Oven Baked Fried Chicken

I make a mean fried chicken but was really in the mood to try out an oven baked version for a healthy alternative. I saw a recipe recently that really got my attention but then I couldn't find it. After researching a few & combining elements from my regular fried chicken I came up with this one. It was for Sunday dinner & was a HUGE hit. You must give this a try. It was crispy on the outside & moist on the inside, you couldn't tell it was oven baked. This will definitely be made again & again.

For regular but out of this world fried chicken, check out this Southern Cross Fried Chicken I make. It's from a horse farm/guest ranch we visited in Georgia. I bought their cookbook since their food was amazing. This is where I got the idea to put the 2 special ingredients listed below.**

8 skinless chicken thighs
8 skinless chicken legs
3-4 cups buttermilk
3 tblsp hot sauce

1 tblsp salt

2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp Paprika

3 tsp Garlic powder

2 cups Kelloggs Corn Flake Crumbs
Dash of garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
1 pkg Instant Tomato Cup of Soup (WalMart) **
or a few sprinkles of Chicken Tomato Bouillon powder like I used
1 pkg of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix ** (optional)

Place chicken in a large 9 x 13 dish. Combine buttermilk, hot sauce & seasonings. Pour over chicken in dish or Ziploc bags & marinate for 8 hours or overnight. The longer the better.


Pre-heat oven to 400. Combine corn flake crumbs, seasonings & packets. Shake excess liquid from each piece of chicken & dredge in crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with all chicken pieces. Spray the tops of chicken lightly with either butter or oil flavored cooking spray (some people drizzle melted butter).

You will need 2 baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn over carefully so that the breading doesn’t come off. You may want to use a spatula & your hands to gently turn. Bake for 15 minutes more. Turn your oven to broil & move your chicken so it's 6 inches from the heat. Broil for 1-2 minutes until you get a crispy coating. Turn chicken over & broil other side for 1-2 minutes or until desired crispiness.

{Food for Thought}

I always start off with about 2 cups of breading in a pie plate but usually have to refresh all the ingredients if I have a large batch. Just always taste your breading because that's what your chicken will taste like. Use what you like, it doesn't have to be exact measurements.

The secrets to an awesome fried chicken is a long buttermilk bath as well as the secret ingredients. For this baked version, the extra secret is your broiler. People have complained their baked chicken is soggy but they need to rely on their broiler more. But you MUST keep a close eye on it & never walk away. I always broil food in 1-2 minute increments & use my timer as well so I don't get easily distracted & forget.

** I don't ever go to WalMart so I wasn't able to get my hands on the Instant Tomato soup packet from the original recipe from the horse farm, so I ended up buying the chicken tomato bouillon powder at my local grocer & have been using it ever since. I do recommend you getting your hands on the Instant packet if you do frequent WalMart. I also didn't use the Good Seasons Italian Season packet on this baked chicken but definitely plan to next time so I wanted to keep it in the ingredient list.

And because I like to be honest, both hubs & I agreed that while this chicken was wonderful even a few hours later, it wasn't the same the next day after being in the fridge overnight. It seemed to be more crumby when we ate it cold so I would recommend warming it up in the nuke & then placing it under your broiler for a minute or 2 on each side.

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