Clean Eating Nut Crusted Baked Chicken Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to get a good crust on chicken? ›

Whether you're roasting it in the oven or cooking it in a skillet on the stove, you want to start with high heat to get a nice crust going. On the stove, get some oil hot enough that it's almost smoking in a skillet, then sear your chicken, skin-side-down until it's nice and crisp.

The Winner: Poaching

"The healthiest way to cook chicken is to poach it," Lewis explains, "because you aren't introducing any other ingredient to the chicken other than the water it is boiled in." Similar to the way you'd poach an egg, all you'll need is the chicken you're using and some hot water.

Chicken breasts must be at room temperature before going in the pan as cold chicken can cook unevenly and tends to be tough. Allow the chicken breast to sit out for 20 minutes. That should do the trick.

“Put a little schmear of vegetable oil and because there is no water in it, the heat from the oven immediately begins to crisp up the skin and you don't end up with steam coming off the skin,” he says. Slow and steady when roasting.

Bake at a high temperature: When it comes to crispy chicken skin, you probably don't want to cook your food low and slow. Instead, cook it faster at a higher temperature.

Baking your chicken is a great weeknight dinner option, especially if you're trying to lose weight. In addition to being low in fat and calories, baked chicken is rich in important nutrients. Stir-fried chicken. Try stir-frying chicken with a bit of oil and your favorite veggies for a high fiber, protein-packed meal.

Poached Chicken

Poaching is great because it adds virtually no fat to your food, yet yields subtle flavour and moisture. To poach your chicken, add your ingredients (chicken and any other vegetables, aromatics, and spices you like) to a skillet or pot, and add a cooking liquid such as broth, wine, or coconut milk.

Darker cuts like the thigh and drumstick contain higher caloric content than lighter cuts like the breast. Keeping the skin or frying chicken will also add saturated fat. If you're switching out red meat for chicken, you'll want to stick with chicken breast, as it's the healthiest cut of the bird.

A rotisserie chicken is better than some of the other alternatives. Even with additives, a rotisserie chicken is a far healthier choice than a fast food run, says Allers. “It's still lower in fat and calories than fast food. It's serving its purpose – it's fast, but it can still help you create a balanced meal.

Can I eat chicken to lose belly fat? ›

Chicken helps lose overall body weight if consumed as a healthy and balanced diet. In the process, one can also lose belly fat. While eating chicken, remember to opt for lean chicken breast; it is a good source of protein with fewer calories.

Air fryers may be better for you than deep fryers, but they're only as healthy as the food you put inside. They won't magically remove the saturated fat from bacon or the trans fats from a bag of processed chicken wings. To reap the benefits, reach for better-for-you options like vegetables and lean proteins.

You can roast or bake anywhere between 325 and 450 degrees F. When roasting a whole chicken, a nice rule of them is to start at 400 to 425 degrees F and then turn the oven down to 350 after 15 minutes and cook until the internal temp of the chicken is 165 – 175 degrees F on an instant read thermometer.

Meat is not properly dry

If the meat is wet, it will make the flour soggy. In that case, breading will not stick properly and may fall off when deep frying.

Shake the flour mixture around so that it asborbs the liquid, this will help create small crunch bits that will later adhere when you dredge the chicken. Dredge the chicken and then return to the milk and then dredge again to get a thicker coating of flour.

Use Cornstarch or Rice Flour

Michael says that cornstarch or rice flour in combo with flour will give you the crunchiest batter. Even cake four will cook up crunchier than all-purpose flour because it doesn't have a high gluten level.