Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Healthier Fried Chicken - Baked "Fried" Chicken



I am a lover of fried chicken!  I love it from a grocery store deli, fast food, or buffet restaurant.  But seriously, who can tell you they don't love one of those southern comfort-type Sunday dinners that involve fried chicken, real mashed potatoes, summer squash, green beans and lots of homemade desserts?  You know, the kind we all ate at our granny's house when everybody was getting together?

Sadly, I don't have a granny to make those type meals for me anymore... Although I only remember MY granny typically frying chicken LEGS for some reason LOL???  My mom doesn't really care for chicken so its a rare occasion that we eat chicken at her house (although I do beg her sometimes for a favorite meal that I grew up eating called "Chicken & Yellow Rice").  But, I digress.

Last night I had some gardening to do to beat the next downpour that is sure to arrive here in Missouri late tonight.  So, I had the extra time required to make this oven baked "fried" chicken.

We all LOVE fried chicken, but really don't care for dealing with the grease and oil so I made my version of baked "fried" chicken.  It takes a bit to bake in the oven and since I used bone-in pieces of chicken, it took even longer but I had plenty to do while waiting on it to bake.  

I served this baked "fried" chicken, some real mashed potatoes, seasoned green beans, and it was a feast!  Of course, I finished off with the previous night's Strawberry Shortcake!  YUM!  It wasn't QUITE as good as a granny-made dinner, but it was really good and as I always remind my husband, "Good job security" at my house LOL!

Here's how I make Baked "Fried" Chicken AT HOME MY WAY:


Baked "Fried" Chicken


  • However many pieces of chicken you want to make for your family.  Boneless/skinless, or skinless bone-in is what I use
  • All purpose flour (for dredging), like about 2 cups
  • Seasonings.  I sprinkled mine with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt & black pepper
  • 3-5 Tablespoons oil or melted butter/margarine
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees & spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Remove any skin from the chicken.  If using large chicken breasts, I cut mine vertically in the middle to make each big piece into two smaller pieces (which accomplishes two things, makes more to go around and shortens the time required for baking).

Put the flour and seasonings in a pie plate or shallow bowl.  Stir well to combine.

Rinse each piece of chicken to moisten.  Dredge well, sprinkling both sides with flour well, and place each piece of chicken NOT TOUCHING EACH OTHER on the sprayed cookie sheet  (don't forget to spray your pan).

Drizzle each piece of chicken with oil/melted butter/margarine, using only about 3/4 Tablespoon per large piece of chicken.  Just drizzle around, not covering every surface.  

Bake at 400 degrees (uncovered) for however long it takes to bake your chicken to golden brown.  You do not need to flip the chicken or anything.  Bone-in chicken takes longer (maybe an hour or a longer?).  Boneless chicken will cook quicker.  (This isn't necessarily a faster way to make fried chicken, but is healthier, lighter, and sits better on our tummies.)

Enjoy!

Gina