The Best Chicken Strips!
We’ve all had the deep fried chicken strips and while they’re good I like this baked version even better! And the kids love these too!
The Recipe Testing
I tested four batches of baked chicken strips figure out all the tips and tricks to getting perfectly crispy in the oven. Here’s what I tested:
The first few times I tried a buttermilk soaking then proceeded to dip in eggs and cornflakes. While the flavor was good the crisp factor was lacking and the coating kept falling off the chicken while we were eating it. There wasn’t a way around not getting the excess buttermilk to soak into the cornflakes and the binding just wasn’t strong enough. So I nixed the buttermilk and went with a typical dredging of flour, eggs and cornflakes. It worked far better and was a lot more convenient nixing it too which left out the 30 – 60 minute soak time.
More Testing…
Another thing I tested was to spray and not spray with olive oil spray. The olive oil spray is a must. Then I tried cooking directly on the pan or on a wire cooling rack on a pan. The cooling rack worked best as it allows the hot air to circulate around the chicken (so you don’t end with a soggy bottom side). I also tested with different coatings – cornflakes or Panko bread crumbs. I thought there’d be haters of the cornflake coating thinking it was so 80’s so I tested Panko. But believe it or not I liked the cornflake version better. It has more flavor, but both are good if Panko is what you have on hand. I tested differences between the honey mustard sauce adding more and less mustard, honey, Greek yogurt and light mayo until I got the flavor right where I wanted. I also tested with different brands of Greek yogurt because of course they definitely aren’t all created equal. Fage works best with it’s thick consistency.
Ingredients for Chicken Strips
Chicken breasts Flour Garlic powder, S&P Eggs Cornflakes Dried parsley (optional) Olive oil cooking spray Plus ingredients for sauce if making
How to Make Chicken Strips in the Oven
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cooling rack with olive oil spray, set on baking sheet. In a shallow dish whisk together flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. In a separate shallow dish whisk together eggs. To third dish add crushed cornflakes or panko, stir in parsley. Working with one chicken strip at a time, dredge both sides in flour. Transfer to eggs, coat both sides. Transfer to cornflake press and coat on both sides. Transfer to prepared cooling rack. Spray each piece lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Bake in preheated until center registers 165 on thickest piece, about 15 – 20 minutes
That Honey Mustard Sauce
Even if you aren’t a fan of honey mustard you may still love this sauce. Those that aren’t typically a fan were loving it. But if you hate honey mustard so much that you don’t even want to try it I’d definitely recommend serving it with a sauce of some kind because most of the flavor here comes from the sauce. The chicken itself isn’t super flavorful. So you favorite bbq sauce or a light ranch would do well here.
What Should I Serve with These?
4 Ingredient Coleslaw or Apple Cranberry and Almond Coleslaw Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes Macaroni Salad Baked Sweet Potato Fries
