Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken
Updated March 20, 2019
Buttermilk Oven “Fried” Chicken – this baked fried chicken is a lighter version of fried chicken that tastes just like the real deal! Oven fried chicken gets the same crispy texture from “frying” in the oven! 
Skinnytaste “Oven” Fried Chicken
Today we are celebrating our good friend Gina’s new cookbook, The Skinnytaste Cookbook! We love Gina and are so excited about her first cookbook! I have been a big fan of her blog for years and I am so glad her recipes are now in a book!
The Skinnytaste Cookbook features recipes that are light on calories, but big on flavor. Gina knows how to make healthy taste amazing! I couldn’t decide what recipe to make for our post because I wanted to make them all so I let Josh pick. He was flipping through the book and when he saw the Buttermilk “Oven” Fried Chicken recipe he exclaimed, “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” He said we HAD to make this oven fried chicken. Caleb ran over to see what we were talking about said he wanted chicken for dinner too! The decision was made:)
Baked Fried Chicken is Healthy Fried Chicken
One of Josh’s favorite meals is fried chicken, but I rarely let him make it because I don’t like the fried smell and it is so messy. Yeah, I am the boss in our kitchen:) But oven baked fried chicken, now that intrigued me.
Well, Gina just made Josh’s life because there is no greasy frying involved with her healthy “fried” chicken recipe! You bake the chicken in the oven so there is no big mess to clean up and no fried smells that linger for days. Now, Josh can make this healthy “fried” chicken whenever he wants!
How to Make Oven-Fried Chicken
Gina’s lighter version of fried chicken is perfect! The chicken has the same crispy, golden texture as the real deal, but without all of the fat and calories. The recipe is easy to make too!
- Soak the chicken in a buttermilk bath overnight, this will keep the chicken moist and juicy!
- Roll the chicken in the crunchy coating that is made with bread crumbs, cornflakes, Parmesan cheese, and spices.
- Place on a large baking sheet, making sure the chicken doesn’t touch. You can also place the chicken on an oven safe rack on the baking sheet, this will make the chicken extra crispy.
- Bake until crispy and cooked through.
That’s it. No mess to clean up and you can feel good about having healthy fried chicken on the menu. You won’t miss the fryer, that is for sure!
Two Thumbs up for Oven Fried Chicken
Josh was impressed with the “fried” chicken. He loved it! He warned me that Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken is going to be a regular recipe at our house. Fine by me! I didn’t have to clean up a mess and my boys were very happy! Caleb loved eating the drumsticks. He had fun playing the drums while he ate his dinner:)
If you are a fried chicken fan, you have to make Buttermilk Oven “Fried” Chicken. You won’t miss the deep fryer and it is a great recipe for easy weeknight dinners or entertaining!
If you like this Oven Fried Chicken Recipe, you might also like:
Buttermilk Oven "Fried" Chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 8 chicken drumsticks about 3 ½ ounces each, skinned
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Cooking spray
For the Coating:
- 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup crushed cornflake crumbs
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- For the chicken: In a medium bowl, season the chicken with the salt, paprika, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper. Pour the buttermilk and lemon juice over the chicken and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a rack on a baking sheet and lightly spray with oil.
- For the coating: In a shallow bowl, combine the panko, cornflake crumbs, Parmesan, salt, parsley, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder.
- Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and dredge each piece in the crumb mixture. Put the chicken pieces onto the prepared baking sheet. Spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray.
- Bake chicken until golden brown and cooked through, 40-45 minutes.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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Must try this baby here!! I bet it’ll be absolutely lush! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sounds delicious but we’re not dark meat eaters. I think it would still be good with white meat. Thank you for this offer to win Gina’s new cookbook.
I entered to win and have now added you to everything I look at!
Those recipes are awesome. Going to try the chicken this weekend. YUM
Love Skinnytaste cookbook too! Yum.
As a meat eater, I do love Josh’s recipes! The Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin is my favorite go-to especially for company.
This chicken is awesome – so moist with great crunch I used about 2 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken breasts which I cut in half. I marinated it overnight and cooked for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. My husband grew up in the South and loved it!
My experience with “OVEN” fried chicken is it lacks the crispiness of oil fried chicken. Does this sincerely come out crispy as oil fried chicken? I’m afraid it will be soft.
The chicken is crispy!
I made this today for my family, and can I just say WOW!
So YUMMY!
I had to change a few ingredients for food intolerance’s but still ended up fantastic, and so easy to make! It is a new family favorite! A request has been made for when our interstate relies come up in a fortnight 🙂
My dad has renamed the recipe KFC (Kylie’s Fried Chicken) 🙂
Thank you for sharing the recipe with us all!
I made this for dinner, so glad I finally made it. I changed up some of the spices depending on what I had but it was tasty and will make it again! Also it’s great to make your own Buttermilk in a pinch too here http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm
Kate, thank you for sharing how to make your own buttermilk! I needed to make my own!
How creative!. It is so delicious. Thank for sharing. I love fried chicken. I’m going to try it now
This is fantastic, even with chicken breasts. I have made both ways – chicken breasts and legs. I think they cooked in about half the time. Served with some greens and mashed potatoes for a fantastic dinner!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
How many calories per drumstick?
My kids have braces and eating chicken legs is hard. The chicken gets stuck in their braces. So we subbed out the chicken legs for boneless chicken thighs. We really like this recipe. The soaking in buttermilk adds a lot of flavor.
Hi I do not like dark meat, If I use breasts what would the cooking time be???
And what is the name of your friend so I can look at some of her recipes .
Thank you I have printed a few of your chicken recipes let you know after I try them…
Looks good
Tried this recipe tonight for dinner and it was delish! Subbed Chex for cornflakes because that’s all I had in my pantry…worked fine and still added a crunch. The flavor was amazing – my husband and kids asked for seconds. Thanks for sharing!
About how many drumsticks for the serving size? I saw it listed at the bottom the total calories but wasn’t sure does that reflect 1?
I love this recipe! The chicken is so tender, and the coating is so crispy and flavorful! My son loves it! I made it for my grandkids (who unfortunately like KFC), and they proclaimed it was The Best Chicken Ever!! I gave my daughter the recipe so she can make it for them.
How can I decrease the sodium in this recipe with compromising the taste?
Georgann
Absolutely delicious!! Serve in the baking tin and mop up the cooking bits and pieces. Fantastic family meal
Hi! Can I use skin-on chicken thighs? If so, would it still be as crispy, and how long should I bake it for?
Made for dinner tonight and liked it, but next time I’ll double the spices. Truthfully we’re not big chicken eaters but I’ll be making this more.
I made this for our Fourth of July Family Dinner. It was outstanding! I would definitely make again. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts from Costco. I sliced the breasts in half to reduce the thickness because their frozen chicken breasts are huge. I followed the advice of others and cooked them for about 20-25 minutes. The chicken was crunchy and moist. The only thing I might do differently next time, if I were to slice the breasts in half horizontally, I would make a bit more of the coating…possibly do it 1 1/2 times. Had just enough but I would prefer to have a bit more of a cushion. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Also, thanks for the heads up on Skinnytaste. Awesome website!
This recipe is in the works by both my husband and myself. We love making dinner that is satisfying and worth the time to prepare. Usually this is a joint effort and that it what makes it so special.
Sounds like a fun night in the kitchen. I hope you loved it!