Who doesn’t like breaded chicken? We have some in our family that have Celiac Disease or are gluten intolerant. It becomes a challenge when thinking of making one meal that everyone can enjoy. Normally great tasting GF main meals are easier to come up with compared to desserts and breads. However, I have yet to find a GF bread that tastes good and I was on a quest for making a breaded chicken.
What I discovered is that you don’t need GF bread to bread chicken! Here is my GF version of breading that is delicious and easy to make with a couple of simple ingredients. Those who are not gluten intolerant will not know the difference and those who are, will appreciate being able to enjoy what everyone else is.
Here’s how to get stated:
2 Chicken Breasts (whole or sliced for chicken fingers)
1 cup of GF crackers crumbs (I use Harvest Stone Original)
1 Egg (mix with 1 Tbsp of water)
1/4 cup Cornstarch (more if needed)
2 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt & Pepper
2 – 3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Make crumbs by grinding up the crackers in a food processor.
Divide cornstarch, egg, and cracker crumbs into 3 individual bowls or plates.
Mix the Mayonnaise and mustard together and spread evenly over both sides of the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Start with coating each breast with cornstarch then dip in the egg mixture followed with the cracker crumbs.
Fry in medium heated oil for a few minutes on each side just until lightly browned.
Remove from the frying pan, put on a parchment/foil lined pan or cookie sheet. Cook in a 350 F oven for approximately 30 minutes.
Tips:
Slightly flatten the chicken breasts before breading. I find that this step adds to tenderizing the chicken.
If you desire chicken fingers or nuggets to serve as a meal or appetizers, just cut chicken breast into small pieces. Continue with the coating, frying and oven steps. The oven cooking time will be decreased, to about 20 minutes.
Change the mayonnaise and mustard to any other desired spread or sauce.
An alternative to making crumbs use a food processor is to put the crackers in a zip lock bag and use a rolling pin to get the desired crumb texture.
Try other types of GF cracker for the crumb coating. Gluten Free crackers are available in Gluten free sections as well as regular cracker sections in grocery stores, Walmart and Costco. Package labels will indicate that the product is Gluten Free.
My cupboards always have gluten free crackers. The Harvest Stone brand has a nice crunch, it tastes great on it own or with cheese and and a dip. Check out Costco, they sells large 2 pack boxes for a great price.
