1. Healthy Chicken Cuts
Chicken breasts are the leanest piece of chicken you can use. Choose boneless and skinless for the absolute healthiest choice. If you buy frozen breasts, defrost them in the microwave before coating and baking. To make chicken fingers, cut each breast lengthwise into thirds. For larger pieces, cut each whole breast into half to make prep easier and the cook time faster. You can also purchase chicken breast tenderloins, which are a great option for "fried" chicken strips. They cook up faster than chicken breast, and are very moist.
2. Crispy Corn Flake Chicken
Coat your chicken breasts in a variety of different crumbs. Corn flakes make for a crispy and tasty coating. Spice it up by adding garlic powder, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper if you like your chicken spicy. Mix in a little bit of flour to help the spices stick to the chicken breast. When you grind up the corn flakes, don't grind them down to a fine powder. Use a food processor briefly to create crumbs, or just pound the corn flakes out in a zip top bag until finely crumbled. You can experiment with different crushed cereals, breadcrumbs or crushed crackers for coating.
3. Use Just a Tiny Bit of Olive Oil
There's no need for any extra fat when making baked "fried" chicken. Use nonfat cooking spray to coat the pan before adding the chicken breasts. Spray a little bit of cooking spray onto the chicken breast itself, to help the coating get crunchy while baking. There are several varieties of cooking sprays. Some have an olive oil or buttery taste, some come in organic varieties. You can make your own cooking spray by purchasing a fine spray bottle and putting olive oil in it. Use this spray as you would a canned cooking spray to help keep the chicken from sticking to the baking dish. It also helps with cleanup, by preventing spills from cooking into the dish.
4. Skip the Fryer, Turn on the Oven
To give your baked "fried" chicken a crunchy outside coating, bake your coated chicken in the oven at about 400 degrees. Use a glass baking dish coated with cooking spray to place the chicken on. Midway through baking time, turn the chicken breasts over and coat them again with cooking spray to help get all sides of the chicken extra crispy.
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