Who doesn’t like fried chicken? It’s salty, it’s crispy, it’s delicious. YUM. We get some serious fried chicken cravings every so often, but I don’t always love the grease, and it’s not something I’d feel awesome about feeding to my family. I did try making some buttermilk fried chicken once, about ten years ago… and there are reasons I haven’t tried again. Not only did I have to waste cups and cups of oil afterward, but it made the house smell like fried food for days! Also all that work and oil didn’t really feel worth it to fry up 4 pieces of chicken.
Sometimes I want that crunchy, salty, tender, chicken fried goodness without the mess and without feeling guilty that I’m feeding my family fried stuff. Enter CHEEZ-IT CHICKEN. It’s really good, and totally hits the salty crunchy chicken spot! Just try it once, and you’ll be sold! Some reasons you will love this recipe:
- It’s not actually fried. It’s baked.
- It has the crunchiness and saltiness of fried chicken.
- It’s basically a shake-n-bake recipe. Super easy to do!
- It uses just 4 common ingredients – chicken, Cheez-Its, sour cream, and butter!
- Super kid friendly. My toddler gobbled. it. up.
The chicken before it went into the oven.
So if you’re looking for a way to shake up your chicken routine (literally and figuratively!), try this out sometime!
Cheeze-It Oven “Fried” Chicken
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 4-6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or sub with 2 eggs mixed with 1/4 milk)
- 1 1/2 cups crushed Cheez-Its*
- 1/4-1/2 cup butter, melted (or spray with cooking spray)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking pan with foil.
- Coat chicken thighs with sour cream, then coat with Cheez-It crumbs. Place on a foil-lined pan and use a spoon to drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake for 40 minutes. Enjoy!
*Easy crush method: Seal crackers in large ziplock bag, then roll with rolling pin until crushed.
Tip: Have leftover sour cream and Cheez-its? Run each piece through the sour cream and Cheez-Its again to get extra coating!
4 responses to “Cheez-It Oven “Fried” Chicken”
Meet JoEllen
Subscribe via Email
Top Posts & Pages
Categories
Oh goodness, you’ve got me seriously craving fried chicken now. You’re so right – the oil mess/smell is atrocious. I usually simmer an orange peel and cinnamon sticks to cut through the smell afterward, but I still imagine all that oil floating around. 😛 But back to the chicken – this sounds delicious! I don’t have cheezits, but I might be able to sub something together for this tonight…
Ooh orange peel and cinnamon sticks! Good tip! MMmmm hope dinner was good last night ;).
My aunt used to make this for her bridge club all the time, but she used blue cheese dressing instead of sour cream. It was delicious! I use low fat ranch dressing and boneless skinless breasts and I like mine even better!
Ooh chicken breast would definitely be healthier! Sometimes I sub ranch dressing for the sour cream, and/or Ritz crackers instead of Cheez-Its. Always a hit!