Fake Fried Chicken- quick, easy and always a favorite!

As much as I love to grill, believe it or not, I do occasionally use my oven. This is one of my favorite quick and easy recipes that is tried and true, and pairs well with any veggie and starch you serve it with. The crunchiness comes from Panko Bread crumbs, one of the best and most versatile ingredients of all time (at least in my humble opinion!). Pair chicken tenders with your favorite coating agent, then dip in panko and bake and you have crunchy perfection with no guilt or frying-mess! This recipe originally came from Real Simple awhile back and I’ve slightly tweaked it.

Panko= Japanese bread crumbs. They make for serious crunch!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (think Sri-racha (sp?) or something similar)
• 3 tablespoon pineapple juice
• 4 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts OR chicken tenders (these will cook more quickly so watch your time!)
• 3/4 cup PANKO bread crumbs
• Fresh ground sea salt to tast

Directions

1) Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2) in a large bowl, combine the chili-garlic sauce and pineapple juice. Add the chicken and toss to coat
3) in a seperate bowl, combine the panko bread crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt
4) using one piece of chicken at a time, coat the chicken in the bread crumb mixture and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken

***note, I like to make sure the pieces are really fully covered in the crumbs and even take the remaining bread crumbs and spread them where they are on thinly on the chicken. This makes them turn out extra crunchy. 

5) bake until cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

This recipe is awesome because you cook them at a high heat so they cook quickly and retain their moisture- it is also nice when you get home late from work and you are so friggin starving you could eat anything and everything in the fridge, healthy or not! So there’s not much waiting time in this recipe- kitchen to table in less than 30!