Baked "Fried" Chicken

I have had this chicken recipe for a while now and now having made it several times, it is still one of my favorites. I'm not big into frying food at home so when I found this recipe for baked "fried" chicken, I had to try it. There are so many fun techniques to make this chicken seem "fried" and it tastes amazing!

The melted butter in the bottom of the pan is really what puts it over the edge. I've never had chicken quite like this and it goes perfect with any side, especially mashed potatoes. The best part is, you don't even need a sauce to dip it in. It's that good!

Baked “Fried” Chicken

Slightly Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings

10 chicken tenderloins or 2-3 large chicken breasts cut into strips

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup flour

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup cornmeal

3 Tbsp. butter

Spice Mixture

1 Tbsp. salt it won't taste salty

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. smoked or regular paprika

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1. Mix spices together in a small sealable bag. Add 1 tablespoon spices, 1 cup buttermilk and chicken to a large freezer bag and marinate 6-24 hours. Store remaining spices.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (foil will NOT work because the chicken sticks to it). Add butter to baking sheet and melt in oven while it preheats. Remove baking sheet once butter is melted.

3. Mix together flour, panko, cornmeal and remaining spices in a large bowl. Add half of this breading mixture to a large freezer bag.

4. Remove chicken tenders from buttermilk and allow excess marinade to drip off.

5. Add half of the chicken to the breadcrumb bag and shake until well coated, pressing the breadcrumbs into the chicken with your fingers through the bag. Lay breaded chicken in butter on baking sheet. Add remaining breadcrumb mixture to bag along with remaining chicken and repeat.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden then carefully flip chicken and bake another 5 minutes. Then broil to desired crispiness.