This Oven Fried Buttermilk Chicken is so crispy and juicy without the mess and calories of fried chicken! The spicy buttermilk adds so much flavor and the parmesan cheese bread crumbs toast up golden brown in the oven. We have this anytime we are craving fried chicken!
Oven Fried Chicken
I love fried chicken. I adore fried chicken. I covet fried chicken. I (insert every possible praise word here) fried chicken. What I hate is the mess. Have you seen what fried chicken does to your stove??!!
I know, so what's a little grease, when the output is glorious crunchy chicken. I don't care. I've blogged before on how much I love my stove. It's black and stainless, which is all cool looking until it gets a smidgen of grease on it. I mean every little drop shows on this stove. So, anyway, no fried chicken is being made on this stove, I don't care if I am in the south.
I've seen several recipes for baked chicken, and truth be told, I wasn't really expecting much from a baked instead of fried chicken recipe. But guess what? This baked chicken is so good!
How to Make Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
Homemade Breadcrumbs
Let's talk about how easy it is to make this yummy chicken! Preheat the oven and then the first thing you do is make your breadcrumbs. You can buy store bought, but it's so easy to make your own.
I bake a loaf of sourdough bread every week, so I almost always have bread that I can use. You can also make these breadcrumbs anytime you have bread to use up and store it in the freezer in a ziplock bag!
To make the bread crumbs, you just pulse your bread in your favorite food processor until it forms coarse crumbs.
Make Batter Bowls for Dipping
In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with parmesan cheese, thyme and pepper.
In another bowl combine buttermilk, hot sauce and salt and pepper.
Dip, Coat and Bake the Chicken
You're going to be using a generously greased cookie sheet and an optional rack.
Working with one chicken piece at a time, dip the chicken into the buttermilk. Lift it out and let the excess drip back into the bowl. Then dip it in the breadcrumb mixture, turning it to make sure it's all coated and then place it on the cookie sheet.
Continue until all of the pieces are coated.
Bake about 35 minutes or until chicken is golden and an instant read thermometer measures 165.
Tips for Oven Fried Chicken:
Bake it on a rack on the cookie sheet to help the underside crisp up.
Breasts will work, but oven fried chicken legs and thighs stay so juicy!
Leave plenty of room around the chicken pieces so that they get crispy all around.
This was really good. It wasn't fried chicken, but it had the essence of fried chicken. There was the contrast of the crispy coating and the soft, chewy and very moist chicken inside. This is definitely a repeater.
This was really quick to come together, making it an excellent weeknight meal! I served it with a cumin coleslaw that was perfect, it would also be good with Easy Sheet Pan Potatoes or roasted summer vegetables or how about roasted fingerling potatoes with chive pesto?
More Baked Chicken Recipes
Roasted Chicken with Tangerines and Olives
Orange Chile Oil Roasted Chicken
Smoked Paprika Chicken and Lemon Bake
If you make this Baked Buttermilk Chicken, I would love it if you would tag me on Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook
Oven Fried Buttermilk Chicken
Ingredients
- vegetable oil for greasing baking sheet
- 6 slices white bread or whatever bread you have
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 chicken legs and thighs or 4 breasts
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and generously grease a baking sheet.
- Process the bread in a food processor until coarse breadcrumbs form. Add to a bowl with the Parmesan cheese, thyme and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
- In another bowl, mix the buttermilk with the hot pepper sauce, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- One piece at a time, dip the chicken into the buttermilk mixture, turning it to coat evenly. Hold it up and let the excess drip back into the bowl.
- Then dip the chicken into the breadcrumb mixture, coating it evenly and place it on the baking sheet. Leave room around the chicken pieces for the air to flow.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until crispy and golden brown and an instant read thermometer reads 165.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in June 2008 and has been updated for 2019!
Looking forward to trying this! Where does the long cook time (9+ hours) figure in?
Oh my gosh! Thank you for catching that! I don't know how the 9 got in the hours time!
The chicken looks so amazingly crispy and delicious!!! Wonderful share for any weeknight or even weekend dinner option!
It is the perfect weeknight dinner!
Breadcrumbs on a dish just get you every time don't they/ They just say eat me, eat me!
Yes they do!
Buttermilk chicken is a family favourite in my house, this looks so good!
Buttermilk and chicken just go perfectly together!
loved those tips !! my family loved this!
So glad you liked it!
Mmmm, fried chicken! Seriously, the flavours you've included are lovely and chicken like this always bakes up beautifully. I bet it's great in an air-fryer too.
I don't have an air fryer, but I bet it would be good in one!
Peter - I know, I love the show!
Kevin - try it, I can't wait to see what you come up with.
Paula - when I was eating it, I was thinking the same thing, it's need to be taken on a picnic.
Joy - let me know what you think.
Katrina - this so mess free, it's great!
Ruth - thanks for hosting such a fun event.
Patricia - I just tried two more things from it.
Pam, that is a great book, I understand your love! 🙂
And this chicken looks yummy!
This looks fantastic! i love good crispy chicken... especially when it's baked instead of fried because so often it's more greasy than crispy then.
Thanks for this great entry to bookmarked recipes!!!
I have that recipe bookmarked too (in my book from you!). I even bought the buttermilk once, but then never made it. I will go for it again. I am trying two other recipes this week from that book...at least I intend to.
Drooling. I also hate the mess... great find thanks!
That chicken looks good! I am going to have to try a baked fried chicken.
That chicken looks scrumptious! I bet it would be great on a picnic, too ... along with a side of your bread salad!
That little show has some real winning, easy dishes..like this one. The crust is grand!