Suuuuuuuper crunchy, incredibly juicy and extra delicious baked chicken.
When you hear Baked Panko Chicken you might be skeptical. I, for one, am suspicious of anything baked that claims to be extra crispy. But I hope you know by now that you can trust me. I would not lie to you. If this chicken wasn’t truly crispy friends, you would not find me posting it here. You would find me in the kitchen with a big old vat of oil deep frying these suckers. Because I take crispiness very seriously.
This chicken holds up to the promise of providing maximum crunch factor. It’s a magic combination of Panko crumbs, which are fabulously crispy, spraying the chicken with oil not once, but twice during baking, and baking the chicken on a rack so the heat can circulate around the entire piece.
And while it bakes into glorious crispiness we’ll make the most heavenly mixture of drippy honey, sweet chili sauce and extra red pepper flakes. When it’s all said and done, the combination of crunchy, juicy, sweet, salty and spicy will create a taste explosion in your mouth that will keep you coming back for more.
Baked Panko Chicken with Sweet Chili Hot Honey, the details…
This chicken is surprisingly easy to make. The chicken pieces take a brief swim in some buttermilk mixed with egg and garlic. The pieces are then heavily coated in crunchy, seasoned panko bread crumb mixture and set on a wire rack to bake.
We’re going to spray the pieces with oil and that helps them crisp up. I use avocado oil spray (like this), but you can use whatever oil spray you like. Once they’re sprayed we’ll throw them in a hot oven to bake. About halfway through we’re going to quickly pull the chicken out of the oven and hit it again with our oil spray. This is one of the keys to maximum crunch.
While the chicken bakes we’ll mix up the hot honey and as soon as the baking is all done we’ll take the chicken out of the oven and drizzle it all over with the honey. Then we’ll tuck in and be in crispy baked panko chicken heaven.
The recipe doubles (or triples! quadruples?) easily, so make as much as you think you can eat. Hint: you’re going to want to eat a lot.
Tips, tricks, substitutions
- Chicken- I use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs when I make this. I find it provides the juiciest results and is the most resistant to drying out. You can use boneless, skinless thighs or even breast, just be sure to adjust your cooking time accordingly.
- Panko – Panko breadcrumbs are super crunchy and are usually my go-to for breading just about anything. I have breaded the chicken with regular breadcrumbs though, and it still works very well.
- Baking – I use a standard baking sheet, lined with foil for easier clean up. Then I use a standard cooling rack laid on top.
FAQs?
I find the mixture of buttermilk and egg really helps because it’s thick. I also really press the chicken firmly into the Panko and turn it over a few times to make sure the entire surface is coated. I have even been known to double dip back into the wet mixture and the Panko again because sometimes I really like a thick coating.
Recipe-ish…
Let me know what you think!
Baked Panko Chicken – with sweet chili hot honey
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs*
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 1/2 cups Panko
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Pinch cayenne
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- Spray oil I use avocado
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a baking rack on top of the foil. Spray the rack with oil.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the buttermilk, egg and garlic. Mix well. Add the chicken and turn several times to make sure it’s well coated. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl combine the Panko, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne. Mix well.
- One at a time, place the chicken pieces into the Panko mixture and turn, pressing into the crumbs so the chicken is well coated.
- Place chicken pieces on the rack, skin side up, and spray with oil.
- Bake 20 minutes.
- While the chicken bakes combine the honey, sweet chili sauce and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and warm over low heat.
- Remove the chicken from the oven briefly, spray with oil again and bake for another 20 minutes.
Video
Notes
If you like this Baked Panko Chicken Recipe please go try my Recipe for Air Fryer Garlic Butter Chicken Wings. I know you’ll love them too.
