Many recipes will call for ingredients based on weight rather than quantity. For example, the list might call for 4 ounces of chicken tenderloin, instead of telling you how many tenderloins you need. Exactly how many chicken tenderloins is 4 oz?
How Many Chicken Tenderloins is 4 Oz?
A chicken tenderloin, which is found on the inner portion of the breast, will typically weigh about 2 ounces. If you’re hoping to have 4 ounces of meat on hand for every guest on your list, aim to buy 2 tenderloins per person. Remember that the meat will shrink down a bit as it cooks, so you might want to purchase a bit more just to be safe.
About Chicken Tenderloin
Unsurprisingly, the tenderloin is the most tender portion of the bird. It’s a narrow muscle that runs along the inner portion of the breast, right along the bone.
If you’ve ever consumed a whole bone-in chicken breast, you’ve eaten the tenderloin, even if you didn’t realize it was there. The chicken’s texture gets noticeably softer toward the bone. That’s the tenderloin.
When the tenderloin is separated from the rest of the breast, it’s long and skinny, sometimes with a rounded knob on one end. There will usually be a white tendon running along the length of the cut, which can be removed with a sharp knife prior to cooking.
Are Chicken Tenderloins the Same as Chicken Cutlets?
Sometimes the labels on meat products can be confusing. If you see a package labeled chicken cutlets, are those chicken tenderloins?
Unless the butcher was confused, the answer is no. Chicken cutlets are formed by slicing chicken breasts horizontally in half to make them more manageable. Thicker breasts might even yield 3 or more cutlets.
Though the two products aren’t exactly the same, you don’t have to worry if you’ve picked up the wrong one. Just about every recipe that calls for chicken tenderloin will turn out fine if you use chicken cutlets instead, and vice versa.
One exception might be chicken fingers, which are easier to make when you’re starting with the conveniently shaped tenderloin. Other than that, feel free to use the two interchangeably.
How Many Chicken Tenderloins is 4 Oz?
It’s difficult to say with certainty how many chicken tenderloins there are in a 4-ounce serving. All we can do is provide you with a ballpark estimate based on the average weight of the cut.
A raw chicken tenderloin weighs about 2 ounces. That means a 4-ounce serving should consist of 2 tenderloins, give or take.
When you buy a 1-pound package of chicken tenderloins at the supermarket, it will usually contain 6 to 10 pieces. The total weight depends on the size of the bird in question and how much of the tenderloin the butcher was able to preserve.
What if the Meat is Cooked?
As a rule, meat shrinks down by 25 to 65 percent as it cooks. Lean cuts like chicken breast and tenderloin fall on the lower end of this average. That’s because they don’t need to cook for very long, and they don’t leave behind much unusable fat and gristle.
Chicken tenderloin should weigh roughly 25 percent less when it’s cooked as it did when it was raw. So in order to get 4 ounces of cooked meat, you should start with roughly 5-1/3 ounces of raw product.
Recommended Portion Size
How many ounces of chicken tenderloin make up a serving? That’s a relevant question, since we’re here to discuss the number of tenderloins you’ll need for a 4-ounce portion.
A typical portion of raw chicken breast weighs in at 3 to 4 ounces. So if you’re trying to err on the generous side, a per-person estimate of 4 ounces is standard.
How Much Does a Chicken Breast Weigh?
By way of comparison, let’s talk about how much a whole chicken breast weighs.
When the breast is sold with the bone in, it can weigh up to a pound. That means you should be able to get at least 2 servings out of a single breast, even when you take shrinkage into account.
Boneless and skinless chicken breasts weigh about 6 ounces on average. While that’s a generous serving size, it’s not out of the ordinary, especially for American plates.
If you’re hoping to scale back on portion sizes because your menu is packed with other tantalizing dishes, chicken tenderloin could be the way to go. It’s not as easy to divide chicken breast into smaller portions, especially if it’s the bone-in variety.
Recipe Ideas for Chicken Tenderloin
Make homemade chicken tenders. Remove the tendon from each piece, then season with salt and pepper. Dip in flour, then a mixture of beaten egg and a splash of buttermilk. Dredge in bread crumbs and deep-fry in oil heated to 365 degrees until crisp and golden brown.
Add a boost of protein to a stir-fry. Cut the tenderloins into small pieces, then marinate in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and cornstarch. Stir-fry with garlic, ginger, snow peas, carrots, and onions.
Top a salad. Grill the tenderloins over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes per side, or until they’ve achieved an internal temp of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Let rest for 5 minutes. Serve on a bed of greens mixed with edamame, mandarin oranges, and peanuts.
Have a taco night. Slice the tenderloins into smaller strips, then substitute these for the ground beef in your favorite taco recipe.
Wrap them in bacon. Encase each tenderloin in a strip of center-cut bacon, then grill over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with a maple mustard dipping sauce.
Make quick Thai chicken. Marinate the chicken in a mixture of peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, turmeric, cumin, garlic, and lime juice. Grill and serve with Thai sweet chili sauce and additional reserved peanut sauce on the side.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how many chicken tenderloins are in a serving will make your hosting duties that much easier. Though the actual weights may vary, the cut is small enough to allow you to make a solid estimate.
Happy grilling!
