Looking for a quick and easy dinner idea that your kids will love? And it’s healthy, too? These cornflake chicken strips are sure to be a crowd-pleaser!
Babby’s Special Chicken
Decades before it was trendy, my grandmother Babby was an organic, natural health pioneer. She was growing her own rose hips for rosehip tea in the mountains of Colorado. Instead of enjoying typical desserts like chocolate chip cookies, her children got sesame seed candies or carob brownies. So not surprisingly, you didn’t see very much fried chicken in Babby’s house, but instead, they had equally delicious and crunchy baked cornflake chicken or its even more popular sister, Special K chicken! (FYI- they’re both exactly the same; the only difference comes from the type of cereal topping you use, but more on that later.)
Moist and tender with just the right amount of kick, this crispy chicken (and its various iterations over the last six decades) provides just the right amount of texture and kick to what could be an otherwise boring chicken dinner.
Babby and the Nelson family were enjoying this chicken in the 1960s.
Why We Still Love This Chicken Recipe 60 Years Later
First of all, it requires minimal prep time. Just dip the chicken in butter, roll it in cornflakes, and pop it in the oven. You’re good to go! Second, it’s incredibly versatile. You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts, or just roll drumsticks with the bone and skin in the cornflakes. Finally, especially when you have smaller skinless pieces of chicken breast, just stick them on a baking sheet, and you can bake them in under a half-hour.
Babby's Easy Cornflake Chicken
Equipment
- Ziploc bag
- Baking sheet or casserole dish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts Cut into strips. Can substitute other types of chicken.
- 2 1/2 cups cornflakes
- 1/4 cup butter Can substitute olive oil or coconut oil.
- salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put cornflakes in a large Ziploc bag and crush them. You can put them in the food processor if you want a finer texture.
- Cut the chicken breasts into strips.
- Melt the butter, and dip chicken strips into the butter.
- Put the buttered chicken strips into the cornflake bag, and shake around so all strips are covered with the cornflake mixture. If you have extra butter, you can pour it in the bag, too.
- Put cornflake chicken strips on the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Depending on how thin your strips are, you might want to check on them around 20 minutes to make sure they're not ready earlier.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Dipping Sauces
Most of the time, my kids will eat this chicken as-is, or maybe with a little salt and pepper. My husband and I usually like an extra sauce.
In the original version of this dish, Babby would use homemade cranberry sauce for her dip, which is a great way to bring the flavor of Thanksgiving into your home year-round.
My ultimate favorite sauce base is Mel Joulwan’s Paleo Mayo, especially when you make it with an immersion blender. You can add some honey or even a sweet peach jam to it if you want a sweet and sour honey mustard. I’ll add brown mustard to it if I want more of a tangy sauce. It’s also great mixed with curry if you want a sharper flavor.
Cornflake Chicken Sides
Originally this baked cornflake chicken recipe was served with a side of homemade cranberry sauce, green beans, broccoli, and rice.
In my house, we’re more likely to serve the chicken with rice, some type of dip, and cut up vegetable spears like carrots, peppers, or cucumbers.
If you want a healthier variation of the rice, opt for some riced cauliflower. Feeling a little more indulgent? Opt for a biscuit. This is a pretty versatile cornflake dish, so it tastes great with everything!
Cornflake Chicken Variations
While this recipe is classic Babby, there are lots of ways to mix it up. Babby’s favorite was Special K. My house prefers the lighter, crackly taste of Rice Krispies to the heartier taste of corn flakes. So we pretty much just talk about crispy chicken, rather than the cornflake variety.
For those wanting a different binding agent than butter, you can substitute eggs or just egg whites instead. We’ll often substitute olive oil or coconut oil for the butter.
While chicken strips or nuggets are especially easy for little guys to eat, any type of chicken works- chicken thighs are often a little bit richer and especially delicious. You could even dress a complete chicken in cornflakes if you really wanted to.
Make this recipe your own! And be sure to share your favorite chicken recipes with family and friends on your favorite FamilyApp!
Loved this delicious recipe! Babby certainly sounded like an incredible woman! I think next time I’m going to try it with Special K, just to see which one the family likes better.