Panko Oven Fried Chicken
Last week my youngest daughter asked me to make some oven-fried chicken. Many years ago she’d eaten Shake and Bake at the home of a friend and thought it might be something she would like to try again. My memories of Shake and Bake are not so fond, so I decided to find a better solution than Shake and Bake.
I remembered that I had a box of Panko breadcrumbs in my pantry that I bought a few weeks ago and decided to try using them tonight for oven-fried chicken. Panko breadcrumbs have increased in popularity over the last few years. Years ago you could only find Panko breadcrumbs in an Asian market, but now a days you can find them in regular grocery stores and in the breadcrumb section in Target. Panko breadcrumbs are lighter, crispier, and larger than regular breadcrumbs.
I googled recipes for Panko oven-fried chicken and found a Paula Deen recipe (what cook would know more about anything with the word “fried” in it than Paula?) and the recipe of a random health conscious cook named Will. I made up my recipe using the best ingredients and cooking methods from their recipes.
The chicken turned out great and my daughter that was hoping for Shake and Bake loved it. The chicken breasts that I used were huge and after pounding them I cut them into several pieces. I actually only used three chicken breasts and they made enough to feed my family and my parents.
The ingredients for the Panko oven fried chicken
The seasoned and oiled Panko breadcrumbs
The mustard mixture
The Panko oven-fried chicken just out of the oven
Panko Oven Fried Chicken
– Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 shakes of cayenne pepper
- 3 shakes of paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- Salt and black pepper
- 1/8 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 -inch thickness
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place a cooling rack in the pan and spray the rack with nonstick cooking spray.
In a shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste. Mix the crumbs well so that the olive oil is mixed in and the crumbs have become light and fluffy again.
In another shallow dish combine the mustard, water, salt and pepper, to taste, and remaining olive oil. Coat each chicken breast with mustard mixture; dredge each in bread crumb mixture. Place on prepared rack in pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown. To make sure the chicken does is not become overcooked and tough, check the chicken for doneness after 20 minutes. Serve immediately.
NOTE: If the chicken is done before it becomes golden brown, put the chicken under the broiler for a minute or two (about 5″ from the heating element). You also might want to do this to this to the bottom of the chicken that was sitting on the rack in the event the bottom became soggy during cooking.
~merry~