You won’t be disappointed by this recipe! Made using a simple technique, this chicken gets so crispy in the oven – it’s hard to believe it isn’t deep fried!
My family has a complete and utter love affair with oven fried everything. The kids will eat homemade chicken nuggets any day of the week, and the husband considers himself the luckiest guy in the world whenever I make my oven fried fish.
I won’t lie – breading is probably my least favorite cooking technique, right next to rolling an endless pile of homemade meatballs… Either way, this chicken comes out supremely delicious. Is it a little tedious to make? You bet. Worth every second spent in the kitchen? Oh, but yes.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Chicken: I used chicken breast cut up into pieces, but chicken tenders work just as well. This also works with other chicken pieces – many readers have reported great success using wings, drumsticks or even thighs. Some cuts will take longer in the oven (especially bone-in thighs). Make sure to check with a food thermometer to fully cook the chicken (it should reach an internal temperature of 165°F according to this governmental safe minimum cooking temperature chart).
- Buttermilk: Make an easy substitute by using regular milk mixed with 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes, then use in the recipe.
- Breadcrumbs: I just use regular plain breadcrumbs, but Panko is also great.
- Salt: The amount of salt needed depends a lot on your specific salt. Whenever I use a natural sea salt, I’ve come to notice it’s not very “salty” compared to table salt. If you’re in doubt, make the recipe with less salt the first time and see if you need to increase it in the future. You can always season the chicken once it’s cooked, but you can’t take away too much salt.
- Flour: I know from a few readers who have successfully made this recipe gluten free with gluten free flour (and gluten free breadcrumbs).
How to make buttermilk oven fried chicken – step by step
The first step is to marinate the chicken. To do this, you need to combine all of the marinade ingredients (1) in a bowl (2). Then add the chicken, stir well (3) and chill for at least one hour and up to overnight (4).
Once the chicken is ready, you need to prepare the breading ingredients. All of the dry breading ingredients are mixed in a large dish (5), and the egg wash in a medium bowl (6).
Shake any excess marinade off the chicken, then thinly coat it with the dry breading mix (7). Toss the coated chicken in the egg wash (8). Finally, dredge each chicken piece through the dry mix again, thickly coating the chicken this time (9).
Make sure to press the breading on the chicken at this point, or it will fall off during baking!
Once all of the chicken is breaded (10), melt butter on a preheated dark roasting pan. Spread out the chicken pieces on the pan (11) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Then gently release from the pan with a spatula, flip and finish baking (12).
You can finish the chicken under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp it up even more, if you like! I don’t always bother, but it adds a little extra delicious finishing touch.
Recipe tips
Breading tips
- Make sure to use separate dishes for the dry breading ingredients and the wet breading ingredients as instructed in the recipe, do not mix them together.
- I use large enough dishes to hold about ⅓ of the chicken at a time. This way I can toss several chicken pieces in the first dry coating and in the egg wash at a time. Then I do the final dry coating piece by piece – still tedious, but a little faster.
- Be sure to firmly press on the final coating, in order for it to stick to the chicken during baking.
What kind of pan to use
It’s very important to use the right kind of pan for this recipe. It needs to have the following features:
- It needs to be dark to better reflect heat back onto the chicken
- It has to have a rim to hold in the melted butter
- It needs to be preheated in the oven before placing the chicken on top
Preheating the pan is a VERY important step – I do it with everything I want to get crispy in the oven, from oven fried chicken to homemade chicken nuggets to oven fried shrimp and even baked potato wedges.
Baking tips
- Make sure to preheat the pan and use enough butter – otherwise the chicken will not crisp up as much as it should.
- Be careful when you flip the chicken. Slide a spatula underneath each piece to make sure the breading doesn’t rip off.
Side dish ideas
Wondering what to serve with your oven fried chicken? We enjoy it with mashed potatoes or slow cooker mac and cheese – or baked mac and cheese if I forgot to set the crockpot version!
We love them dipped in honey mustard or a homemade ranch dip. And plenty of coleslaw! Other side dishes we enjoy are baked beans, sautéed green beans or simple frozen peas.
Oh and P.S: Here’s how to reheat any leftovers so they crisp up again!
More oven fried chicken recipes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Truly Crispy Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken
Recipe details
Equipment
- roasting pan (dark colored preferred)
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ lemon juice only
- 2 pounds chicken breast cut into strips (or use tenders)
For the dry coating:
- 1 ¼ cups white flour
- 4 tablespoon plain bread crumbs panko or regular both work
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tablespoon salt or less to taste
- 2-3 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the wet coating:
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
For the pan:
- ⅓ cup butter
Instructions
Prep the chicken:
- Marinate: Whisk together all ingredients for the marinade (except for the chicken) in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces, making sure they're all well coated. Cover and place in the fridge for one hour up to overnight. (If your'e short on time, simply place all the ingredients in a zip-loc bag and massage the chicken for a few minutes. Let it sit in the fridge for 10 minutes before using.)
Preheat oven and pan:
- Prep the pan and oven:Preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C). While the oven is preheating, place a dark, rimmed roasting or baking pan in the oven to heat up (more info in the post).
Bread the chicken:
- Mix the dry coating:Place all ingredients for the dry coating in a large bowl. Mix well.
- Mix the wet coating: To a separate bowl, add the eggs and ⅔ cup buttermilk. Whisk very well.
- Coat the chicken pieces: Shake off any excess marinade. Dredge the chicken through the flour mix, shaking off any excess. Dip in the egg mix, making sure the chicken is evenly covered. Dredge through the flour mix once more, making sure the chicken is evenly covered, shaking off any excess.
- Bake the chicken:
- Place butter and chicken on pan: Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven, using oven gloves. Melt the butter on it, then place the chicken pieces on top without overcrowding the pan.
- Bake: Bake for 10-12 minutes, carefully flip and bake for another 5-10 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken pieces are). Finish by broiling for a few minutes, until golden and crispy.
- Serve: The chicken will feel soft right as it comes out of the oven. Let it sit for 2 minutes before serving, it will crisp up. Don't let it sit for a long period of time before you eat it, or it will start turning soggy.
Notes
Nutrition
More recipe information
Check out our Oven Fried Chicken Breast Recipes collection for more ideas!
Diane says
This was easy to make and delicious. Baking in the oven kept my stove top clean.
Nora Rusev says
I appreciate this as well, about the stove staying clean. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, Diane!
Nouf says
It was really yummy ?
Ginger Culver says
These chicken tenders turned out delicious! I was a little confused with ingredients for the marinate as well as for the wet coating. I should have read the instructions a little better. My husband found the recipe. Thank you Nora.
Leah says
We loved this! It was perfect; one of my kiddos doesn’t like chicken and he went back for seconds.
Nora Rusev says
Haha, that’s like my oldest daughter with this recipe. So glad to hear, Leah!
Cyndi says
The chicken thighs that I used were moist and crispy. I felt the chicken was a bit too buttery. Next time I’ll cut down on the butter in the roasting pan.
Alexis says
Absolutely amazing!! I had some leftover buttermilk and needed to use it up, so I searched through Pinterest and found this. All of the ingredients are pantry staples, so I was so happy to see that I had everything I needed. The crispy breading is absolutely delicious! I will be making this all of the time!
Nora says
Your comment makes me so happy, Alexis! This is one of our favorite recipes – I’m always glad when others enjoy it, too. Thanks for your review, I appreciate your time.
Faz says
Dearest Nora
Thanks so much for an awesome recipe. Since we love spicy food, I added some chili powder to the chicken before marination.
My guests absolutely loved it are all proud owners of your recipes.
Wishing you all the best!
Best regards
Faz
Cape Town
South Africa
Michele says
Holy moly! This is dynamite , I just finished it. Made it for my mom and me. Hard to believe it’s oven baked. There were so many crispies! I followed recipe to the t. I’m so impressed, so thank you for this recipe.
Joy Chapman says
With 2 lbs of chicken tender strips and not crowding the pan, how many batches does it take to make it all?
Nora says
With a full sheet pan? I do it in 2. You could probably do 3 but I find that’s too much of a hassle. We sit down to eat the first batch while the second batch bakes, which works out perfectly fine!
Kim says
This recipe has me really curious, but I need an alternative to wheat. What would be a good substitute for the breadcrumbs?
Thanks for your help!
Nora says
Hi Kim, I’ve made this recipe with coarse cornmeal instead of the breadcrumbs and it was fine. You can also use unsweetened shredded coconut or crushed cornflakes. Hope that helps!
Jan says
Walmart sells gluten free bread crumbs and gluten free flour
Mark says
The absolute best oven fried chicken I’ve ever had! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Nora says
So glad to hear it, Mark!
Diana says
Oh my goodness!!! This was so yummy!! My family loved this chicken. This is one keeper for this family!! The chicken was so crispy a and crunchy!! It went well with my mashed cauliflower!! Thank you so much!!
Nora says
Glad to hear it, Diana. Thanks for your review – I appreciate it!
Ashley says
Planning on making this over the weekend! Question though, is the lemon juice simply for flavor and therefore something I can omit or is it serving as an extra acid that’s needed?
Nora says
Hi Ashley, you can leave out the lemon juice! Hope that helps!
Ashley says
Thank you!
Terrance says
Awesome! It’s everything I love about fried chicken. Minus the grease and the stomach ache afterwards. I love how the butter adds that delicious nutty taste as it browns with the chicken. Buttery crust is good on everything but I never imagined it with chicken. Thank you!
Nora says
This comment is making me so happy, Terrance! Glad the chicken turned out well for you, and thanks for taking the time to leave a review – I appreciate it!
Lori says
Made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for the awesome recipe! I did not change anything. Yum!
Nora says
Glad you enjoyed the chicken, Lori! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, I appreciate it.
Rochelle says
I like this recipe. It is easy to make. I didn’t follow it to the T, I added a little bit more spices and brown sugar in my flour mixture. The only thing I forgot to do was out the butter down first. I but it on top of the chicken. Simple mistake but a learning lesson.
Mk says
This was kind of wet and gloppy going into the oven, but OMG!! It wss so delicious!! My husband kids and their friends devoured it and commented on how they loved it. It was crispy and delicious. I used bonless thighs, small chicken breasts and drumsticks. It was sooooo good! I cooked it until it was very crispy. Thank you for the recipe!!
Krista says
This is now my go to recipe. I’ve also used buffalo ranch seasoning in the marinade/flour which is great for a change on chicken burgers! My tip for a newbie to this recipe is heed the advice to preheat your pan and I have found saving some butter to add half way through cooking seems to prevent sticking even better. MAKE. THIS. NOW.
Nora says
Krista, you are making my day with your comment! I love the idea of the seasoning, I HAVE to try that! And yes, I agree – everybody make this NOW 🙂
Rosa says
Thinking about making this tonight. Do you think a large cast iron pan will work ?
Nora says
Hi Rosa, I think that would work just fine! Just make sure you’re using enough butter so that the coating doesn’t stick. And as I don’t know how large your skillet is, just be careful so you don’t overcrowd the pan, or the chicken may get soggy. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Elizabeth says
This is an amazing recipe. I made one variation and only dipped it once in the breading mix (I don’t like a lot of bread). I tried it on cauliflower slabs as well and was also amazing. Thanks so much. Every other recipe I came across calls for corn flakes and I just could not do that.
Nora says
Elizabeth, thank you SO much for your recipe review! I’m glad you enjoy the chicken, and I love the suggestion with the cauliflower!
Kerry CISSNE says
I’m making this tonight. I had drumsticks so I need to adjust the time I think. Wow the instructions were so simple. Can’t wait to eat lol.
Nora says
Hope it turned out amazing, Kerry!
Susan says
Did you use bone in or boneless
Nora says
Hi Susan, I used boneless, but many readers have successfully made it with bone-in. So you can use whatever you like best!
Rebecca says
Making this tonight!
Nora says
Awesome Rebecca, let me know how you like it!
Phyllis B says
Great instructions for a great meal!
Phyllis B says
Excellent recipe, directions, and great taste!
Nora says
I’m so glad you liked it, Phyllis! And than you for taking the time to review the recipe – I appreciate it!