Crispy Baked 'Fried' Chicken

This week on the blog I am sharing a brand new recipe for crispy baked ‘fried’ chicken that I am loving for Summer. It’s so perfect and easy to whip up, bake, and munch away on while sipping on a cool drink outside with a fresh side salad, and much healthier than the traditional deep-fried version.

With this recipe, I am using the all-new organic range of McCormick spices for the coating which gives allllll the flavour of a smoky, crispy fried chicken that is much better for you! The key to getting that smoky flavour throughout the crumb that is so quintessential of ‘fried chicken’ is using really good quality, fresh paprika. This is easy to do with McCormick’s Organic range because the picked, packed and best before dates are all listed on the front of the label! Plus the bags are re-sealable so if you don’t use the whole portion at once, you can save it for later, locking in the freshness and still keeping the important dates front and centre.Their new organic range including the herbs and spices I selected for this recipe is available from Woolworths.

What’s even better about this recipe is just how good it is the next day (if you can save any at all!) sliced on top of pizza. I love adding caramelised onion, tomato and mozzarella to the chicken on a pita bread for a nice, quick and easy pizza which is like good-for-you soul food! The smell of this alone is next level!

I’m not the only one who loves this recipe either. I was testing it out all week at my in-laws house because our kitchen was still getting renovated and each time a batch came out of the oven, everyone hovered around casually chatting for a couple of minutes until I’d tasted and marked down my amendments. As soon as I cut the chicken and set it aside, it was a free-for-all! Everyone wanted a slice, including Harper, their labradoodle who very sneakily managed to steal a whole piece without anyone noticing until she was half way out her doggie-door!

This recipe is such a crowd pleaser, super simple and really fresh and fragrant, and I cannot wait for you to try this one out for yourselves! You could even cut your tenderloins into bite size pieces if you have kids to make healthy chicken nuggets!

Happy cooking guys!

Mel x

Ingredients:

2 cups panko bread crumbs

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbs McCormick Organic Paprika

1 tbs McCormick Organic Oregano

1 tsp McCormick Organic Cumin

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

Cracked black pepper to taste

6 chicken tenderloins

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius

Place bread crumbs, herbs, spices and seasonings into a bowl and combine well

In another bowl, lightly beat eggs together

Place a tenderloin into the egg to coat

Then toss into the crumb mixture, covering and pressing crumbs into chicken until coated

Then place the crumbed chicken back into the egg mixture quickly and re-coat in a second layer of crumbs

Place crumbed tenderloin onto baking paper-lined tray and repeat with all tenderloins

Brush or spray over a little olive oil onto each tenderloin

Bake for 30 minutes until crumb coating is golden

Slice and dip into aioli, mayonnaise or your favourite dipping sauce

This recipe is in partnership with McCormick Herbs and Spices.