If you eat chicken and like food, you probably like Fried Chicken. You probably love Fried Chicken! But you probably don’t want to use an entire day’s worth of Points on a single piece of chicken. Or lose the ability to button your jeans for the remainder of the weekend. It’s good and all, but not that good. Especially now that you can make this Oven Fried Chicken!
Fried Chicken and Oven Fried Chicken (mostly Bisquick or Cornflake) were staples in our house growing up. They were in heavy rotation, maybe even once a week. When my husband came into my family, he got turned onto Cornflake Chicken as well but it never quite did it for him like real Fried Chicken. Don’t get me wrong, Cornflake Chicken is good but it doesn’t have quite the right crunchy crust.
I knew I needed to keep experimenting and looking for the perfect solution. A recipe that would satisfy my hubby’s Fried Chicken cravings but not be deep fried, that would be easy enough to throw together for a weeknight dinner and would use clean ingredients.
We were doing a couple variations on Bran Flake Oven Fried Chicken last summer and while we liked that better than Cornflake Chicken, we just weren’t quite there yet. Until I found an old Cook’s Illustrated from 1999 that discussed Oven Fried Chicken technology and made a recommendation for using Melba Toast. The Corn Flake wasn’t quite crispy enough and the Bran Flake was just always too sweet. Enter Melba Toast.
Cook’s Illustrated broke down every possible cracker combo in their article and with Melba Toast a clear winner, I knew I needed to try it with my mom’s Cornflake Chicken spice mix.
And we have a serious winner! If you crave Fried Chicken, you HAVE TO MAKE THIS! It’s that good. Yes, I did leave my caps lock on that long. Make it (and let me know how you like it)!
NOTES:
- If you want to start making crispy things in your oven that are not fried but sort of taste like it, you need to buy these cooling racks. Â Even though they are called cooling racks, I use them for cooking/baking. Air circulates all around the food allowing it to get crisp instead of soggy.
- Yes, you can make this with all legs, thighs, breasts or any combo of the above. But if you go with a whole chicken, make sure to ask the Butcher to remove the skin and cut it into 8 pieces (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs and 2 wings). This is a major time saver!
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
The Only Oven Fried Chicken Recipe You Need!
- 1 whole organic chicken cut up into 8 pieces, skin removed
- 5 ounce box Classic Melba Toast crushed
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- non stick cooking spray or oil mister
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Start by lining a baking sheet with tin foil and place cooking rack on top. Lightly spray cooking rack with non stick cooking spray.
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Now, lets crush the Melba Toast. If you are a patient person and want the best possible results, place the Melba Toast in a large ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush it. If you are crunched for time or slightly impatient like me, throw it in the food processor. Help the process a bit by crushing it in the package before tossing into the food processor bowl. You do NOT want the Melba Toast to be completely pulverized. Leave some little pebbles and texture for maximum crispy crunch!
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Add in salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, garlic powder and oregano. Pulse a couple more times.
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Combine Dijon and light mayo in a shallow dish.
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Get an assembly line ready: chicken, a shallow dish or plate with mayo mixture, Melba crumbs and lined baking sheet.
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Coat one piece of chicken at a time with mayo mixture (just enough to lightly coat) and press into Melba toast crumbs, making sure the chicken is evenly coated. Repeat until all chicken is coated.
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Use an oil mister or non stick cooking spray to lightly spray each piece of chicken.
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Preheat oven to 400F. Place oven rack in upper middle position. Cook for 60 minutes, rotating the baking sheet one time at 30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
Lynn Chesebrough says
Made this tonight, very good and moist!! We added more of the spices, used boneless chicken breast (moderate thickness) drizzled olive oil on top and cooked at 400 for 35 minutes. Yummm!!
EverydayMaven says
Sounds great Lynn! So glad you liked it and thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Nicholas says
I used stale french bread and got the same results. I researched melba toast and found out it is just plain toast! Making Melba toast is easy since you toast bread and cut through the middle without crust. That makes this delicious recipe that much easier. Especially since Melba toasts are rare even here in the UK.
EverydayMaven says
Hi Nicholas,
Glad to hear you found a substitution that worked for you! 🙂
Irene says
I have looked for Oven-Fried Chicken recipe all over the net but found some with few negative comments about them except for this one. (almost all who tried this had given good feedbacks).
So I will be using your recipe for my daughter’s 1st birthday. And I will be back to give my verdict on this.LOL!! (just kidding). Im trusting this will be a hit.
EverydayMaven says
Hope you all love it Irene! Come back and let me know 🙂
Mary Conn says
I’ve used this recipe a number of times with Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix-not cubed. So you can eliminate all the spices and just go to the cooking. dee-lish!
EverydayMaven says
Glad you found a way to make it work for you Mary!
Melissa says
Wow! All I can say is amazing. Definitely will be a regular recipe in our house!
Nabila says
Pretty darn good! i’ve tried oven fried chk b4 but something was always off. But this was on the mark with everything, although i did omit the oregano, didnt have any and didnt miss it either. only negative is the hard labor+long prep time for the toast. i need to cook fast since i have a 2 yr old instead of a food processor. Thanks for this, i will def make it again.
EverydayMaven says
Thank you so much Nabila!!!
Linda says
wonder how this topping would be on fish – missing fish and chips every so often – and if it stays crunchy on chicken hope it does the same on fish!
EverydayMaven says
Hi Linda – It is a pretty spicy / robust topping. I think it might overwhelm most white flaky fishes although it might work on Swordfish or another bold, thick cut.
Mary says
This looks delicious! I was wondering what size pan you use under the 12×17 cooling rack? I love that your rack fits in there exactly. Thanks!
EverydayMaven says
Hi Mary – I use half-sheet pans like these.
Tim says
This is delicious! We rarely make fried chicken at home because its always either too greasy or not very flavorful but this recipe fixed both of those problems! Thanks very much for sharing!
EverydayMaven says
Thanks so much Tim – that is exactly why I created it – so glad to hear you loved it as well 🙂
cheryl says
hi does this recipe freeze well? like can i make it a few days in an advance and freeze it. and if i freeze it should i freeze it raw or cooked?
EverydayMaven says
Hi Cheryl,
I have never tried to freeze this chicken – we usually don’t have much leftover and when we do, someone takes it for lunch the next day. I would think that the breading would get soggy in the freezer and from reheating but if you try it, please let me know your results. Thanks 🙂