Krispie Baked Chicken is a healthy, 21 Day Fix approved substitute for Fried Chicken! It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and totally kid friendly!
Confession #108 – Back in my single days, I took a cooking class with a friend of mine through an adult evening class at a local high school.
I’m pretty sure we thought we would be learning how to make fancy gourmet dishes to make for our then boyfriends.
Gourmet? Not so much.
But I will credit that class with introducing me to Spaghetti Squash.
Oh – and Rice Krispie Chicken, which became a staple meal for both my friend and myself.
What’s Rice Krispie Chicken, you say?
It’s exactly how it sounds. It’s chicken. With Rice Krispies. Exactly the kind of thing you expect to learn in a cooking class, right?
Anyway , fast forward many years and a couple kids later, my husband (the boyfriend I referenced above) accidentally grabbed chicken tenderloins from the store instead of boneless breasts, and once I stopped being annoyed with this, I remembered the old recipe for Rice Krispie Chicken and decided it was time to Fix it!
It really is so simple, and it was very easy to make FIX friendly. We no longer buy Rice Krispies because they are not gluten-free, but I did use my favorite Brown Rice Cereal
, the same one that I use for my 21 Day Fix Granola. It’s gluten-free and organic, and my kids love eating it the same way I used to love the original snap, crackle, pop!
And to further Fix the dish, instead of dipping it in butter, I used egg and my husband couldn’t tell the difference. In fact, he kept saying how delicious it was. My kids liked it, too!
It would be fun to play around with seasonings and spices, too! Like a buffalo version of this would be awesome, and perfect with the big game coming up.
If you are craving fried chicken, this just might do the trick!
21 Day Fix Krispie Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken tenderloins
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 2 cups brown rice cereal can sub GF or whole wheat panko
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Sprinkle pepper
- Olive oil cooking spray
Instructions
Oven
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place rice cereal in a bag along with spices. Using a rolling pin (or your hands) crush cereal a bit, leaving some larger pieces in tact. Place cereal mixture in a bowl.
- Mix egg and egg white together. Dip chicken pieces first in the egg, then in the rice cereal mixture.
- Place breaded chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Before baking, spray both sides of chicken with olive oil spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until juices run clear.
Air Fryer
- Place rice cereal in a bag along with spices. Using a rolling pin (or your hands) crush cereal a bit, leaving some larger pieces in tact. Place cereal mixture in a bowl.
- Preheat your Air Fryer to 390.
- Mix egg and egg white together. Dip chicken pieces first in the egg, then in the rice cereal mixture.
- Place breaded chicken in the basket of the Air Fryer in batches - I usually can fit 4 at a time in mine. If you have a larger air fryer, you can probably fit the whole pound. Spray the top side with olive oil spray.
- Cook for ten minutes, then flip the chicken and spray that side with olive oil spray. Cook for an additional 8-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Notes
Nutrition
Janis says
Hi Nancy! Love the chicken recipe was super easy to make! I follow the whole instructions, but I think it needs a little bit more salt. Do you suggest maybe putting a little salt on the tenderloins after putting them in the egg mix? I am new at cooking so not so savvy on how to improve this problem. Thanks
Nancylynn says
Sure! Or you could add a little bit more salt to the cereal mixture. So glad you loved it!
Racheal says
salt is one of the few spices you can add to taste after cooking. I rarely use salt at all unless I’m boiling noodles or rice and tomato based recipes. I feel everyone has their own tolerance on how salty they like things so I rather leave it to the individual. Now with saying that pepper and most other spices I use during cooking process. One of my favorite spice mixes is Vegatable melody from Club House think that would be amazing in this recipe. Some mixed spices also come with some salt content is the other reason I use salt sparingly
Nancylynn says
Thanks, Racheal!
Faith says
We live in a country that does not have the brown rice cereal or panko bread crumbs is there something else I can use to substitute? It doesn’t have to be gluten free for us but trying to stick to the 21 day fix. And thank you for sharing all these wonderful recipes for free we are trying to eat healthier as a family but don’t have quite the choices people have in America plus we have 7 kids so we were trying to find real food and that didn’t take so much prep. Just wanted to thank you for sharing and having it so easy to double or triple the recipes.
Nancylynn says
Hi! These are actually really good with crushed up cornflakes!
Alicia says
Hi,
Would the brown rice cereal be considered a yellow and the chicken a red for the 21 day fix containers? Thank you!
Nancylynn says
Yes! The container count is in the recipe card with this info!
Christina says
Can I try this recipe with one of the Chex cereals?
Nancylynn says
yes!!
Kim says
Where do you find Brown Rice cereal at?
Nancylynn says
In the Gluten Free section of my grocery store!
Naomi says
These were amazing!!!!!
Nancylynn says
I am SOOOO happy to hear it!
Christine says
I just wanna put this out there for any celiacs. This recipe is NOT GLUTEN FREE as it contains rice crispies which the company will tell you themselves contains barely from the malt used to make them.as to the well intentioned lady who wrote this… please remove the “gluten free” from the heading as this can cause intestinal damage to those who have celiacs disease if they eat this thinking it is safe.
Nancylynn says
I use Brown Rice Cereal – and I include the brand information in the recipe – that is certified Gluten Free. I do not use regular Rice Krispies. My son cannot have gluten and I take this very seriously. Thank you for your concern.
Sandra says
Best chicken I’ve made yet. I love it. This is the 2nd time I’ve made it
Nancylynn says
Awesome!!!! <3 <3 <3
Amber Marie says
I have been looking for about a year now for a fake fried chicken recipe and this is spot on. Thanks for sharing such a great finding with us! I added a few gold fish crushed up thrown in to three breast just to try. Amezeballsss dinner for the hubby and I!
Nancylynn says
Yay, Amber Marie! I am so happy to hear that!
Lelly says
Made this tonight and honestly was not expecting it to be that great. Kids were making fun of me all day for using rice cereal for chicken. Just served it and we were shocked. I have not had fried chicken in years and all attempts have been awful. This was amazing!!!!! Texture was spot on, I did have to put it on broil few minutes after cooking and I added some extra seasonings from. my grandmas fried chicken recipe :). This is now in my family favorites thank you so much !!! This will probably be a weekly meal :).
Nancylynn says
This is SO GREAT, Lelly! I know – it sounds crazy, but it works! Thanks for trusting me with your dinner…means the world! <3 <3
Amy says
Can I do chicken breast instead?
Nancylynn says
Yes!
Crystal Triche says
Does this heat up well the next day in the microwave?
Nancylynn says
I don’t like the taste of chicken in the microwave, but I am sure it would be fine on low. A toaster oven or oven would be better.
Gail says
Never use a microwave it dries out the food then it comes out like rubber even if you warm it up for leftovers I agree get a toaster oven! They work great even for frozen gluten free pizza
Robin says
Could I use panko instead of cereal?
Nancylynn says
yes!
Heidi says
Made this for dinner tonight- my kids devoured it! I’ll definitely have to make it again!
Nancylynn says
Oh that’s SO awesome to hear!!! Go Momma!!!
Rachel says
How does one serving of this recipe fit in to the 21 day fix containers.
Would it be 1red 1yellow and 1blue? thanks
Lindsay says
I’m wondering the same thing. I am making this tonight and we are on day 4 of the 21DF. I don’t want to start messing up now. It is 1 red, 1 yellow?
Thank you!
Nancylynn says
Yes! Divide the chicken into 4 equal servings and this is 1 yellow and 1 red each!
Lorraine BanathYasharahla says
Do you spray both sides of chicken after 25 mins in oven at 400.Then put it back in the oven to cook how much longer?
Nancylynn says
I spray both sides once before baking 🙂
Brittany says
How many servings does this recipe make? What is considered one serving? Thanks!!
Nancylynn says
I usually use a pound of meat and I get 4 servings out of it…
Lauren Weinmann says
Funny story – I also signed up for a cooking class at a local High school when I first moved in with Mark lol! Now you can probably teach one of those classes!
Nancylynn says
I actually went through Main Line School night!! SO Funny! And, yes – someday that would be fun!