How to Make Super-Quick Breaded Chicken

This is perhaps the easiest recipe I know for chicken - except for roasting it with some salt and pepper. You simply mix bread crumbs with your favorite seasonings, coat the chicken and bake. You can do this with a whole chicken or parts, skin on or off, and you can use whatever spices you want. This recipe serves four to six.

Things You'll Need

• 1 to 2 tbsp. olive oil
• salt
• 1 chicken
• 1 c. bread crumbs
• spices
• Groceries
• Baking Dishes
• Meat Thermometers
• Mixing Bowls
• Mixing bowls

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix the bread crumbs with salt and your choice of seasonings. Be very generous with the spices: use about 1/4 c. spices per 1 c. bread crumbs (see Tips).

3. Rub the chicken or chicken parts with vegetable oil and press the seasoned bread crumbs onto the chicken.

4. Place the chicken in a roasting or baking pan and roast at 350 degree F. until the meat is no longer opaque and the juices run clear, or until the internal temperature (measured in the deepest part) reaches 160 degrees F.

Tips & Warnings

• An easy seasoning mix can usually be made with the seasonings you have on hand.

• Use about 1 1/2 tsp. salt per 1 c. bread crumbs.

• A good basic seasoning mix contains 2 tsp. each of garlic powder, black pepper and dried thyme, along with 1 tsp. each of red and white pepper and oregano. Mix the spices well with the salt and bread crumbs.

• For a Cajun-style seasoning, use 1 tbsp. each of paprika and garlic powder, 2 tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. each of dried thyme and cayenne pepper. Mix with the salt and bread crumbs.

• Your seasoned bread crumb mix can also be used to top casseroles or a chicken stew that you brown under the broiler before serving.

• Vary the seasoning to your taste. Most spices intensify under heat, but tasting some of the seasoning before cooking will give you a good idea of the results. Make sure the seasoning hasn't touched raw chicken before you taste it.

• You can make the recipe even easier by grinding up seasoned croutons in a food processor or by hand and using them to season the chicken, or by grinding up dry poultry stuffing and using it as breading instead of stuffing.