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.
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I need to work on the seasoning, but I must say this is the best oven fried chicken I’ve ever cooked when it comes to texture and crispiness
Question what hot sauce do you prefer to use??
No one has specified and want to use the right thing!
Rosaleina, I typically use what I have on hand, such as Tabasco. 🙂
Question, how long would it take to bake them from frozen?
It should take about 45-60 minutes, but as always, please use your best judgment to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through.
My family favorite go-to meal. Easy and so good! My 11 year-old even looks forward to making this all on his own.
Absolutely delicious!!!
Made this for a family gathering for the first time and the entire family was equally pleased, so much that they’ve all asked for the recipe. I come straight to your blog any time I want to make something new. Thank you for the frying alternative. LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe.
Can another oil be used in the place of peanut oil?
Yes, of course, but as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Grape seed, canola, safflower oils all good alternatives.
This chicken dish is so good just as it is, thank you !
3 teaspoons is a tablespoon. (Cajun seasoning)
Also, this is very tasty!
I don’t have a baking sheet can I use something else
You can also use a Pyrex glass baking dish.
Do you need to flip the chicken at all? What about baking it on a rack on top of a baking sheet?
Look forward to making this in the very near future. 😀 Thanks so much!
No need to flip but you can certainly use a rack on top of a baking sheet! 🙂
Thank you
This worked out awesome! Thanks you Chunga! I even messed it up a bit by forgetting to add the oil and the natural oils of the chicken still made it nice and crispy, I won’t even use it next time 🙂 I made a batch of emerils Essence (with no salt) because I didn’t have Cajun on hand to use. Awesome. It fulfilled the need for pub fried chicken strips, I will make this again and again 🙂
Superb! A new favorite. What’s so impressive, too, is that Chunga answers all the questions! Isn’t she the best!?
Next time I am going to try dried herbs like sage oregano rosemary instead of Cajun and see how that goes.
Thank you. Peace.
I just found your site and made this recipe tonight. My entire family loved it. I am looking forward to trying many of your other recipes!!
I made this a couple weeks ago and we really enjoyed it, so good! I put some prepped chicken in the freezer like you suggested. How long will it need to bake from the frozen state? Thanks
It should take about 45-60 minutes, but as always, please use your best judgment to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through.
I was thinking of making this tomorrow for lunch. Is there anyway I could leave out the hot sauce? The recipe looks delicious! Thanks!
Yes, absolutely.
Lauren said that U dipped the chicken in oil.
Was this done as a separate step or added to the panko mixture as directions said?
Charlotte, the peanut oil is mixed with the Panko.
In a third shallow bowl, combine Panko, cajun seasoning, paprika, peanut oil, salt and pepper, to taste.
Great recipe. Can I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil instead of peanut oil?
Yes, absolutely.
As always, an excellent recipe! We really liked the chicken and the coleslaw combination, it was a perfect, light dinner! The chicken was incredibly crisp, and had a really nice flavor. I have not yet tried anything on your site that we haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks for posting easy, tasty meals!