Italian Breaded Chicken, Corn on the Cob and Garlic Bread
(Because apparently I had a thing for brown and yellow on that day)
Hello, and welcome to another segment of
My wife is not the biggest fan of red meat. Actually I don't think I've ever witnessed her eating beef at all. As such, I've had to become more accustomed to cooking with chicken, turkey and other meats. This isn't really a problem because who doesn't love some good chicken?
If you are looking for a way to spruce up your dinnertime with a simple Italian chicken recipe then I've got the perfect thing for you! I chose to pair my chicken with garlic bread and corn on the cob because I just felt like doing that this time. Feel free to substitute your own vegetables and sides as you see fit.
Gather your ingredients and tools
- 1-2 Thawed Chicken Breasts (Boneless Skinless)
- Italian Style Bread Crumbs
- Olive Oil
- Cutting Board
- Knife or Paring Knife
- Basting Brush
- Small Cup for Oil
- Standard Bowl
- Baking Pan
- Oven Mitt(s)
- Aluminum Foil
- Cooking Spray
The Chicken
1. Clean Up Your Chicken Breasts
Many times chicken breasts will have a large bloody spot or a big chunk of fat on them somewhere. While this stuff is ok to eat, it's not the most savory of things in the world. Placing your chicken on the cutting board, turn them over and examine all sides to see if there are any blood spots or chunks of fat. With your knife, cut out any of these things you wish so that your chicken looks nice and appetizing to you.
2. Prepare the Oil
In your small cup, our out a small amount of Olive Oil and place it near your chicken. There's no exact amount but start off small and add extra if needed later because once it's in the bowl it's gone.
3. Brush the Oil on the Chicken
Simply dip your basting brush into the olive oil and cover every single inch of the chicken breasts. The olive oil will not only keep the meat tender and not allow it to dry out, but it will also allow the breadcrumbs to stick.
4. Prepare the Bread Crumbs
Get out a standard bowl. I am simply using a cereal bowl from the cabinet. Pour a fair amount of Italian Style Bread Crumbs into the bowl. I wouldn't put too much in there because once the bread crumbs touch the raw chicken it can't go back into the container.
5. Prepare Your Baking Pan and Preheat Oven.
Take a Baking Pan and cover it in aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is cheap and if you use it on your baking pans then you don't need to wash them quite as often! Spray a very light layer of cooking spray on the baking pan so that your chicken will not stick. Again please spray a very light layer, I used too much in the picture above. Go ahead and Preheat your oven to 350°F.
6. Apply the Bread Crumbs
Pick up one chicken breast at a time and place it into the bread crumb bowl. Roll the chicken around and ensure that every bit of chicken is covered in bread crumbs. No raw chicken should be visible.
7. Bake the Chicken for 25 Minutes
Place your chicken breasts on the baking pan and bake them for 25 minutes.
7.5 (Optional). Check that your Chicken has baked properly
If you have not baked chicken many times before you may want to take a brief moment to assure yourself that you are doing it right. Once your 25 minutes are up you can remove the chicken and cut the thickest part with a knife parting the meat. The insides should be a mostly white color in contrast to the deep pink it was before. Your chicken should be white colored like the picture above. If you are serving this to someone at home don't worry about cutting the meat because I'm sure your guests would rather have chicken that you KNOW is fully cooked than something that looks pretty.
8. Sprinkle with Shredded Mozzarella Cheese and Bake
Open a package of shredded Mozzarella and spread however much you wish to add on the top of each chicken breast. Return the chicken to the oven and bake for 5 additional minutes. Once this is done your chicken is ready to eat.
9. Choose and prepare your sides
This time I decided to go with some simple garlic Texas Toast and Sweet Corn on the Cob. There are cooking directions on the bag/box just simply follow those and you should be doing good. The hardest part is timing out everything especially if you plan on boiling the corn because quite often it can take longer than expected to get the water to a boiling point first. I'd start boiling the water a good 12-14 minutes before the chicken is completely ready to make sure you have plenty of time for your corn.
10. Enjoy Your Meal (and maybe add something)
Serve and enjoy! If you want to add something extra to the dish you can get a small jar of pizza/spaghetti sauce and warm it up. Once it's warm you can make a thin bed of sauce on the plate for you to place your Italian chicken on. You could even drizzle a small amount of that sauce on top of the chicken as well. The dish doesn't need it but it would add some color and a different flavor.
Hopefully this is something you and your family enjoy. If you have any alterations you would make or have made to this recipe please let me know because I'm always trying to make my cooking better.
This is Ghost fading into the darkness.
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