Julie Clark
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Cornflake Chicken
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Cornflakes are the main ingredient in the breading on this easy baked chicken recipe. Use this Cornflake Chicken recipe with chicken breasts, thighs or chicken tenders. You may also like our buttermilk chicken.
Cornflake Chicken Recipe
If you’re looking for an alternative to fried chicken, give this baked cornflake chicken a try. You may be surprised at how similar this chicken, which bakes in a little bit of melted butter, tastes to fried chicken. It’s an easy dinner idea that the kids will love!
Cornflake Coating
Mix cornflake crumbs together with your favorite spices for a delicious coating to baked chicken. We needed about 3 cups of whole cornflakes to get about 2 cups of cornflake crumbs. Kellogg’s actually sells cornflake crumbs for the purpose of coating chicken and using in recipes, so if you make this often, it may be worth buying. We just put whole cornflakes in a baggie and crush them with a cup or rolling pin.
We like to add paprika, salt, pepper and dry mustard to the cornflake crumbs for flavor. This gives it a classic fried chicken taste.
*Note…be sure the crumbs are crushed up finely. Otherwise the spices will fall to the bottom of the bowl and not get on the chicken. If you have spices left in the bowl after you coat the chicken, sprinkle them on top of the chicken so all of that flavor gets used!
Baked Chicken Recipe
Although fried chicken is delicious, baking chicken in the oven can be just as flavorful, with less fat. Is this baked chicken healthy? Well…it does have ¼ cup butter that the chicken bakes in, but I’d say it’s a healthier replacement to frying chicken at home or buying fried chicken at a restaurant. And trust me…it’s so, so good!
How do you make fried chicken with cornflakes?
Making chicken with cornflakes is easy! Prep the chicken by pound it to the same thickness throughout. You can do this with the flat edge of a meat tenderizer. The chicken breasts we usually buy are huge. I cut them in half, then pound out each half until it is about ¾ inch thick. This will help the chicken bake evenly.
After the chicken is pounded, you’ll dip it in buttermilk, then in the corn flake crumbs. Turn the chicken to coat it all over.
Melt the butter right in the baking pan (while the oven is heating) and place the chicken in the pan.
How long do you bake cornflake chicken?
We bake the chicken (with the pan covered in foil) at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Then we take off the foil, flip the chicken (we use these tongs to turn the chicken) and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes until the chicken tests done. Turning the chicken and taking off the foil allows the chicken to crisp up a a bit. The exact time it takes for the chicken to be done will depend on how thick the chicken is, so watch it carefully. You’ll want the chicken to test at 165 degrees Fahrenheit internally.
**We LOVE our Thermoworks ThermaPen to quickly test meat temperatures. This probe thermometer is AMAZING. Get it here.**
This chicken is the best when it is served immediately. We do warm it up and serve it as leftovers, but the coating is not at all crispy when you warm it up.
What to serve with chicken?
Other Chicken Recipes
Try one of our other chicken breast recipes!
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
- Easy Chicken Marinade
- Grilled Lemon Lime Chicken Marinade
- Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts
Cornflake Chicken
Cornflakes are the main ingredient in the breading on this easy baked chicken recipe. Use this Cornflake Chicken recipe with chicken breasts, thighs or chicken tenders.
Servings 6
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
Cornflake Coating
- 2 cups crushed cornflakes (about 3 cups whole cornflakes)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Other Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
- The chicken breasts we used were large (3 chicken breasts = 2 ⅓ pounds). If the chicken breasts you are using are also large cut them in half to get 6 pieces.
- Place the chicken breasts in a zippered bag. Use the side of a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken breasts to 1/2″ thickness throughout so they cook evenly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the ¼ cup butter in a 9×13 baking pan and place it in the oven while the oven is heating so the butter melts.
- In a bowl, mix together the cornflakes and spices.
- Pour the buttermilk into a bowl.
- Dip each piece of chicken in buttermilk, then roll it in the cornflake crumbs to coat all sides.
- Take the heated pan (with melted butter) out of the oven and tip the pan to all sides so that the butter covers the bottom.
- Place the chicken pieces in the baking pan and cover the pan with foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the pan out of the oven and remove the foil. Turn each piece of chicken over and place the plan back in the oven to bake, uncovered, for an additional 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside (165 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Allow the chicken to sit for 5 minutes and then serve warm.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 6 pieces of chicken and using all of the coating. 1 serving is 1 piece of chicken. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 577kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 1664mg | Potassium: 854mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 2090IU | Vitamin C: 18.6mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 23.6mg
It was a little too soggy for me.
Really enjoyed this recipe. A family member is gluten intolerant so this worked for all of us. Tasty!
Absolutely love this recipe. I used a butterflied boneless chicken breast that I had leftover from another recipe so I did not need to pound the chicken breast or flip which reduced cooking time and left the top super crispy. Don’t skip heating the butter in the baking dish. This is definitely a flavor booster. I was impressed how crispy it turned out, especially covered with foil. My husband loved this too, so it is now on my weeknight go to recipe list. *Total baking time was 25 minutes for the butterflied breast.
Thanks! A delicious Saturday dinner!
I did not have buttermilk, and would hate to waste what may not be used…I added a tablespoon of vinegar to regular milk then proceeded with recipe. So tasty!
Will plan to add this recipe to my family favorites. Thank you! 😀