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Buttermilk Chicken

Served with slaw or potato salad, this chicken dinner will feel like an indoor picnic. Any leftover chicken will make a great school lunch.
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Buttermilk Baked Chicken

Love the taste of fried chicken, but not all the fat? Everyday Food editor Sarah Carey will show you how to make baked chicken that's as addictively crispy as fried for a lower-fat, but just as delicious, treat.

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    Everyday Food, March/April 2003
    • Prep Time 10 minutes
    • Total Time 50 minutes
    • Yield Serves 4
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    Ingredients

    • Vegetable oil, for baking sheet
    • 8 slices white bread
    • 1 cup buttermilk
    • 1 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce
    • Salt and pepper
    • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 1/2 ounces)
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    • 4 pounds chicken parts (preferably legs, thighs, and wings), rinsed and patted dry

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously rub a baking sheet with oil. In a food processor, pulse bread until it turns into coarse crumbs.

    2. In a large bowl, stir together buttermilk, hot-pepper sauce, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan, thyme, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

    3. Place the chicken in the buttermilk mixture, turning to coat evenly. Working with one piece at a time, remove chicken from liquid, letting excess drip back into bowl; dredge in the breadcrumb mixture, turning to coat evenly. Place coated chicken pieces on prepared baking sheet.

    4. Bake until chicken is golden brown, about 35 minutes.

    Cook's Note

    Any leftover chicken will make a great school lunch.

    Recipe Reviews

    Reviews (17)

    • warbel
      30 May, 2012

      Great!
      A little advice: when you dress the salad ,put the vinegar first, then the olive oil, otherwise oil stops wetting salad leafs by vinegar.

    • csmarks
      4 Jan, 2011

      Any suggestions on how to keep the breadcrumbs from clumping up? As I dipped more and more buttermilk soaked chicken into the breadcrumb mixture, they all clumped together and the last pieces did not get as good of coverage as the first.

    • freshatx
      29 May, 2010

      Love it! Probably the tastiest "fried" style chicken dish I have made. I went with dried oregano over thyme and some extra habanero based hot sauce. I also paired it with the carrot-cumin slaw, and blueberry crumb cake for desert.

      Great Food Fast has been very good to me!

    • umfazi
      20 Apr, 2010

      I added a bit of barbecue sauce (UK levi roots' reggae sauce) with the buttermilk and substituted chili flakes to hot pepper sauce, I also added more fresh parmesan cheeese and it was absolutely delicious!

    • joysonggirl
      10 Mar, 2009

      Easy and great tasting. I prepared the chicken ahead of time and kept it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it. My family loved it.

    • b4imim
      21 Jan, 2009

      Leave the chicken in the buttermilk mixture for at least one day. The chicken should be moist like when placed in a brine.

    • lillygirl67
      16 Dec, 2008

      ROFL on the buttermilk comment! Here in Alabama, buttermilk is also a staple and never considered anyone not knowing what it is!

    • HamNCheezNLuv
      12 Dec, 2008

      I'm from Georgia, so maybe my location has a lot to do with this, but I sincerely laughed out loud when she said "surprisingly there's no butter in buttermilk"...I thought everyone knew what buttermilk is. Here you can buy it by the gallon!

      I guess everything is exotic to someone. :)

    • majoan
      12 Dec, 2008

      Great cold . It was great to bring to a friend who is layed up in bed.

    • SUABELLA
      27 Aug, 2008

      My family and all my friends loved this recipe. I was so easy to make... Great recipe for the busy mom.

    • jilljo
      14 Aug, 2008

      I used drumsticks and thighs and took the skins off. I also tripled the thyme and added poultry seasoning and my kids and husband loved it. It's even better left over. Although I would say the prep time is more like 20 minutes. This is a great chicken recipe for the whole family.

    • Stefiann
      1 May, 2008

      This is my family's very favorite chicken recipe. My daughter LOVES it! Goes very well with the carrot cumin slaw.

    • menubia
      1 Apr, 2008

      Did not bake well at all. It also lacked flavor, despite the hot-pepper sauce. I would not bother with this recipe.

    • adelenne
      30 Mar, 2008

      I used plain yogurt instead of buttermilk ,and added caujun seasoning to it to marinate, before coating with breadcrumbs to bake. Taste great and my husband loves it.

    • menubia
      11 Mar, 2008

      Tried this recipe with chicken breasts hoping that the buttermilk would make them moist. Big mistake. Not the best tasting recipe, but will try next time with dark meat to see if the taste improves.

    • CourtneyFFox
      10 Feb, 2008

      really easy to make. I think the drumsticks turned out the best. Not the best chicken recipe I've tried on this site, but it is decent.

    • elainalani
      6 Feb, 2008

      Should have used skinless because my grandson said it was good but kind of greasy.

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