Crispy Ranch Oven-Fried Chicken
Crispy oven-fried chicken is a great comfort-food, that’s health-ish. This recipes has great TIPS to help get that delicious crunchy coating, that won’t stick to the pan.
In the past, I always LOVED the idea of oven fried chicken, but my attempts were always disappointing. The chicken wasn’t super crispy and half of the breading always got stuck on the pan.
I recently decided to tackle the challenge of creating a crispy, oven-fried chicken recipe and decided to flavor it with Ranch seasoning, because who can honestly say they don’t like Ranch?
After several experiments, I have come up with the PERFECT recipe, it’s crispy and flavorful and…delicious. Seriously guys, this recipe is a keeper.
Let me share exactly how you too can create this masterpiece in your own kitchen.
How to Make Oven-fried Chicken:
First you are going to put an ungreased baking sheet into the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. This step is CRUCIAL so that the chicken breading doesn’t stick to the pan.
Then you’ll prepare the chicken. I used chicken tenders because they’re so convenient. They’re trimmed and ready to use. If you prefer to use chicken breasts, I would suggest cutting them into smaller pieces and using a meat hammer to pound them to 1/2 inch thickness.
Prepare 3 bowls: 1 with flour, 1 with an egg wash, and 1 with ranch seasoning. (Did you know that you can buy ranch seasoning in a ginormous bottle? Yes, I’m excited too and I found it at Walmart!)
Dredge each piece of chicken first with flour, then with ranch seasoning. Dip the chicken in the egg wash and then dredge the piece of chicken in the flour and ranch once more. After you are finished with each piece of chicken, place it on a lightly floured cutting board.
Because I’m a visual person (and I want to make this recipe reliably reproducible) I included a picture of what they should look like. Tender #1 = dredged only in flour. Tender #2: dredged in flour then ranch seasoning. Tender #3: dredged in flour, ranch seasoning, dipped in egg wash, then dredged in flour and ranch seasoning again (ready to go in oven).
After all the chicken pieces are prepared, quickly remove your baking sheet from the oven and use vegetable oil to grease the pan. Use a paper towel to spread the grease. You only need enough grease to coat the pan (not a thick layer).
Quickly add the chicken to the pan. Be sure the pieces of chicken are at least an inch apart from each other, otherwise the chicken won’t get as crispy.
Use a cooking spray (like Pam) to spray each piece of chicken well. You want all the flour to be soaked in a thin layer of spray grease.
Put the pan in the oven on the bottom shelf. Cook for 12 minutes. Do not open the oven door, as it will cause the oven temperature to drop. It is super important to keep the door closed (resist the temptation to open the door!)
After 12 minutes, flip the chicken over (quickly) and return it to the oven for another 12 minutes.
Finally, enjoy your crispy ranch oven-fried chicken. I thought dipping them in ranch dressing made them absolutely to-die for. My husband requested this meal again for dinner the next day and he’s not even a huge Ranch dressing fan!
Crispy Ranch Oven-Fried Chicken
- 1.5 lbs raw chicken (tenders or breasts)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup ranch seasoning (powder, not prepared)
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
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Place ungreased baking sheet in oven and heat to 425 degrees.
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Prepare chicken. Trim as needed. If using chicken breasts, I would recommend covering it in Saran wrap and using a meat hammer to pound it to 1/2 inch thickness. Then trim into smaller pieces (like chicken strip or chicken nugget sized).
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Roll chicken first in flour and then ranch seasoning. Then dip the chicken in the egg wash (1 egg and 2 tbsps water, beaten) and roll in flour and ranch seasoning again. Lay prepared chicken on a lightly floured cutting board.
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When all pieces of chicken are prepared, remove baking sheet from oven. Quickly pour vegetable oil over sheet and spread using a paper towel.
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Arrange chicken on hot, greased baking sheet. Chicken pieces should be at minimum 1 inch apart.
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Spray chicken using cooking spray, until fully coated. Cook chicken for 12 minutes on bottom rack of oven. After 12 minutes, flip chicken over and cook for another 12 minutes.
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Enjoy!
