Neely's Oven Fried Chicken

If you've been reading my blog long enough, then you already know that Dr. Sweetpea loves oven fried chicken. He grew up eating it frequently so it reminds him of his childhood. I make it often for him because it's a super easy weeknight meal. I'm always looking for new oven fried chicken recipes to see if I can switch it up for us every now and then. So when I came across the Neely's recipe, I bought the ingredients right away and made it for our dinner the same night. Dr. Sweepea RAVED about our dinner. This is another keeper in our household folks!

Pat and Gina's Oven Fried Chicken

(Source: Neely's)

Olive oil nonstick cooking spray

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon hot sauce

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (3-pound) chicken cut into 8 pieces, skin removed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit a sheet tray with a wire rack and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a pie plate or shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, mustard, honey, hot sauce, and salt and pepper, to taste, together until thoroughly combined.

Add the panko, salt and pepper, to taste, the paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder to another pie plate and whisk to combine.

Dredge the chicken through the wet mixture, then the dry mixture, patting the breading on so it adheres. Arrange on a wire rack lined sheet tray, making sure there is ample space between each piece of chicken. Give the chicken a spritz of the olive cooking spray. This will help brown and crisp up the coating.

Put on the upper rack of the oven and bake until the chicken is golden and crisp. The temperature should register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

**One thing that I did differently was I marinated the chicken in buttermilk overnight before proceeding with the other steps. I think this made the chicken more tender.**