I’ve been busy going through the last few boxes from our move and I came across a family history book written by my Aunt Carmen. She put together a family heirloom that I will always treasure. As I started reading through personal accounts from family members about living through WWII and their adventures in coming to America in the 1950’s I noticed that she included each family member’s favorite recipe.
My Aunt Carmen included this recipe for oven fried chicken as her favorite recipe.
I remember my dad making fried chicken in the oven like this when I was growing up and he made it the same way my Aunt Carmen makes it. It was always one on my favorite dinners. Not only is it delicious served hot but it’s so very easy to make and it’s delicious served cold too! I love that it’s baked in the oven, so there’s no messy grease all over the stovetop to clean up. Plus it’s easy to get the chicken pieces cooked all the way through without burning the crispy breading when you bake it in the oven.
Frying chicken on the stovetop can be tricky. It takes practice getting the chicken cooked all the way through without burning the breading. Baking chicken in the oven produces a flavorful fried chicken with a minimum of effort! Once you get the chicken breaded the oven does all the hard work for you!
- Easy to cook in the oven.
- Less mess than frying on the stove.
- Easy to cook chicken all the way trough with out burning the breading.
- Moist, juicy and tender on the inside.
- Crispy golden brown on the outside.
- Tastes great served hot or cold.
Now that the weather is warming up it’s the perfect time to cook up a batch of this delicious fried chicken. It’s perfect for summertime picnics and 4th of July get togethers. I like to fry it up the night before and refrigerate it. Enjoy it with my all time favorite Potato Salad and cook up some corn on the cob for the ultimate iconic, classic all American meal.
Pair it with this Marvelous Macaroni Salad or this delectable Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw. No matter what you pair this chicken with, it will be awesome!!! It will leave you licking your fingers…look out Colonel Sanders!!!
Start by rinsing chicken pieces under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
Use a small paring knife to remove skin and trim off excess fat. Removing the skin is optional, if you like the skin you can leave it on.
TIP: Use thighs or drumsticks, dark meat produces more flavorful and juicy results than chicken breasts which tend to be dry.
Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Set up a breading station, place flour in one shallow bowl, beaten eggs in another shallow bowl, and sesoned breadcrumbs in third bowl.
Place seasoned chicken, one piece at a time in the flour and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour.
Place flour coated chicken in the bowl of beaten eggs, and coat completely with egg mixture.
Finally place flour/egg coated chicken in the bowl with the seasoned breadcrumbs. Use fingers to press breadcrumbs onto the chicken pieces to coat them completely.
I find using a combination (1/2 & 1/2) of regular seasoned breadcrumbs and Panko seasoned breadcrumbs produces a wonderfully crispy coating. The regular breadcrumbs have smaller pieces that coat the chicken more completely and the Panko breadcrumbs are larger and give the coating extra crispiness. You get the best of both worlds using a combination of both. If you don’t have both you can easily use just one or the other and still get excellent results.
Place breaded chicken pieces onto a platter and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. This step helps the coating to stick to the surface of the chicken better.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Pour enough vegetable oil into a 13X9 inch oven safe casserole dish so that oil is about ½ inch deep in the casserole dish.
Place casserole dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes until oil is hot.
CAREFULLY remove casserole dish from the oven and place the breaded chicken in the hot oil in a single layer.
Return the casserole dish to the oven and cook chicken pieces for 30 minutes.
Flip chicken pieces and cook for another 30-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and a crisp golden brown.
Drain cooked chicken pieces on a paper towel lined platter.
Nothing says summer like crispy fried chicken! Time to dig in!!! YUM!
A special thank you to my Aunt Carmen for sharing her favorite recipe!
Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-8 chicken thighs or drumsticks
- salt & pepper, for seasoning
- ½ cup flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1½ cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Rinse chicken pieces under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Use a small paring knife to remove skin. This step is optional.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Set up a breading station, place flour in one shallow bowl, beaten eggs in another shallow bowl, and sesoned breadcrumbs in third bowl.
- Place seasoned chicken, one piece at a time in the flour and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour.
- Place flour coated chicken in the bowl of beaten eggs, and coat completely with egg mixture.
- Finally place flour/egg coated chicken in the bowl with the seasoned breadcrumbs. Use fingers to press breadcrumbs onto the chicken pieces to coat them completely.
- Place breaded chicken pieces onto a platter and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. This step helps the coating to stick to the surface of the chicken better.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Pour enough vegetable oil into a 13X9 inch oven safe casserole dish so that oil is about ½ inch deep in the casserole dish.
- Place casserole dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes until oil is hot.
- CAREFULLY remove casserole dish from the oven and place the breaded chicken in the hot oil in a single layer.
- Return the casserole dish to the oven and cook chicken pieces for 30 minutes.
- Flip chicken pieces and cook for another 30-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and a crisp golden brown.
- Drain cooked chicken pieces on a paper towel lined platter.
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