Why Your Oven Fried Chicken Never Works Out!
Ever wonder why fried food is so popular? Why do we crave it? It can’t be all marketing, there must be a reason we love it so. Mostly we crave fried foods because of texture! The texture of the crunchy exterior contrasted with the moist tender interior is something most of us love! So is there a way to duplicate the flavors and texture we love in a healthy recipe? YES! Most fried fast foods are bad for us because of the quality of ingredients. Made with REAL food some fried foods are a good part of a health journey. We have developed this oven fried chicken recipe keeping all these things in mind; good for you, crunchy, moist, and flavorful. We even have it down to being gluten free and dairy free!
3 Reason Your Oven Fried Chicken Fails:
Tried oven frying before and you get lumpy dumpy, gooey or burnt crust? Here are three tips to get crispy, moist oven fried chicken!
- Bread It! You need a substantial coating to get that perfect crispy outside and tender juicy inside. Most chicken will do best with double or even triple coating of breading. Be warned that some delicate flours like coconut and rice tend to burn easier.
- Oil It! Want that “too good to be true” crispy golden coating? Spray your chicken once more with coconut oil cooking spray right before it goes into the oven! It will make you jump for joy when you see how beautiful they turn out!
- Heat It! You have to cook it on a higher heat. This will leave you with the brown crispy satisfaction of fried food without the guilt!
Best Oven Fried Chicken
¾ cup coconut buttermilk (see recipe here)
3-4 lbs of chicken drum sticks or chicken thighs
½ cup gluten free flour mix
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground red pepper
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp ground cumin
In a glass storage container combine the butter milk and chicken. Seal and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning every 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine gluten free flour, sea salt, black pepper, red pepper and cumin in a large bowl. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade. Add drumsticks one at a time to the flour mixture. Rolling in mixture to coat evenly. Gently remove and shake off excess flour. Lightly spray each drumstick with coconut oil cooking spray and return to flour mixture again. Remove, gently tapping off excess flour. Place drumsticks on a baking sheet lined with parchment or on a baking sheet with wire baking rack. Once more lightly spray drumsticks with cooking spray. Bake at 450 for 30 -35 minutes until done. If you are baking without a wire rack turn at 20 minutes. Serve hot and crispy! Serves 4.
