This crusty baked chicken recipe rivals your mother’s best fried version any day!
I’m a big fan of cooking with fresh herbs. They brighten a ho-hum dish, and give it WOW factor.
But when I want to faux fry chicken, dried herbs create a savory appeal that does a good job of making my baked chicken taste as though I’d fried it.
Don’t forget to use Rocco DiSpirito’s faux frying technique and bake your chicken on a rack. You’ll be happy with the results. Every inch will be crispy and nicely browned.
Are you sure this isn’t fried chicken? Happy cooking!
Serves 4
Crusty Paprika Baked Chicken Thighs
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Ingredients
- ? cup low fat buttermilk
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- 4 large skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a cookie rack on top. Spray with cooking spray for easier cleaning.
- Combine panko, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder in a bowl. Place buttermilk in another bowl.
- Dry chicken thighs and then dredge in them buttermilk and panko mixture, then place on cooking rack. Spray with olive oil cooking spray.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink next to the bone.
Nutrition Per Serving
Calories: 182, Weight Watchers PointsPlus 4
Total Fat: 3.24g
Cholesterol: 37mg
Sodium: 268mg
Total Carbs: 22.56g
Dietary Fiber: 1.38g
Sugars: 3.90g
Protein: 13.49g
Mmm, love how crunchy your crust looks! That’s always a problem for me when I bake them. Paprika sounds wonderful, lovely recipe!
My faux fried recipes always came out soggy until I started cooking them on a rack and using panko bread crumbs. I often spray the top with olive oil cooking spray to help it brown. Works great. Enjoy the week to come!
I just want to dig into this chicken!! Looks great!
Wow, the crust on your chicken looks fabulous! Lovely recipe~
You have elevated the lonely thigh to a new level. This looks amazing.
What a great idea to put them on a rack – no flipping needed! Love smoked paprika, too; it lends such an earthy, outdoorsy flavor. Great recipe!
It really does work to bake on the rack, that way both sides get nice and crispy without flipping.
So brown and crispy! The chicken looks so succulent too.
Ahh… Panko… how I do love thee! Love this recipe. I don’t fry foods at home, so normally we go out when I need a fried chicken fix. This is a super variation on the fried chicken theme, and I thank you for the post! Love the smoked paprika!
Isn’t panko the best? It makes the difference between a crunchy baked chicken and mushy if I use plain bread crumbs. Enjoy the week ahead!
I really like dried herbs on baked/faux fried fish and chicken. Your dish looks & sounds delicious!
I love oven fried chicken. Have you ever tried marinating yours in the buttermilk spice mix overnight before spicing and breading? Highly recommended!
I used to do that, but never had the buttermilk on hand. Now I buy powdered buttermilk. Thanks for the reminder – it does such a terrific job of tenderizing the meat.
Every so often I will really get a craving for fried chicken.
This looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing an amazing recipe.
I can’t say the last time I actually fried anything. I’ve gotten to the point where I prefer baking. Have a good week!
What a great crunchy breading, I bet this is much better than fried!
What a great way to “fry” chicken! Gotta try it.
Reeaally like that you use buttermilk, great idea!
I use Panko on mine too, & recently used Panko for fried okra breading. I highly recommend!
I don’t even buy or make bread crumbs anymore. Panko does such a good job. I only wish I could find the whole wheat version, but my local grocery stores don’t seem to sell it.
yum these look delicious, and low in fat is even better. I will have to make these this week thanks Kristi 🙂
These look wonderful, and I totally agree with you on the fresh herbs. Love the looks of these, particularly with the faux-frying!
This chicken looks amazing – so much flavor and so crispy for being baked!! I have everything I need to make these, I am going to try them this week!
Hi Erin, be sure and let me know how they turn out!
Hmm!!! A perfectly baked chicken! Finger lickin’!
I love how the color of paprika made the crust so vibrant. This is a beautiful dish, Kristi! Have a wonderful week!
~ ray ~
I have only recently discovered how delicious smoked paprika can be. This sounds like a great way to serve chicken!
I really liked the paprika. You are right, it’s truly delicious!
Definitely a more healthy way of eating chicken and the addition of herbs I am sure made the chicken even more flavorful!
Kristi, looks sounds and tastes much better than fried. Yummy lunch. Love Panko:)
Your banana cream pie is on my list. I’d forgotten how much I loved them as a kid!
I love this recipe, especially because you use panko and is oven baked instead of fried. Looks delicious with the crunchy panko crust.
Have a great week Kristi 🙂
You can’t beat panko for crunch, can you! Have a good day. 🙂
This looks so yummy and I think my kids would love it. thanks for sharing.
Hi, do you use boneless thighs or can u use bone in?
Hi Trish – thank you so much for visiting! You could use bone in or boneless. Either would work. So would chicken breast if you prefer. I just remove the skin because I don’t eat it and I want the crust on the chicken. Have a lovely day. 🙂
I love how crunchy the coating looks. I may make this for dinner tonight!
It was nice as crunchy. My favorite kind of chicken. Perfect with roasted potatoes.
oops, i see the recipe is bone in…….
That looks so delicious — I love baked chicken recipes instead of deep fried ones 😀
I have cooked many ‘fried chicken in the oven’ recipes, but none looked as good as yours… gonna do this one next, thanks
There’s nothing worse than soggy oven baked chicken. This method works really well, especially with panko.
This chicken looks awesome. I love that it has buttermilk and best of all is baked. I really need to make this one!!!
Baking on the rack makes all the difference between mushy chicken and crunchy. It works so well. Have a good weekend. 🙂
It looks so crunchy and tasty. I would like to have this recipe at home. I hope it will work.