Chicken breasts always make for a great entree, but coming up with new ways to make them can be challenging. If you’re an adventurous cook, you may have already tried variations on breading including salty potato chips, crushed almonds, or even boxed cereal.
But there’s one tasty breading recipe that’s a little more outside the box, and it shares a common ingredient with s’mores. That’s right, we’re talking about graham cracker-crusted chicken. Trust us, it’s delicious!
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Like other breading recipes, the chicken is smothered in flour and dipped in lightly-beaten eggs before being coated in crushed graham crackers. But this graham cracker breading shines with a distinctively deep and nutty flavor and an addictive delicate crunch.
In addition, depending on the brand of graham cracker you choose, your chicken may have a slightly honeyed sweetness or a bit of heat from cinnamon or cloves. Regardless of which brand you go with, this chicken dish is bound to be filled with rich flavors you’ll want to make again and again.
Check out this easy-to-make recipe from Real Simple if you want to try it for yourself.
Ingredients
- 1 cup graham crackers, finely crushed (works out to roughly 6 graham cracker “sheets”)
- 2 pounds chicken breast tenders
- 1 cup pretzels, finely crushed
- 3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
- ¾ tsp basil, dried
- ¾ tsp marjoram, dried
- ½ tsp ginger, dried
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt, divided
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Combine graham crackers, pretzels, basil, marjoram, ginger, and ½ teaspoon of salt in a food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs form. Set aside in a shallow bowl.
- Place the flour in a second shallow bowl and the beaten egg whites in a third shallow bowl.
- Dry the chicken using a paper towel, then season with pepper and the remaining teaspoon of salt.
- Lightly coat each chicken tender with flour and shake off the excess. After dipping the chicken in egg whites, dredge in the seasoned graham cracker mixture. Continue coating all chicken tenders.
- To finish, spray each tender with a light layer of cooking spray on both sides (this will help the breading stick and make it crispier), then arrange them on a rimmed baking sheet and place them in the oven.
- Bake until the chicken tenders are golden brown, about 16 to 18 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F, turning once halfway through baking time.
You can serve these finger-licking good chicken tenders with any sauce of your choice. We personally prefer honey mustard to complement the salty-sweet flavor or hot sauce to give these melt-in-your-mouth tenders a little extra kick!
