Incredibly crispy baked chicken, coated in ranch dressing and rolled in crunchy seasoned cornflakes! Easy to make, and customize!
So I have to know… are you a ranch dressing fan? I live in a family of ranch dressing LOVERS, and I don’t actually care for it. I know right… a Midwesterner… who doesn’t like ranch?! I’m more of an Italian or French dressing person. BUT, when I was testing this recipe, which I basically created out of sheer determination to get the kids to eat something I made for dinner, I actually liked the flavor here!
This isn’t your standard cornflake baked chicken recipe, I promise. The chicken is coated in ranch dressing, then pressed into a cornflake mixture that’s spiced up so it’s full of crunchy flavor.
HOW DO YOU MAKE CORNFLAKE CHICKEN?
It’s actually one of my favorite method for breading chicken breasts, because it’s just two steps. Just dip the chicken into ranch dressing and then directly into a bowl full of crushed cornflakes. After that it’s time to bake them until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 165 F degrees.
CAN YOU MAKE CORNFLAKE BAKED CHICKEN TENDERS?
Absolutely! Or even chicken nuggets! Use the same method for breading, and just bake for less time 🙂 For chicken tenders, bake for about 15 minutes, and for nuggets, bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.
WHAT IF YOU’RE NOT A RANCH DRESSING FAN?
No worries there… you can make a similar recipe by using 1 cup of mayonnaise mixed with a little grated parmesan cheese and pepper. Use the same breading method and recipe and bake as directed.
IS CORNFLAKE BAKED CHICKEN HEALTHY?
Well technically no… since the ranch dressing isn’t the healthiest… but these tenders are baked instead of fried. That helps reduce the fat and calories without sacrificing any of the tasty crunch-factor of traditional fried chicken.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CORNFLAKE BAKED CHICKEN?
Here are a few of our favorites:
- Stick of Butter Rice
- Crispy Cheesy Broccoli
- Low Carb Cheesy Brussels Sprouts Bake
- Buttery Crockpot Ranch Mushrooms
- Slow Cooker Roasted Carrots
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING CORNFLAKE BAKED CHICKEN:
- Trim the chicken breasts. In addition to trimming off the extra fat, I like to trim off the flap of chicken tender that’s attached to the back of the breast. This not only gives you bonus chicken tenders (yay!!), it makes the chicken breasts all roughly the same size, so they’ll bake evenly.
- For more even coverage when breading, use a mix of finely and coarsely crushed cornflakes. My grocery store actually sold a box of crushed cornflakes that were similar in consistency to panko breadcrumbs. I use those and some cornflakes that I’ve put in a ziploc bag and crushed with my hands so they’re a little larger pieces.
- Use one hand for the ranch dressing dipping, and the other hand for the cornflakes. This helps you not “bread” your fingers and end up with a big mess to clean. Better yet, wear disposable gloves!
- Go crazy with the dipping sauces! We usually like bbq sauce, but honey mustard, ranch, or something with a little spice to it would be great too.
SHOP THE RECIPE:
- 9×13″ baking dish – I love the durability of this dish.
- Cornflake crumbs – makes the breading process even easier!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- 3 cups crushed cornflakes
- 1 1/2 Tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish or rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
- In a shallow bowl, add ranch dressing. In a separate shallow bowl, add cornflakes, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika and salt and pepper.
- Dip chicken in ranch dressing, shaking off any excess, then dip in cornflake mixture. I pat the cornflake crumbs into the chicken to make sure they're well coated.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until juices run clear and a meat thermometer reads 165 F degrees.
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Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Tamara says
Wonderful recipe for our whole family – we made it for our g daughter’s 9th birthday dinner. She loves fried chicken and ranch and this recipe was a winner!
Felt it was healthier than frying. Very tasty and crunchy.