Oven-Fried Chicken with Homemade Coleslaw
These chicken thighs are so wonderfully crisp, no one will believe you when you tell them it’s been baked!
I seriously cannot stand deep-frying stuff. It gets extremely costly since I’m using up bottles and bottles of peanut oil, the floors get splattered on with oil and then I feel so incredibly greasy from head to toe until my next shower. To sum up, it’s greasy and gross. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like deep fried foods. I love it! French fries, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, corn dogs… you name it. But sometimes you just need those special recipes that require an oven but produce deep-fried quality, like this one right here.
Lauren does such a great job by slathering the chicken in some peanut oil before applying on the bread crumb coating. That way it gets “oven-fried,” giving you nice, crisp fried chicken quality with the use of less oil and without all the grease. Amazing, right? Pair that with this easy and super refreshing coleslaw and you’ll never have to order out fried chicken ever again!
So here’s how you make this:
Let’s first start with the coleslaw by mixing together some shredded cabbage, diced onion and grated carrots.
Then we’ll combine the wet ingredients – mayo, yogurt, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper – in a separate bowl.
We’ll pour that right over the cabbage mixture and give it a good stir. Let it sit in the fridge while you prepare the chicken.
Go ahead and trim off the excess fat off the thighs. I find this easiest to do with kitchen shears.
Then in 3 separate bowls, we’ll combine the flour, salt and pepper in one…
the egg, milk, hot sauce, salt and pepper in the second…
and the Panko, cajun seasoning, paprika, peanut oil, salt and pepper in the third.
Then we’ll take each chicken thigh and dredge it in the flour…
dip into the eggs…
and then coat in the Panko crumbs.
I took half of the chicken thighs and wrapped each of them in saran-wrap to freeze.This will come in so handy when I’m too tired to cook during the work week. (And yes, I made this over a month ago. I don’t know how it took me so long to post this!)
We’ll put the rest on a baking sheet and let it bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.
You want the crust to have that really nice golden brown.
Oven-fried = best thing ever!
Serve with coleslaw and you’re ready to eat!
Oven-Fried Chicken with Homemade Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 3 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to toaste
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce, or more to taste
- 1 ½ cups Panko
- 3 teaspoons cajun seasoning 1
- teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup peanut oil
For the coleslaw
- 4 cups shredded cabbage
- ½ onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, grated
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- To make the coleslaw, combine cabbage, onion and carrot in a large bowl. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, yogurt, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, to taste. Pour mixture over cabbage mixture and stir using a rubber spatula until well combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
- In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper, to taste. In another shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt and pepper, to taste. In a third shallow bowl, combine Panko, cajun seasoning, paprika, peanut oil, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Working one at a time, dredge chicken in the flour, dip into the eggs, then dredge in the Panko, pressing to coat.
- Place onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Serve immediately with coleslaw.
Did you make this recipe?
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OMG so good–deliciously crunchy! I used smoked paprika instead of plain, and Sriracha for the hot sauce in the egg/milk wash. Love that it is baked not fried. What a great recipe–thank you!
Absolutely the best chicken thighs
Loved them!
I’ve made this about 5,000 times. My family LOVES it. So easy and so flavorful. My husband requests I make extra so he can re-heat in the air fryer and have it on a biscuit the next morning.
This was absolutely delicious!! Quick and easy to make. I used lemon pepper panko instead of the plain. I will definitely put this dish in rotation using different flavor profiles. Chicken was crispy on the outside and tender and juicy inside. Winner, Winner chicken dinner!! Great for any day of the week. Thank you!
Delish! Just as good and less guilty than KFC!
This was the bomb!!!!
I’ve been making this recipe of yours for the last 8 years!!! It’s definitely a fan favorite in our house! Loriva peanut oil is so good in the mix. Everyone who has it agrees it’s the best!
Easy and delicious. Also very adaptable.
I have been making this since the recipe was originally posted. I adore it! Making it tonight and realized I never made a comment. Haha
It is easy to adjust the spice for kiddos and those with spice sensitive taste buds.
I use so many recipes from this site, I feel like I owe you money.
The chicken was really good. Came out nice and crispy. The taste was perfect for my hubby who is not into spice. I’ll surely make it again and next time with the coleslaw.
This was delicious! Easily the most popular dinner in our house this week
This was ridiculously good. I made it less spicy to please the 6yr old but will add this recipe to our regular rotation. It was amazing.
This is the BEST oven fried chicken and a new favorite for my family.
I want to make this ahead and freeze to have on hand as you have shown. Does the breading stay as crisp with this method?
This was an amazing recipe. We all loved it and there we no leftovers. I halved the recipe as I only had four large chicken thighs. The thighs were bone-in, skin on, so I made them that way. I cooked them for 22 minutes at 380 degrees in the air fryer. No need to flip them halve way through cooking time. So moist, flavorful, and a great crunch. Definitely a hit with my family. I will keep this recipe as one of my favorites. Thanks so much for sharing!!
My husband said is THE best oven-fried crispy chicken I’ve ever made. The only changes I made were left the skin on and added red pepper flakes to the panko mix.
Can i use this chicken as topping for japanese curry sauce?
This recipe was outstanding!!! As always! I made it exactly as written and the chicken turned out perfect! I am always in awe of your recipes and how you tweak them to make them stand out! Thank you again! And congrats on your recent exchange of wedding vows. Loved the pics of your four legged family members in attendance! 🙂
We really liked this recipe, both of them !! We will definitely be making this again and again! Thank you for the recipe.
I am a former chef, therefore somewhat hard to please. I decided to follow the recipe exactly as presented and I am very happy to relate to you, the reader, that both coleslaw and chicken are superb… like you would find on the menu in an old family run restaurant after meandering along route one on the Connecticut shoreline on a gorgeous day; sipping on a local beer served in a cold glass.
Really delightful. A keeper!
I use use olive oil instead since I’m allergic to peanuts. I also use Italian bread crumbs instead. I hate deep frying as well and this recipe is an absolute life saver. It’s sooo full of flavor and you just can’t have too much of it.
wow!! is the best way to discribe this.
this is such a easy recipe and soo tasty..I can’t believe how crispy it came out.
I used creole seasoning (nose is still running) lol
with xtra hot sauce (family loves spicy, but it wasn’t over powering the juiciness of the chicken..ty so much for sharing this recipe..