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Oven Fried Chicken Thighs are a family favorite dinner recipe that your family will love too. Below is the complete recipe!
This is my very favorite Fried Chicken recipe. The chicken has a delicious breading on the outside that bakes to perfection. It is so good that I bet it will quickly become one of your favorites too!
Ingredients You'll Need to Make this Recipe:
Some links may be to similar items when exact items couldn't be found online.
- 1 beaten egg
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ cup finely crushed saltine crackers (about 1 sleeve)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry ranch seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 2 ½ - 3 pounds chicken thighs
- spray butter
Oven Fried Chicken Thighs Recipe:
Chicken thighs are my favorite to use with this recipe, but any chicken pieces will work.
In a small bowl combine the egg and the milk.
Crush the crackers into crumbs. I use my Ninja Blender
I crush a half sleeve of saltine crackers and a half sleeve of ritz crackers. This gives the breading a really good flavor. You can use breadcrumbs as well but the crackers give it a bit more of a crunchy breading.
After the crackers are crushed, add all of the spices into the Ninja and give it one more mix.
Pour the breading mixture into a separate bowl.
Remove the skin from the chicken.
Normally, we love chicken skin, but we have tried leaving the skin on with this recipe and it is better without it. The breading really is good enough that you don't need the skin for flavor.
Dip the chicken pieces, one at a time, into the egg mixture and then the crumb mixture.
Place the breaded chicken pieces into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Give each piece a couple squirts of the spray butter.
If you don't have spray butter you can melt about 2 tablespoons and pour over the top of the pieces. The butter gives a little bit of moisture and flavor while cooking. I have noticed the spray butter keeps the breading a little drier while the butter keeps in wetter, so it really is just a matter of preference.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 60 minutes or until chicken pieces are cooked through and no longer pink. Do not turn the chicken while Baking. When finished they come out golden brown and looking oh so delicious.
Load it up on a plate with a yummy side or two and listen to the lip smacking and yum noises as everyone eats. The chicken is moist and the breading has great flavor.
Our Baking Essential List:
- For baking casseroles, we use Glass Baking Dishes. I especially like the dishes with lids so leftovers can be transferred straight to the fridge.
- Silicone Kitchenware is my favorite because they don't scratch my cookware and is easy to clean!
- A Glass Cutting Board is a must to prepare all of those ingredients. We even keep ours on our counter at all times.
- This Knife Set will also become your favorite! They cut beautifully, and with the hollow design of the knife, food doesn't stick to the blade.
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Karen Goodman
This looks really great. I don't keep crackers in the house, but I bet this would be great with the Panko bread crumbs I finally bought to try but have never used. Maybe I'll go buy some chicken and make this over the weekend. Thanks!
Katie
I would love to hear how it goes using Panko. That is a great suggestion!
Karen Goodman
I made your chicken tonight using Panko bread crumbs. It turned out great! I will eventually blog the recipe...I tweaked a few things, and will link back to you as the original recipe. Thanks for a recipe that I will definitely be making again.
Katie
Oh good! I am so glad that you liked it. I am excited to see your changes and give them a try myself.
Nicole
Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful Easter!
Julie V.
My husband would love this. I've tried some other recipes, but had trouble getting the bottoms crispy--they were soggy. Do you have any special tricks before I try it? I think the other recipe had me using cornflakes, so I'll try the crackers and see how it goes.
I use my Ninja for so many things. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who uses it a lot.
Katie
I think by using the spray butter the bottom doesn't really get that soggy. It isn't as crunchy as the top, but the breading isn't mushy at all. I would love to hear what you think using cornflakes. That is a great modification.
Marti
Yummy! I love bread chicken dinners! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe with us! Pinned. 🙂
Ashley @ LeavingTheRut
Looks great!! Oven fried chicken is one of my favorites, can't wait to give this one a try!
Rondell
I'm pinning this, I have been looking for a healthy breaded chicken that was made in the oven, I know my hubs will love this!
Ali
Thanks for sharing this great recipe. I'm definitely going to try it out. It looks delicious.
Ali xx
Nancy
I made this chicken tonight for dinner and it was much enjoyed. I see from your photo in the directions that you mixed saltines and another buttery cracker together. Next time I will mix them half and half and maybe increase the ranch dressing mix just a tad. This chicken made a great meal tonight. I served it along with some creamed kale, sliced tomatoes and deviled eggs.
Nancy : )
Kathy D
Delicious! I used a combination of Saltines and Ritz. I sprayed the outside of the chicken with Pam. It really created a crsipy and yummy crust on the chicken. The chicken was nice and tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. I'm putting this recipe into my Best of 2015 cookbook. Thank you!
Ashley
Hi there! Visiting from Treasure Box Tuesday. This looks so yummy and crispy! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! Pinned!
Sandra
I have crackers that need to be used before they get stale and this is the perfect recipe for them!
Mikekey
Great oven fried chicken. I solved the "soggy bottom" problem another reader had by using a wire rack in the bottom of my baking dish, which keeps the thighs from sitting in the fat.
Katie
That is a great tip! Thanks Mikekey.
Patricia Potts
I scaled back for 2 serves using 4 chicken thighs bone in and removed the skin and excess fat, I had planned on using jatz crackers which are very similar to ritz but unfortunately a 2 legged gremlin had gobbled them all up so used brown rice crackers and with the seasonings they worked out great though I did spray them with extra virgin olive oil but the end result was beautiful moist crispy chicken, thank you for a wonderful recipe, made for Best of 2015 and recommended by LifeIsGood.
Katie
Thank you Patricia, I am so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for the idea on substitutions.
Vickie
This was pretty good. I didn't taste the ranch flavoring, so maybe next time I'll double that ingredient.