Crispy Breaded Baked Chicken
This crispy baked breaded chicken breast is coated in seasoned breadcrumbs and baked until golden and crunchy. It’s an easy oven-baked chicken dinner that comes out juicy inside with a crisp breadcrumb coating every time.
Quick Recipe Highlights
- No flour or egg needed for the breading
- Bakes at 400°F in about 20 to 30 minutes
- You get juicy chicken coated with crispy breadcrumbs
- No frying required
- Easy 45-minute chicken dinner
In this installment of My Love Affair with Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts we’re using a few simple ingredients to turn them into crispy breaded baked chicken. And, spoiler alert, you don’t have to dip the chicken in egg or coat it in flour. We’re using a special sauce and crunchy breadcrumbs instead.
Ingredients
- Dijon mustard
- Mayonnaise
- Chopped fresh herbs like parsley and thyme
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic powder
- Plain bread crumbs
- Panko bread crumbs
I like to pound my chicken breasts for two reasons: first, it is the best therapy at the end of the day to take a mallet and beat the insert expletive here out of something and, second, it’s important that the chicken breasts are all the same thickness so they cook evenly.
I like using both dried breadcrumbs and panko breadcrumbs because they have different textures. The dried breadcrumbs are finer and evenly coat the chicken and the panko ones are bigger with a crispy and light texture that gives the coating a crunchy texture.
How to Make Baked Breaded Chicken
Mustard and Mayo Sauce
- First, combine the mustard, mayonnaise and herbs together in a bowl. Brush the chicken breasts with this mixture.
- I know it might seem weird, but this coating helps the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken, helps the breadcrumbs crisp up and turn golden in the oven and gives the chicken so much flavor.
Breadcrumb Coating
- Next, coat each chicken breast in the breadcrumb coating.
- Place the breaded chicken breasts on a baking sheet lined with tin foil.
How Long to Bake Breaded Chicken Breast
At 400°F, breaded chicken breasts take about 20 to 30 minutes to bake. The exact time will depend on how thick they are, which is why I pound mine to about one inch thick so they cook evenly.
The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165°F. For an extra-crispy breadcrumb coating, you can broil the chicken for the last few minutes.
Substitutions
- Chicken: You can use the same amount of chicken tenders for this recipe. You’ll save some time because you don’t need to pound them out. They make the best chicken tenders with some garlic Parmesan fries on the side. Or try chicken cutlets, which are thin-sliced chicken breasts.
- Mustard: I love a kick of Dijon, but you can use your favorite mustard like classic yellow, honey mustard, grainy mustard, or any of the gazillion types available these days.
- Add-Ins: Mix in dried herbs like Italian seasoning, oregano, or parsley to the breadcrumb mixture to amp it up. Add a little cayenne pepper to spice it up or some grated Parmesan cheese would be great, too.
- Garnishes: Chopped fresh parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for a fancy finish.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
- Crispy Baked Chicken Sliders
- One-Pan Roasted Chicken and Veggies
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-Ups
- Crispy Chicken Parmesan
Breaded Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons fresh herbs see note
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/3 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup panko
- 2 pounds chicken breasts see note
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small bowl combine the Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, and herbs and set aside. In a shallow dish combine the garlic powder, bread crumbs, and panko.
- Place some cling wrap over the chicken breasts and pound them out until they are of even thickness, about one inch thick. Season them well on both sides with salt and pepper.Â
- Coat the chicken breasts with the mayonnaise mixture and then coat them with the bread crumb mixture.
- Place them on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and drizzle each chicken breast with the olive oil (about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon over each). Bake the chicken breasts for 20-30 minutes at 400°f or until the internal temperature is 165°F. Optional: in the last few minutes of the bake time turn the oven to broil and finish baking the chicken breasts, This will get you an extra crispy coating.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
What to Serve with Breaded Chicken
Who doesn’t love crispy-on-the-outside and juicy-on-the-inside chicken? So give this breaded baked chicken a try and enjoy –
Happy cooking!
Post and photos updated from the archives. First published in January 2016.
Love that you coat the chicken in mustard and mayo! That must give the chicken so much flavor!
It does! So good 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Christin!
Should I turn the chicken half way through?
You don’t have to, but you can if you want!
Breaded Chicken is the perfect go-to dinner!
This is perfect! I have a couple of chicken breasts in the fridge that I was trying to figure out what to do with. Guess I just figured out what’s for dinner. 😉
This was sooo good. I wasn’t sure about dijon mayo cooking. Boy was I wrong. SO good. Thank you.
Oh, that’s so great! So glad you liked it 🙂
This is similar to a recipe I’ve made any number of times and is so delish. I followed what you prescribed except that I always add either grated parmesan or manchego cheese to the panko. Ups the flavor all that more IMO.
Love the suggestion! I bet the cheese is great
Made this tonight and the entire family loved it!!!!
Yay! So glad it was a hit 🙂 Thanks for letting me know and for the rating!
Love this! My husband kept raving about it! I made a white white creme sauce with capers and tomatoes to go with this and put it over spaghetti. I’ll definitely make this again. Thank you!
Oh I love the sauce you added – sounds delicious!
Wow, is this good!
I’ve used this recipe several times and we love it! Tonight I had no fresh herbs so I used smoked paprika in the mustard/ mayo mix and sprinkled some Italian seasoning and cayenne in the bread crumbs. Was delicious, a little kick from the cayenne but not to much to overpower it. Thank you! This is one of my go to recipes for chicken.
I love those adjustments! I’m so glad you love the recipe – thanks for letting me know 🙂