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Magic Crispy Chicken

4.7

(39)

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What’s magic about this chicken? Is it that it’s crunchier than any baked chicken you’ve ever had before? Is it that it requires fewer than 10 ingredients? Or that it takes under an hour start to finish? Actually, the answer is All Of The Above.

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

1½

pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6)

1

large egg yolk

3

tablespoons plus ¼ cup mayonnaise

1

tablespoon plus ¼ cup Dijon mustard

1½

teaspoons Diamond Crystal or ¾ teaspoon Morton kosher salt, plus more

Freshly ground black pepper

½

cup extra-virgin olive oil

2

cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1

tablespoon honey

Pinch of cayenne pepper

3

tablespoons finely chopped chives

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Position a rack in center of oven; preheat to 450°. Place a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Place 1½ lb. chicken thighs on rack, then pat dry with paper towels.

    → The cooling rack is crispy food's best friend

    Step 2

    Whisk 1 egg yolk, 3 Tbsp. mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, 1½ tsp. salt, and several cranks of black pepper in a large bowl until smooth.

    Step 3

    Add chicken to bowl and turn pieces several times with tongs until evenly coated; set aside.

    Step 4

    Heat ½ cup oil in a medium skillet over medium. After about a minute, test oil to see if it’s hot enough by adding a pinch of panko. If tiny bubbles appear instantly around each bit of panko, you’re good to go.

    → Panko is the best thing to buy at the grocery store

    Step 5

    Add remaining panko and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until crumbs are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Make sure to get around the edges and incorporate darker crumbs that form at the perimeter.

    Step 6

    Remove skillet from heat and let cool several minutes. Place skillet on work surface next to bowl of chicken and wire rack.

    Step 7

    Using tongs, take 1 piece of chicken at a time and place in skillet. Using 1 hand, pat surrounding toasted panko over top of thigh, pressing firmly to adhere. Turn chicken and repeat on other side with more crumbs. Lightly shake off excess crumbs. Transfer chicken to wire rack.

    Step 8

    Repeat with remaining chicken pieces, transferring each to rack and spacing evenly apart. Discard any remaining panko.

    Step 9

    Transfer sheet to oven and bake chicken until fully cooked through, juices run clear when pierced with a knife, and breadcrumbs have gone a couple of shades past golden into deep brown territory, 15–20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

    Step 10

    Stir 1 Tbsp. honey, a pinch of cayenne, and remaining ¼ cup mayonnaise and ¼ cup Dijon mustard in a small bowl. Season with black pepper. Stir 3 Tbsp. chives into honey mustard sauce.

    Step 11

    Serve honey mustard sauce alongside chicken.

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Reviews (39)

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  • This is a dish we have at least every other week. We use less oil, and we use two large chicken breasts pounded flat and once it's done baking we slice to serve. Way less fussy than all of the chicken thighs.

    • JW

    • Keene, NH

    • 12/4/2023

  • Making this for the second time tonight. It was delicious - I use a lot less oil to brown the panko and it turns out fine. We make ours into crispy chicken sandwiches on brioche with either slaw or, as tonight, quick pickled red onion.

    • cheryluhl

    • Iowa

    • 3/26/2023

  • Tried the panko at 390 degrees sprayed with oil and I couldn't get it to brown. Ended up frying the panko in oil. Did not think it was too greasy. Prefrying the panko is genius because I have had problems with other oven baked "fried" recipes where the panko was still pretty pale at the end of the cook time. Here is was appealingly brown and crispy. Great recipe, will be doing it this way from now on!

    • coffeespoon

    • 11/14/2022

  • This is an excellent and incredibly easy crowd-pleaser. Use whatever cut you like; we use skinless/boneless thighs because they are so forgiving.

    • xparxy

    • Pittsburgh

    • 9/16/2022

  • This chicken is great. As one reviewer suggested, we toasted the panko on a pan in the oven at 390F with just a bit of spray oil. Made it way less greasy than the first time we made it. Also, we marinated the chicken in pickle juice for an hour or so and then otherwise followed the recipe exactly. This made the chicken something special! My kids loved the pickled magic crispy chicken!

    • Lisa T

    • Calgary, Alberta

    • 10/16/2021

  • Very tasty with great texture and easy to make. I've made this recipe a couple of times now without significant alteration. I found that the chicken needs longer than 20 minutes of cooking time though. I recommend temping the thighs.

    • Paul B

    • Chicago, IL

    • 1/19/2021

  • This recipe was on Facebook 6 months ago from Recipetineats. She crisps the panko by spreading in a cookie sheet, spray with cooking spray, and bake at 390 degrees (she’s Australian) for about 3 minutes. Less greasy and quite tasty.

    • Much mom

    • Michigan

    • 1/9/2021