This easy Oven-Fried Chicken turns out perfectly crispy and juicy every time! The special seasoning blend tastes just like KFC, but it’s made with wholesome ingredients in your own kitchen. No deep fryer needed!
Can’t get enough crispy chicken recipes? Try this Crispy Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce, Parmesan Crusted Chicken, or Air Fryer Fried Chicken!
Table of Contents
- Why you’ll love this crispy Oven-Fried Chicken:
- What people are saying:
- Oven-Fried Chicken ingredients:
- How to make fried chicken in the oven:
- Quick things to remember:
- How to store leftover chicken:
- Why is my baked fried chicken not crispy?
- Make-ahead option:
- Serving Suggestions:
- More baked chicken recipes:
- The Best Oven-Fried Chicken Recipe
If you’re craving traditional fried chicken but don’t feel like going out, this Oven-Fried Chicken will hit the spot!
Instead of deep frying, this recipe coats chicken strips in eggs and a panko bread crumb mixture for a crispy coating. They’re baked on a sheet pan with butter to get that signature crunch.
It has all that big flavor of KFC fried chicken, but with less fat.
This is a dinner recipe that our whole family loves, especially the kids! Serve it up with Spicy Mayo, Sweet and Sour Sauce, or Homemade BBQ Sauce and watch it disappear fast.
Why you’ll love this crispy Oven-Fried Chicken:
- Better than takeout: because we’re making it at home, we know what’s going into it.
- Wonderfully crispy: You get all the crunch of fried chicken but baked in the oven! No deep frying required.
- Quick and easy: All you need are a handful of simple ingredients and basic prep, and it’s ready in no time for an easy weeknight dinner.
What people are saying:
“WoW – Absoltely FanTAStic!!! A random search on Google led me to your site and after seeing the huge numbers of high ratings, decided to give it a shot. SO GLAD I did – crispy yet juicy and spot on flavor. With a real feel of -22 in ND, this was Exactly what I needed. Highlight of my weekend 😁” Gabriella
Oven-Fried Chicken ingredients:
- Chicken breast: One batch of this recipe makes about 3-4 chicken breasts, or around one and a half pounds, cut into strips. One chicken breast equals about three strips, the way I cut them. You could also use tenders, thighs, or legs!
- Eggs: Coat your chicken with beaten eggs to help the coating stick more.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter is fine.
- Flour: All-purpose flour helps coat the chicken to produce a crispy exterior! You can swap with gluten-free flour if needed.
- Panko: Panko breadcrumbs give the chicken a crunchy, crispy coating. For a gluten-free option, you can use pork rind panko!
- Seasoned salt: This versatile seasoning goes with everything! I use Lawry’s brand, but feel free to use your favorite brand.
- Paprika: It isn’t spicy, but it adds depth of flavor, a slight sweetness, and lots of color. You could add a dash of cayenne pepper to make it spicier if you like!
How to make fried chicken in the oven:
This recipe is the best way to enjoy fried chicken at home! For the full list of recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card below.
- Whisk the eggs in a shallow dish. Mix the coating by combining bread crumbs, flour, and seasonings in another shallow dish.
- Coat the chicken by dipping each piece in the egg, then pressing it into the breadcrumb mixture. Bake the chicken until it’s golden brown and crispy.
Quick things to remember:
- Cooking time: Depending on the size and thickness of your chicken pieces, you may need to adjust the cooking time, so always check your chicken for doneness before diving in.
- Add oil: If the pan is dry when you flip the chicken, add a drizzle of oil, to the to ensure the bottom pieces of chicken get crispy.
How to store leftover chicken:
To refrigerate leftover chicken, allow it to cool on a wire rack or paper-towel-lined plate. Then transfer the cooled pieces into shallow, airtight containers. Store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
To freeze, place the chicken in a single layer on a tray in the freezer until frozen solid. Then, transfer the frozen pieces to freezer bags and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat Oven-Fried chicken, place chicken pieces on a wire rack on a baking sheet and place in the oven at 250 degrees just until heated through.
Why is my baked fried chicken not crispy?
While baking chicken isn’t always known for crispy results, this recipe really does deliver a crispy “fried” main course right out of the oven! Still, I wanted to add some tips that might help if you find that your chicken is not as crispy as you’d like.
- Use Dark, Non-Stick Pans. Dark pans heat to a higher temperature than light-colored pans, which will help with getting a crispy coating. Make sure the pan and butter are hot when you add the chicken.
- Use Butter, Not Cooking Spray. I know you might be tempted to bake the chicken with cooking spray instead of butter, but unfortunately, this just doesn’t work as well. The fat in real butter makes a lot of difference in crisping up the chicken! If you want, you can spray the other side of the chicken when you flip for extra insurance.
- Check when you flip: When you flip the chicken, you may find that the pan is a little dry. You can add more butter or oil to the pan to help crisp up the bottom of the chicken as it cooks.
- Serve with Care: As the chicken sits on a plate, the underside may get a little soggy from condensation. Therefore, I recommend serving immediately. If you’re not serving right away, place the chicken on a rack or a plate lined with a paper towel, or just keep it warm in a 225°F oven.
Make-ahead option:
You can make the breading mixture and bread the chicken pieces, and then “flash freeze” them on a tray in the freezer until frozen solid.
From there, transfer the breaded frozen chicken to freezer bags, and keep for up to 3 months frozen. There’s no need to thaw them before baking, but you will need to add more cooking time (around 2 to 5 additional minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chicken).
Serving Suggestions:
When it comes to serving Oven-Fried Chicken, I like to go with classic, comforting sides, like baked beans and slow cooker mashed potatoes! If you want to add some veggies, you can’t go wrong with some glazed carrots.
Every once in a while, I like to go for something more indulgent and make my cream cheese mashed potatoes!
More baked chicken recipes:
- Baked Chicken Wings — perfect for a party!
- Baked Chicken Breast — SO juicy.
- Baked Chicken Thighs — perfectly crisp skin.
- Baked Chicken Drumsticks — the kids love these!
The Best Oven-Fried Chicken
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon seasoning salt
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips (about 3 or 4 breasts)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter plus more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- In a shallow dish, whisk the eggs.
- In a second shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, flour, seasoning salt, paprika, and pepper.
- Coat each piece of chicken in the egg, then in the bread crumb mixture, pressing on firmly to adhere. Place the chicken on a plate and repeat until all the chicken is coated.
- To a rimmed baking sheet, add the butter and put the pan in the oven to melt the butter. (You want the pan to get hot, but be careful not to burn the butter.)
- Place each piece of chicken on the hot pan, leaving a good amount of space in between. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping gently halfway through, or until cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken reaches at least 165°F and the coating is browned. If necessary, add another dab of butter when flipping.
- Remove from pan and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Lynne says
I gave this three stars bc mine did not come out crispy at all. A far cry from the taste of KFC.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m sorry it wasn’t a hit! This one gets rave reviews over here.
Barb says
Well…these taste great. Marinated tenders in buttermilk, big batch in oven as directed but not crispy. Kept them warm in 225 oven which helped some. But…also left 3 of them a while in the dry mixture, yielded a thicker breading; fried in olive oil with crispier results.
Patty says
I am not the best of cooks but I tried this recipe and my family loved it. Still in our rotation for dinner. Thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Patty! I’m so glad!
Sharon E Reihart says
In the oven now and I can’t wait! I just wanted to let you know that at the bottom of your recipe it says to put it in the oven at 225 instead of 425. I was wondering why it didn’t look like it was not cooking, until I realized that the temp was so low. I smoke meat and that’s the lowest temp that you are supposed to use, so I should have questioned it earlier.
Gina says
The 225 degree oven was for keeping the already cooked chicken warm…I was thinking a person would have to have two ovens to make that work.
SHAHAB AHMED says
I love to make chicken and I was looking for a oven fried chicken to find a good alternative to fast-food, salt overloaded fried chicken. This recipe sounds awesome. I am gonna try this hopefully next weekend. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Ashley Fehr says
I hope you enjoy it!
Kristi L says
Tried this recipe tonight and although it has a really good flavor (I also added a bit of pickle juice to the milk marinade and let it soak for a couple hours) mine did not turn out crispy. Maybe the double breading trick and then possibly frying would help with crispiness. But then it’s not “oven fried” chicken.
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Kristi! I’m sorry to hear that. There are a couple reasons that could happen. If there was not enough fat on the pan, or if there was too much moisture on the chicken before dredging in the dry coatings, it may not have turned out crispy. It will also not stay crispy as it sits, so if it was not served immediately it will not stay crispy.
Sandra M Henslee says
Have you tried this in an air fryer? What changes would need to be made to do that?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t, but it would work well! I would just follow this recipe for cook time: https://www.thereciperebel.com/air-fryer-chicken-breast/
Sharon E Reihart says
Air fryer is awesome to reheat fried chicken! It makes it SO crispy! I added some corn starch to my batch because that is the one thing that guarantees crispy chicken, and it doesn’t alter the taste that I’ve noticed. I have old taste buds, so your mileage may vary : )
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Sharon! Yes you will use the cook temp of 425 — the lower temperature is simply if you need to keep it warm afterwards.
Christina Telpner says
Sooo good! Followed the recipe except I didn’t cut up the chicken breasts into strips, so it took a little longer but the chicken got rave reviews from my family. Crispy on the outside and moist inside. Will definitely be making again!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Christina!
G Bowen says
Chicken sticks and is soggy. Took it off the paper and re dipped in the flour mixture then lightly fried on top of stove. It was crispy and had a pretty good flavor. Won’t use it again though
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, G Bowen. I know it can be so disappointing to try a new recipe and it does not turn out for you. It has worked well for myself (and others) and I wished it would have been a hit for you too.
Eugene Villalpando says
Can’t wait to try this recipe. I was just wondering how long do I leave the Chicken Breast strips soak in the Butter milk?
Ashley Fehr says
I would leave it for 30-60 minutes.
Vanessa says
I just made this and it was wonderful! I did not have parchment paper so I ended up using foil. I’m always paranoid that I will not cook the chicken thoroughly but this came out perfect! Not sure why it didn’t turn out well for others but I would definitely make it again!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Great to hear, thank you Vanessa!
AJ says
Soggy 🙁
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble with the recipe, AJ. The amounts, flavorings and timing have worked well for myself (and others) so I wished it would have been a hit for you too! I know it can be so disappointing to try a new recipe and it does not turn out for you.
Cheryl davis says
Tried it and it did get crispy and great flavor!! My go to fried chicken 💕
The Recipe Rebel says
Thank you Cheryl!
Kelly says
I find it hard to believe this picture reflects the actual recipe. Panko does not stick and brown like this unless you take extra steps to toast it and add butter to it before breading the chicken. It is also chunkier than the breading in this photo. My chicken turned out pale and flavorless. When the chicken reached the proper temperature, I put it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp it up and even that didn’t help. I didn’t feel that the amount of butter made a difference in color or flavor and made the recipe less healthy than oven baked chicken should be.
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, Kelly. I know it can be so disappointing to try a new recipe and it does not turn out for you. It has worked well for myself (and hundreds of others) and I wished it would have been a hit for you too.
Amy Rose says
Make this every year for Mother’s Day chicken and waffles. The family loves it and won’t order it out they love this recipe so much. I’m now up to 4 lbs of chicken it’s such a hit ❤️
The Recipe Rebel says
Yay! Thank you Amy!
martha foreman says
mADE THIS BUT TWICKED IT A LITTLE. USED CRUSH UP CRUTONS FOR THE BREADING. COOKED GREAT AND LOVED THE FLAVOR. THANK YOU
The Recipe Rebel says
Thank you Martha!
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe. My oven may run hotter than yours so I’d use an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature is correct when cooking this.
Jay says
Not crispy, soggy. Yuck.
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, Jay. My oven may run hotter than yours so I’d use an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature is correct when cooking this.
Carol says
I tried this recipe last night and I was very delighted with the tenderness of the chicken and how quicky the chicken cooked. Next time I will try adding Sriracha to the buttermilk and let the flavor infuse into the chicken. Will make this again!!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Glad you enjoyed it, Carol!
Stef says
This chicken is great! My family loves it, it has become a favourite. Taste is so delicious!
The Recipe Rebel says
Great to hear! Thank you Stef!
Heidi Davis says
Like the previous comment I’ve attempted this twice thinking it was just my novice self messing it up but no. There’s no way this works and produces her result. I’m not buying it.
Betsy says
Tried twice, and not crispy at all. Suggestions don’t work. Adding so much butter really isn’t healthy at all, so I’m going to search for a different recipe.
Ramonica M says
This was actually good. I didn’t have the parchment paper so I cooked my chicken longer and with higher temp.
The Recipe Rebel says
Glad it worked well for you Ramonica! Thank you!