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Make chicken like the Colonel with this KFC-inspired oven-fried chicken recipe! The chicken is baked in the oven but comes out crispy and juicy like fried chicken.
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This oven-fried chicken recipe is the best thing to make when you are craving that famous KFC flavor but don’t necessarily want to bust out the deep fryer. This is a simple recipe that your family will ask for again and again. It will be on a weekly rotation! It is quick and easy to make!
That classic KFC chicken has an irresistible flavor and a perfect crispiness. This oven-fried chicken nails the flavor without all the cholesterol and sodium. Because it is baked instead of fried, we have a few tricks to make it a bit more crispy. Make this a complete meal with green beans and a potato salad or coleslaw.
Ingredients in Oven Fried Chicken
Skip the takeout and make this delicious oven-fried chicken dinner at home in less than 30 minutes! Marinating will take longer but it is worth the wait to marinate all day in the fridge and then bake this crispy chicken at night. It is tender and juicy with that added crunchy flavor and texture. It is a MUST-have dinner everyone loves!
- Chicken breasts – Boneless skinless chicken breasts are easy to prepare and cut in half. Slice the chicken lengthwise. If some of the chicken breasts are uneven, use a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken. This will help evenly bake the chicken in the oven.
- Buttermilk – This will marinate the chicken and tenderize it while soaking into the chicken skin.
- Butter – Melt the butter in the oven. We do this with our german pancakes recipe too. It helps give that buttery flavoring on the bottom of the pan to help crisp up the chicken. It also is hot and sautés the chicken while baking.
- Flour – Dip the chicken in all purpose flour to give a crisp texture to the outside of the chicken breasts.
- Morton’s Season All Seasonings – This is a MUST have pantry staple in your house. It is a blend of several seasonings into one bottle that is easy to shake and sprinkle on any dish you desire. If you don’t have any on hand you can use garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, a little hot sauce, and some salt and pepper.
- Paprika – This spice is a bit tricky at times. Depending on the dish the paprika can be a warm and sweet seasoning or it can be hot. Use as little or as much as you would like for your family. If you love spice then use cayenne pepper instead of paprika.
Tips on Preparing Oven Fried Chicken
There are so many things that go great with this baked fried chicken. If you want to go for that classic KFC meal, you need to make this KFC coleslaw recipe. It is a dupe for the one at the restaurant and it is seriously the best!
- Prepare – Cut each chicken breast in half. If you prefer chicken tenders, you can also cut them into strips or chunks.
- Marinate – Place chicken pieces in a large resealable bag and cover with buttermilk. Seal the bag tightly, squeezing out all the air. Marinate chicken for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Melt butter – Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish or 11×17 baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper, then cut up the butter into pieces and place around the bottom of the pan. This keeps the chicken from sticking to the pan. Place the pan on the wire rack in the oven for about 8-10 minutes until the butter is melted and HOT.
- Mix – While butter is melting in the oven, in a small bowl whisk together seasoning salt, pepper, flour, and paprika in a shallow dish or pie plate. Set aside the flour mixture. If you want to add an egg mixture into the layers of crispiness, you can!
- Bake – Remove the pan from the oven and spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Shake excess buttermilk off of the chicken and completely dredge each piece with the seasoning mix. Place each coated piece of chicken in a single layer in the pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Flip – Remove pan from oven and carefully turn each piece of chicken over. Continue baking for 15 to 20 more minutes, or until cooked through. You can use a meat thermometer to check if it’s done; it should be 165 degrees inside.
Tips and Variations for the Best Oven Fried Chicken
Follow these helpful tips to make the very best fried chicken in the oven. From picking the type of chicken you want to bake, making it extra crispy, or making it gluten-free for your loved ones. This chicken dinner will be on your weekly rotation for sure!
- Protein – If you are a dark meat fan, you can make this recipe too! You can easily substitute in drumsticks, wings, chicken thighs or any other bone-in cut of chicken you like instead of chicken breast.
- Extra crispy – Experiment by double-coating the chicken before baking or adding a handful or two of panko breadcrumbs to the seasoning mix for an extra crunch.
- Serving – This crispy baked chicken would also work well with mashed potatoes, but for a fun twist try our baked potato wedges or parmesan baked potato halves. While you are cooking, let the slow cooker make a side of cream corn for you and you have a complete dinner!
- Gluten-free – Make this GF with gluten-free flour. Check the other ingredients and if you are adding in the bread crumbs, make sure they too are GF.
- Make ahead – Parts of the recipe can be made ahead of time. The chicken tastes best when it has had a chance to soak for several hours in the buttermilk in freezer bags or a covered dish. However, once it is baked, the easy oven-fired chicken tastes the best fresh.
“We are obsessed with this chicken. So perfect and crispy!”
-Ashley
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Frying is always an option. If you prefer to fry instead of baking the chicken fry it in a skillet with vegetable oil. Fry on both sides for about 7 to 8 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken breast.
The double coating is a great way to make this chicken extra crispy. Dip the chicken in buttermilk and then flour the mixture as normal. Repeat the process, dip back in the buttermilk, and coat in the flour mixture again. You can also dip the chicken in some beaten eggs before coating in the flour mixture.
This easy substitution is the perfect way to make some quick. Simply stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk, let it sit for about 5 minutes and the milk will be soured and ready to use in place of buttermilk. For more substitutions, you can use this substitution guide.
To ensure crisp oven chicken, pat your chicken dry before dipping into the buttermilk and flour layers.
Read More: 35+ Best Chicken Recipes
Make Ahead or Storing Leftovers
Make this fried chicken ahead of time or store your leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for five to seven days. When ready to reheat the chicken, simply fry it in a pan, use an air fryer, and bake in the oven, or microwave until it is heated through. You can also freeze the chicken breasts or chicken wings and reheat in the oven.
More Delicious Chicken Recipes
Are you constantly scouring Pinterest and Instagram for chicken recipes? These chicken meals are all quick, easy, comforting, and filling. All that you need when feeding a family. Try these delicious and flavorful chicken dinners and see which one your family loves best!
How to Make Oven Fried Chicken
Oven Fried Chicken
Equipment
- Conventional Oven
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1-2 tablespoons Morton's Season All Seasoning Salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Cut each chicken breast in half. If you prefer chicken strips, you can also cut them into strips.
- Place chicken pieces in a large resealable bag and cover with buttermilk. Seal bag tightly, squeezing out all the air. Marinate chicken for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9×13 pan or 11×17 pan with cooking spray then cut up the butter into pieces and place around the bottom of the pan. This keeps the chicken from sticking to the pan. Place the pan in the oven for about 8-10 minutes until the butter is melted and HOT.
- While butter is melting in the oven, combine seasoning salt, pepper, flour, and paprika in a shallow dish or pie plate. Set aside.
- Remove the pan from oven and spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan.
- Shake excess buttermilk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. Place each coated piece of chicken in the pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and carefully turn each piece of chicken over.
- Continue baking for 15-20 more minutes, or until cooked through.
- Serve warm right out of the oven.
When I oven fry my chicken I melt 1/4 cup of butter with a 1/4 cup of crisco before placing my chicken. Turns out perfect every time!
We are obsessed with this chicken. So perfect and crispy!
This is fabulous! I love finding recipes, like this one, that I’m positive will be a hit and have no leftovers! Delish!
Who needs Popeye’s chicken sandwich when you can make your own at home (without the wait in line)! And honestly, this is better. Thanks!
Oven Fried is the best way to make chicken and you nailed this one looking like it was fried I must have some tonight!
I just made these with 2 lbs of chicken tenders. The flavor was good, but I was left with too much flour. 1/2 cup should be enough. And the butter is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much. The coating got soggy from too much butter!!! I would recommend maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of the amount suggested.
I agree, although it was tasty, everyone loved it, it did not resemble fried chicken, at all.
The coating was way too soft and some pieces had no coating left, just seasoning.
Can u fry it with this recipe?
Awesome recipe. Being a health freak, I cook it in the oven instead of frying in butter and it’s still awesome 🙂
I made this to the tee, and mine did not look anything like the pic
Oh no! I am hoping yours turned out looking better 🙂 Hopefully you liked the taste?
Oooooops! Just found it!! Sorry. Baby brain! 🙂
No worries! I have been there! 🙂
Looks yummy! At what temperature do you cook the chicken? It’s not indicated in the recipe. Thanks!
I just tried this recipe on chicken nuggets as well as Mexican gulf shrimp. The chicken nuggets taste very similar to KFC. The shrimp has an Asian seasoning flavor and tastes really good covered in sweet/sour sauce. I am serving both chicken and shrimp with rice. It tastes like I bought it from an exclusive restaurant.
This recipe was so-so. I let my chicken breast chunks soak in buttermilk for 6 hours. The chicken flavor was ok but not KFC flavor quality. Also, after I coated the chicken and baked on a high temperature 15 mins one side then 7 mins the other side, to my surprise the coating slid off! Some pieces remained in tact, others did not fare as well. I worked hard in making this recipe with accompanying made from scratch side dishes and wanted my chicken to look just like the above photo. In the end, it was average. I think the key is don’t bake but fry that chicken! Doing research to perfect for next time. Thanks!
Looks great. I have been wanting KFC lately. I will have to give this a try.
What can I use to substitute the buttermilk?
The answer to that is actually in our substitutions page here.
Hio
I was wondering if I could do this recipe with whole pieces of legs and thighs. Also, how do you double-coat the chicken.
Sorry Jackie! I didn’t realize that we didn’t get back to you on this, you could definitely use legs and thighs. As far as double coating, you coat the chicken in the crumbs, then re-dip it in the buttermilk and coat it in the crumbs again.