March 8, 2012

Grandma Pat’s Oven-Fried Cornflake Chicken {Naptime Entertaining}

Chicken

At Applemania last October Nicole served homemade fried chicken for a picnic dinner. It was the perfect dish to serve a crowd on a mid-fall evening. I don’t make fried food very often, but I was thinking about that meal the other day and it put me in the mood for a homemade crispy chicken bucket. We weren’t entertaining, though this recipe is excellent for serving a crowd, but I didn’t let that stop me from making it the centerpiece of our Sunday night feast. One of my favorite things about it is the chicken is baked at a high temperature giving it a crispy “just fried” texture without any actual deep frying. While deep frying is, of course, delicious, I don’t love how unhealthy it is, not to mention that smell that lingers in my kitchen for days afterward.

There is a chance that my preference for oven frying is genetic. This recipe is from the written notebook of recipes my grandmother wrote for my father when he was in medical school. It is simple and straightforward, it is kind of like a homemade shake-n-bake, and perfect for home cooks. Every time I make it I marvel at how this simple technique yields moist chicken with delicious tangy undertones and a perfectly crispy crust. When I eat it I like to imagine my grandmother making big batches of it to entertain friends in the backyard.

Last Sunday I made this while my husband and daughter were out for a late afternoon walk. I dipped the chicken, coated it in crushed cornflakes and popped it in the oven to crisp up. With a side of her favorite “potato circles” (simple roasted potato slices), and a salad packed with tomatoes, avocado, and cucumbers it made a wonderful warm dinner at home. It even, dare I say it, inspired me to start planning the first picnic of the summer.

Recipe

Grandma Pat’s Oven-Fried Cornflake Chicken

Ingredients

3 large chicken breasts or chicken tenders
1 cup Italian dressing (preferably low-fat)
1 tablespoon garlic salt
3 cups crushed Corn Flakes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  If the chicken breasts are thick use a mallet to pound them until ¼ thinness. Moist tenders are thin enough you won’t need to do this. This recipe also works with thighs so feel free to use bone-in meat as well.

2. Pour the Italian dressing into a ziploc bag and add the chicken to marinate for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add the crushed corn flakes to a plastic bag and add the garlic salt to them. Transfer the chicken to the corn flakes bag and toss well so the chicken is completely coated.

3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for about 30 minutes, or until it is cooked through. Serve hot!

Naptime Notes

Naptime Recipe Serving ideas

This recipe also works well with fish, though the fish will only need to cook for about 15 minutes.

Naptime Stopwatch

10 minutes prep time, 30 minutes bake time

Naptime Reviews

A great oven baked chicken recipe. We all loved it!

 

 

More Naptime Recipes

4 Responses to “Grandma Pat’s Oven-Fried Cornflake Chicken {Naptime Entertaining}”

  1. can you use boneless chicken or is this better with bone-in?

    • Anonymous says:

      Hi Tiffany! Either works fine, it depends on your preference. Boneless is easier for my young daughter, but my husband and I love bone in too!

  2. […] Later in the day, when temperatures start to climb, chicken is a great choice for an entree that will fill you up without weighing you down too much. Personally, I don’t have much appetite for deep-fried chicken this time of year, but I still like it crispy and flaky, so this oven baked cornflake chicken sounds just about perfect. In fact, when the weather warms up just a little more, this is definitely going into the picnic basket. I am always looking for easy 4 ingredient meals.  (The Naptime Chef) […]

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