Cris Pearlstein : Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken Cutlets

Lunch/DinnerCris

Mar 24

Ingredients

1lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders (or thin-sliced cutlets)
1 egg
Splash of milk
1 cup of plain breadcrumbs
1 cup of plain Panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (*optional)
*other optional spices are paprika, dried basil, crushed red pepper, even sesame seeds!
Olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (if your oven runs hot I’d say lower it to 410). But if you like your cutlets super crispy don’t be afraid to cook them at a high temperature. I’ve even done it at 450, when I’ve felt the pan just wasn’t getting hot enough. I can usually tell by the sound of the sizzle—if you don’t hear sizzling you should probably turn your temperature up

2. In a large bowl whisk the egg and a splash of milk together and add the pieces of raw chicken, fully submerging them in the mixture

3. In a wide flat plate or glass baking dish add the breadcrumbs and spices and stir to evenly mix

4. Then pour a generous amount of olive oil on your baking sheet, covering the whole thing in a thin layer, and place it to the side (I don’t ever measure this, I just keep the bottle next to me and add as I need it to make sure the bottom of the baking sheet is thoroughly covered, making sure each cutlet has some oil on the top and bottom)

5. Now you’ve built your assembly line and you’re ready to go. I like to assemble right to left but you do you! Using a fork, grab a piece of chicken (letting the extra egg mixture drip off) and place into the breadcrumbs

6. Use your fingers to press the breadcrumbs firmly into the chicken (this will not only ensure you have a nice even coating, but it will also tenderize the chicken a bit)

7. Once the piece is coated, place onto the oiled baking sheet, dipping it on one side and laying it down on the other, making sure there is oil on both the top and the bottom of each piece

8. Repeat for the rest of the chicken. (Please note that the pieces can touch and even can be squeezed a bit together on the baking sheet because the cutlets will shrink in the oven)

9. Cook for about 15 minutes and then use a fork to see if they are nice and golden brown on the bottom. If you cannot pull the cutlet up using the fork, it means it hasn’t released from the pan yet and it needs more time (give it another 5 minutes)

10. Once all the pieces release and are flipped, cook for another 10ish minutes (Tip: don’t use a steel spatula to flip these, as you will risk tearing the coating from the chicken. A fork is best!)

11. While the chicken is cooking set up a plate on your counter with a layer of paper towels on it, and set aside

12. Once the chicken is done, transfer to the plate with the paper towels, creating single layers of chicken and paper towels until you are finished