Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs – Easy

There’s a lot to love about Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs. First up there’s hot crispy-crunchy, parmesan crusted golden panko crumbs, then moist and garlicky chicken that absolutely delivers in the flavour department.

Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs are super quick to prepare. This method dispenses with the old flour, egg and crumb steps that leave your hands all clumped up with a messy mix of flour, eggs and crumbs.

This is just the sort of chicken we love to prepare when we’re craving fried chicken without having to fry the chicken. 👍There’s no need for deep frying, less oil is used and there’s less waste and mess. Got to love that!

The secret is to bake the chicken in the oven with oil and butter. The chicken fries until it’s golden and there’s just enough garlic in the mix to perfume the chicken which we love.

Fried Chicken is just the sort of meal we love to make for its ease of preparation and hands free cooking apart from turning the chicken.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to heat up that oil and butter and get baking.

At a Glance This Is What You Need To Make Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs

Season Generously

Adding salt to the egg mixture, and then again in the crumb mix is key to eliminating blandness, then pumping up the flavour with a generous amount of garlic that you can really taste makes this fried chicken flavour really exceptional.

What Is The Secret To The Best Fried Chicken

Every single time our choice for making fried chicken is to use chicken thighs. It’s the secret cut to use, whereas chicken breast in our opinion simply delivers a dry mouthful as there’s no fat.

Thighs are arguably the tastiest part of the bird. The meat is tender, juicy, darker than breast, and full of flavour. Thighs are also incredibly economical, and widely available.

Can You Prepare Fried Chicken In Advance

Go right ahead and prepare this fried chicken up to 2 days in advance of cooking the chicken. You can choose to either marinade the thighs in the garlicky egg mixture up 2 days ahead and crumb the chicken just before baking.

Or marinade the chicken and pre crumb pieces and place onto a cake rack sitting on a tray and cover with plastic wrap.

Either way you should allow the chicken to come to room temperature before putting into the butter and oil mixture. The reason for this is the cold chicken will drop the oil and butters temperature, and the crumbs won’t get crispy.

What Is The Difference Between Panko and Breadcrumbs

Panko breadcrumbs have been used in Japanese cuisine for years and are now mainstream in Western cooking. They’re made from crustless white bread that is processed into fine slivers of crumbs, then dried.

Panko breadcrumbs have a dryer and flakier consistency rather than regular breadcrumbs resulting in a lighter coating.

Regular breadcrumbs are generally made from different breads with crusts and processed into a much finer crumb than panko.

How To Coat Chicken Thighs With Panko

Toss the panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley and salt together and spread out onto a baking sheet. Remove the chicken thighs one by one and try not to disturb the egg and garlic mixture already clinging to it.

Sit each thigh onto the crumb sheet and gently cover with the crumbs lightly pressing the crumbs to adhere to the thighs then turn them over and cover the other side.

How Long Do You Cook Panko Chicken In The Oven

All up your golden oven fried chicken thighs will take about forty five minutes which is mostly hands free.

Once your oven is preheated place the oil and butter into a shallow baking dish or half sheet pan. When the oil and butter is heated place chicken thighs in a single layer into the pan and baste the chicken with the oil and butter.

Pop the tray into the oven on a high shelf (say one shelf above the middle) and cook for 20 minutes. Remove chicken and turn the pieces over and return tray to the oven for a further 20 minutes.

Remove tray from oven and pour off the excess cooking liquid from the pan and return the pan to the oven for a further 5 minutes. Voila! Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs are ready.

Watch How To Make  Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs

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What Can I Serve Panko Chicken Thighs With

Sides to serve with fried chicken are numerous but some of our favourites sides are our

Easy Egg and Bacon Potato Salad

No-Mayo Potato Salad,

Red & Green Apple Slaw

Whipped Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Quick Steakhouse Creamed Spinach

Crispy Smashed Roast New Potatoes

Easy Crispy Hasselback Potatoes

Easy Creamy Mushroom Sauce with Garlic

Homemade Ranch Dressing ………………and the list goes on!  

Cold Picnic Food

Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs are among our most favourite picnic foods. They’re easily transportable and super easy to eat without a knife and fork.

The panko crumb is still lovely and crunchy and the chicken remains super moist. Got to love that!

Don’t forget to let us know what you thought when you make these fabulous Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs in the comments below. 

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Yield: 8 serves

Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

These Crispy Garlic and Parmesan Panko Chicken Thighs are an absolute winner! Eaten hot or cold the panko breadcrumb is gloriously golden and crunchy and the thigh meat is garlicky and moist. What's not to like.

Recipe is adapted from Delia Smith.

Print

Ingredients

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 6 fat cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups panko breadcrumbs
• 80g finely grated Parmesan cheese (3 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fine salt (1 teaspoon for marinade and 1 teaspoon for panko crumbs)
• freshly milled black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup neutral oil (vegetable, canola or rice bran) - see notes
• 80g butter (3 ounces)

Instructions

Chicken Thighs

1. mix eggs, garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl
2. place thighs into egg mix and coat each thigh with the mixture
3. set chicken aside while you prepare your crumb mix (you can marinade the chicken for up to 48 hours)

Panko Breadcrumb Mixture

1. mix panko crumbs with parmesan, parsley and 1 teaspoon of salt and freshly milled black pepper together in a dish with sides

Coating The Chicken With Panko Breadcrumbs

1. remove thighs one at a time being careful not to disturb the egg and garlic already clinging to it and place on breadcrumbs
2. gently press the crumbs onto thigh then turn thigh over and press crumbs gently till covered
3. place thighs on a plate in a single layer until you're ready to bake them

Cooking The Thighs

1. preheat oven to 180c (350f) on bake, not fan
2. place oven shelf on one level above half way
3. place oil and butter in baking dish (see notes) and place dish in the oven to heat and allow the butter to melt
4. remove baking dish once oil and butter are hot and place chicken pieces into pan in one layer leaving a little room around each
5. place dish into oven for 20 minutes then remove dish and turn the chicken pieces over and bake for a further 20 minutes
6. remove dish from oven and pour off excess oil and butter then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes for a final crisping
7. remove from oven and place chicken pieces onto some handtowel to drain for a minute or so before serving
8. serve and enjoy!

Notes

• we used a 26cm x 36cm (10 inch x 14 inch) baking dish
• if your dish is smaller, or larger you will need to adjust the oil and butter quantities, in truth it doesn't matter what size the pan is as long as you have enough oil and butter to cook the chicken.
• you can crumb the chicken up to 48 hours ahead of baking but allow the thighs to come to room temperature (say 1/2 an hour) before baking or the cold chicken will reduce the heat of the oil and butter and you will end up with soggy crumbs and we don't want that!

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 605Total Fat 37gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 24gCholesterol 213mgSodium 1291mgCarbohydrates 32gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 37g

Nutritional information provided here is only intended as a guide.