Crispy Buffalo Chicken Fingers

If I haven’t already mentioned it, I really hate cooking chicken. I can never seem to get it right. I’m always afraid of it being undercooked, and thus I almost always overcook it. I recently invested in a meat thermometer, but that’s only given me more troubles. Especially now that I have a convection oven, I’m still learning how to cook one of the simplest dishes - plain old chicken breast. Anyone have any tips on cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts? I need help!

Well, I finally figured out a way to cook chicken that is tasty, juicy, and fairly easy. I cooked up a couple of breasts the other day and sent them with my boyfriend to work for lunch this week.

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (as much as you’d like to cook)
• 1-2 cups panko breadcrumbs; enough to coat all of chicken
• 1/2 grated parmesan or other aged cheese
• 1-2 eggs, beaten
• a few good glugs of Frank’s Red Hot (I seriously need to start buying this stuff in bulk)
• garlic salt
• crushed red pepper
• chili powder
• black pepper

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Make sure you set everything up before you get the chicken out. In a shallow bowl, mix panko, cheese, and seasonings. Make the mixture as mild or as spicy as you’d like.
• In another bowl, beat eggs and Frank’s Red Hot
• Clean chicken and cut into thin, tender-sized pieces. The smaller they are, the faster they’ll cook.
• Pat chicken dry with paper towel, dip in egg mixture, and let excess liquid fall off.
• Now roll the chicken in the panko mixture to coat. You can also place the breadcrumbs in a large freezer bag and shake chicken in the bag to coat.
• Place chicken pieces on a lightly greased, shallow baking pan, in a single layer. I used two pants for the two breasts.
• Place pan(s) in oven and cook for 30-40 minutes, until cooked thoroughly. I don’t really know how long this takes in a regular oven anymore, but in my convection oven, it usually takes 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

These came out nice and crunch, spicy, and delicious. I used them to make sandwiches (topped with a mixture of Greek yogurt and Frank’s Red Hot), but you could use them in a salad or pizza as well!

Has anyone made chicken fingers like this before? Who has some quick, easy chicken breast recipes or advice on cooking chicken they’d like to share?