southern style oven fried chicken
Recipes
Pancake
Southern-Style Oven-Fried Chicken
A blend of dried spices gives the crispy panko coating on these oven-fried chicken thighs plenty of flavor, and marinating the chicken in buttermilk makes it moist and juicy. If you don't have an oven-safe skillet, you can roast the chicken in a baking dish in Step 5. Serve with your favorite vegetables (bake them alongside the chicken to make it easy) for a healthy comfort food dinner that requires just 20 minutes of active prep time.
Ingredients
- 2 cups nonfat buttermilk
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- 4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 lbs. total)
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or avocado, divided
Directions
- Combine buttermilk and 1/2 tsp. salt in a large bowl. Add chicken; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
- Combine panko, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, and ground pepper in a shallow dish. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk mixture, letting excess drip off, and dredge it in the panko mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Gently shake off excess breading; transfer the chicken to a plate and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt.
- Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp. oil in a large cast-iron or oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan, tilting as needed so each piece comes in contact with the oil; cook until browned on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken, browned-side down, to a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
- Add the remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. oil to the pan; cook until heated, about 1 minute.
- Return the chicken, browned-side up, to the pan, tilting as needed so each piece comes in contact with the oil. Transfer the pan to the oven (or use a baking dish). Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165 degrees F, 14 to 16 minutes.
