It would be nice to be able to come up with a more original name for this recipe, but the real truth is that I intentionally set out to “go one better” than Shake and Bake chicken/pork coating. The resulting coating is a clear winner. With the addition of dipping the chicken in a mayo/vinegar mixture prior to adding the crispy seasoned panko bread coating puts this chicken over the moon.
At first I thought about making a Shake and Bake copy cat, but yesterday as I finally set out on the project, I quickly realized that what I really wanted to do was to make a better coating. I knew that I wanted a panko base for its sheer crispiness. However, I wasn’t certain where to go from there. So, I opened up my spice drawers and considered the various flavors available. Smoked paprika was an immediate easy choice. Garlic and onion, industry standards, were next. Spice Hunter’s poultry seasoning is my favorite poultry seasoning, so that was pretty easy, too. What to do about the salt and pepper? Duh–Johnny’s seasoning salt, of course. Parsley got thrown in for good measure, more for color than for taste. Let’s be honest, dried parsley doesn’t really bring a whole lot to the party, but it does bring some color.
Flour seemed a logical enough choice to provide good coverage and some depth to the browning possibilities. Corn meal would add a little flavor as well as some crunchiness to the coating.
I looked at my chosen ingredients and decided that they were the team. I couldn’t think of anything else to add. Then came the next issue, however; how to get the breading to stay on the chicken. I wanted something special; something that would bring some big life to the party. Mayo was a good beginning, but it needed something more. Vinegar! Mayo + apple cider vinegar = knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark flavor. Za zing!
The chicken turned out perfectly crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. The mayo-vinegar combo was amazing and worked outrageously well with the crispy coating.
Since the coating ingredients are shelf-stable, I made a double batch of it and put it in a jar to have on hand for the next time I make this chicken, which will probably be on Sunday. I am so happy!
2/18/2014: Since first developing this recipe, I have added a “skinny” version. The recipe for the coating mix itself is unchanged. However, I now use boneless, skinless chicken pieces and a buttermilk marinade instead of the mayonnaise & vinegar. There is also an alternate recipe version without the buttermilk marinade. Both are delicious, or course! I have included the recipe for Skinny Shake and Bake Chicken in a separate printable recipe.
Better Than Shake and Bake Chicken {Regular Recipe}
Ingredients
For the Seasoned Panko Coating:
- 1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
For the Mayo Coating:
- 1 cup good quality mayonnaise (may use low fat)
- 2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- For the Chicken:
- 8 pieces chicken (may use bone-in, skin-on; bone-in, skinless; or boneless, skinless
Instructions
- Preheat ovento 375-degrees F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with aluminum foil, then spraying foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
For the Seasoned Panko Coating:
- Whisk or shake together the panko bread crumbs, white flour, cornmeal, dried parsley flakes, seasoning salt, smoked paprika, poultry seasoning, granulated onion, and granulated garlic. Set aside.
For the Mayo Coating:
- In a medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and the apple cider vinegar. Because various mayonnaise brands differ in thickness, the amount of vinegar needed to make a good consistency for dipping the chicken will vary. I used Best Foods mayo (Hellman’s on the East Coast) and 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. I could have used up to 3 tablespoons vinegar and I think that it would have still been a good consistency with good flavor for coating the chicken.
For the Chicken:
- Rinse chicken pieces under cool running water. Pat dry.
- Dip chicken piece on both sides in the mayo/vinegar coating. Allow extra coating to drip off of chicken or shake chicken gently over bowl to remove extra coating.
- Dip on both sides in the bread coating.
- Place on baking sheet. For bone-in chicken, bake for 30-40 minutes just until the juices run clear or until a meat thermometer registers 165-degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken. For boneless, skinless chicken, bake for 20-30 minutes until the juices the run clear and/or a meat thermometer registers 165-degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken.
- Serve immediately for best crunch factor!
Skinny Shake and Bake Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 pieces boneless, skinless chicken (or may use bone-in, skinless chicken)
For the Buttermilk Marinade:
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce such as Frank's
For the Seasoned Panko Coating:
- 1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt I used Johnny's
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika Plain paprika can be used, but smoked paprika is more flavorful.
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning I used Spice Hunter brand.
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), melted
Additional for Chicken Prep:
- 1/2-1 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
For the Chicken with Buttermilk Marinade:
- Rinse chicken pieces under cool running water. Pat dry. Place in a zip-top plastic bag.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and hot sauce together until well blended. Pour over chicken in bag. Zip bag closed, pressing out air. Shake chicken around in the buttermilk marinade until well coated. Place bag in a supportive bowl or dish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
For the Seasoned Panko Breading:
- To a medium-size bowl, add all of ingredients for the Seasoned Panko Breading, except the melted butter. Whisk together to combine evenly.
- Pour melted butter over the breading. Toss lightly with a fork. Set aside
Baking the Chicken
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper; spray foil or parchment paper with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Place the additional 1/2-1 cup all-purpose flour in a small bowl.
- Pour the chicken marinade into a medium bowl, retaining the chicken in the bag. Arrange the bowls of ingredients in a line in order to work efficiently: flour, reserved marinade, coating mix. Working with one piece of marinated chicken at a time, dredge in flour, dip in reserved buttermilk marinade, then press both sides of the chicken in the coating mix. Place on baking sheet.
- For bone-in chicken, bake for 30-40 minutes just until the juices run clear or until a meat thermometer registers 165-degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken. For boneless, skinless chicken, bake for 20-30 minutes until the juices run clear and/or a meat thermometer registers 165-degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Terri,
Just re-pinned this on Pinterest and I can’t wait to try this recipe. Looks Delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Michelle
That’s a delicious recipe you came up with!
That’s really some amazing looking chicken! I love that you dipped it in mayo first…I have never seen that. 🙂 I would definitely want to try this out and I’m positive my family would love it. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. ~ Ramona 🙂
That chicken looks PERFECT! I love your photos – really beautiful 🙂
mickey
Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
This looks oh so yummy! I love finding new chicken recipes and the spice mixture looks amazing on this. Can’t wait to try this 🙂
That looks great! I use shake & bake alot so it’s nice that I can make my own and control the ingredients. I also make the chicken that uses the mayo, the recipe in all the mayo ads and commercials so this is like a combo. Good job! I do have a question though why did you name it Trump chicken? The Donald does not deserve it.
Totally agree with The Donald comment. I didn’t even think about the association with His Majesty (gag, sputter, hiss) until well after I had posted the recipe. The “trump” was intended to refer to the recipe trumping Shake and Bake’s mix. I ought to come up with a different name just so that no one associates this chicken with Donald ‘Voldemort’ Trump. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the yummy chicken recipe! It looks so good! Thanks for linking up to our Strut Your Stuff Saturday! We loved having you and hope you will come back soon! -The Sisters
I’m glad I came home Sunday night and tried this chicken. It was freaking delicious. I may or may not have eaten all the breading left on the pan. Whoops. And p.s. I love the new blog design
I’m glad that you came home, too, so that I could see you for a minute. You were more than welcome to the breading, which I may or may not have noticed was all gone. P.S. I love that you love the new blog design.
and some of this too…
This was fabulous. I will never buy the boxed stuff again! Thank you
Yay!!!! I’m so glad that you like it. I have to confess, I was really surprised at how good it was the first time I made it. LOL
Ok, so this is kinda late, but we made this last night and LOVED it! I was all out of the boxed stuff and remembered you had posted this recipe. Luckily we didn’t get any mayo on the computer. Can’t wait to try it on pork too!
Yay, Karla! I’m so glad that you liked this recipe…and that you managed to keep the mayo off of the computer. 🙂
I’m looking forward to trying this for my next chicken menu dinner. I probably will use plain greek yogurt in place of the mayo; we try our best to eat healthily.