remove the membrane:
- Make a few small cuts around the end of the white membrane that is sticking out of the meat.
- Grab the end of the membrane with a paper towel so you can get a firm grip.
- With the other hand, pull and run your fingers down the length of the membrane to loosen the meat.
- If the chicken meat tears a bit, that’s ok. You can still cook the chicken for this recipe.

Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken – Buy boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins for the most tender results. You can buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then butterfly and cut into strips – however, the tenderloins will cook quicker and are super tender.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Unsalted Butter
- Onion – Use yellow or sweet onion and dice into a half-inch pieces.
- Scallions – Also called green onion, you’ll use both the white and green parts in this recipe.
- Red Bell Pepper
- Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Baby Spinach
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Sour Cream
Special Tools You’ll Need
- Cutting Board & Sharp Knife
- Various Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Large Sauté Pan with Cover
- Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Tongs

This Chicken Tender Sauté also happens to fit into a lower carb diet – but anyone will love this simple, flavorful meal.
How do I make Chicken Tender Saute?
- Sauté onions, scallion whites, red bell pepper, and garlic in a large skillet with olive oil and butter.
- Nestle the chicken tenders into the skillet, making sure the chicken sits on the bottom of the pan.
- Cook chicken until lightly brown, flipping with tongs to brown both sides. (Be careful not to overcook the chicken – it will only take one to two minutes per side to brown.)
- Add spinach, scallion greens, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook until the spinach is wilted and the chicken finishes cooking through.
- Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Stir in sour cream to create a light sauce.
- Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Serve immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make this Chicken Tender Sauté ahead of time? This is one of those dishes that is best freshly-cooked – and it only takes about 30 minutes to prepare. You can trim the tenders and measure out the other ingredients, but we suggest cooking it just before eating.
- What should I serve with Chicken Tender Sauté? If you want to keep things lower carb, we suggest serving this with some cauliflower rice. (Try our Saffron Cauliflower Rice or our Riced Cauliflower and Tuscan Kale.) If you aren’t counting your carbs, regular white or brown rice would be good, or you can serve it with cooked pasta or egg noodles.
- How do I store leftovers? Refrigerate any leftovers in a covered container for up to three days.
- How do I reheat any leftovers? We suggest microwaving individual portions to warm through. Be careful not to overheat the chicken as it will get rubbery.
This Chicken Tender Sauté recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in January 2018. We’ve updated the post, but the delicious recipe remains the same.
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Chicken Tender Sauté
This quick and easy Chicken Tender Sauté combines chicken tenderloins, fresh spinach, peppers, garlic, and onions, plus sour cream for a touch of creaminess.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup yellow or sweet onion, cut 1/2-inch dice
4 large scallions, whites diced, greens sliced and separated
1 cup red bell pepper, 1/2 inch dice
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
8 chicken tenders, about 1 1/4 pounds
3 cups loosely packed baby spinach, about 2 ounces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, melt butter in oil over medium high heat then add onion, scallion whites, red bell pepper and garlic and sauté for three minutes or until onions are translucent.
- Add chicken and nestle down so the tenders sit on the bottom to brown. Cook 1-2 minutes until lightly seared. Turn each tender and lightly brown the other side.
- Add spinach, scallion tops (green part), salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and cook for and additional 1 to 2 minutes until the spinach is wilted and the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
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Notes
Note: The most difficult part of this dish is removing the long white membrane that you’ll see running through each chicken tender. (You really do want to remove that before cooking.) You start by making a few small cuts around the end of the white piece sticking out so you have room to grab it then hold that piece with a paper towel while you pull and run your fingers from your other hand down the sides, pulling the membrane out.
Strips of boneless, skinless chicken breast may be substituted for the chicken tenders. However, the texture of the cooked chicken may not be as tender.






Delish! I added mushrooms with the veggies. Sautéed them really well sometimes covering so they would be juicy then transferred them to a bowl. Used scissors to remove the membranes on the chicken tenders–so easy and thanks to another reviewer for the suggestion! Salt and peppered the tenders, added a tiny bit of olive oil and spray olive oil, then placed the tenders (it was very crowded) flat in the pan to brown, covered (about 3-4 minutes–so tempting to check them but they won’t brown if you do). Flipped them, poured the veggies back on top, added artichokes in water, covered and cooked about two minutes, then added spinach, tossed…forgot the sour cream–oops! Served over cauliflower rice with a salad. A massively huge hit and everyone raved! While it was cooking everyone said how yummy it smelled.
Just to give it variety, I might try some thyme, sage and or lemon next time. Could also add black olives or sun-dried tomatoes. It really is delish!
Thanks Garcie!
Made as instructed and very delicious and easy!!!! Quick weeknight recipe. Served with pasta and bread for soaking up juices!
Thanks Ann!
That is delicious! Thank you for posting it. It is so easy to make
You’re welcome Dona – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I make the recipe over and over and it is so good. I serve it over egg noodles. The only trouble I seem to have is getting some color on the tenders. I may need to try a larger skillet so that I have more surface area for them to touch the pan.
So glad the recipe is a hit Jeff! (Yes – a larger skillet might help!)
My husband and I really enjoyed this! Even my 2 picky boys ate it without complaining lol. I made the recipe as is. On the side, I sautéed some mushrooms with some olive oil and a little bit of salt. We all ended up mixing them in as we ate, along with some marinated artichokes. I served it with bow tie pasta and gemelli pasta (had a half box of each). It was delicious! Even my husband went in for seconds 🙂
Only thing I will change from now on, is doubling the ‘sauce’ 😉
So glad the recipe was a hit Stephanie! (As the mom of a picky eater too, I love hearing it!) 🙂
Winner winner, chicken dinner. This was a last minute recipe for my leftover chicken breast strips and spinach. What a winner, definitely restaurant quality and will add to my regular menu of home cooked meals. It turned out just as pictured and tasted amazing. I didn’t have enough spinach so I added artichokes, which I will continue to do in the future. My husband loved this recipe and he does not like vegetables.
Thanks so much Valerie! Love the idea of adding artichokes too!
Delicious Martha! Just delicious!
Thanks Jamie!
I made this last night and it is one of the most delicious chickens dishes I have ever made. My boyfriend and I both inhaled it.
Wow Debi – So glad the recipe was a hit!
Best chicken dinner I’ve ever made!
Thanks Brandy – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I added extra sour cream and penne noodles. I also sprinkled a lil bit of slap your momma seasoning to the chicken as well! I’m so glad I came across this recipe! I will definitely be making again!
Thanks Jodi – glad you enjoyed it!