Panko is a Japanese style bread crumb that is traditionally used to coat food for deep frying. You can find it at any Asian grocery store and some Safeway's.
Instead of deep frying, we will bake this panko crusted chicken at 400 F to get the panko crispy without all the extra oil. Make sure that you only put a little bit of marinara sauce on top of each piece of chicken, and serve the remaining marinara on the side so that the coating still has some crispiness on the edges.
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| Bake panko coated chicken thighs |
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| Transfer to oven safe dish. Top with cheese slices and marinara. Return to warm oven to melt cheese. |
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| Meal Kits |
This dish is best eaten the same day. However, even though the panko will not be crispy after reheating from the freezer, pictured above are 2 freezer meal boxes of this panko crusted chicken with a side of corn, because I still have a few more freezer boxes to fill before I leave in 2 days... Yikes!
Yields 6 servings
Ingredient:
- 2 lbs Boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 6-7 large thighs)
- 1 t salt
- ½ t garlic powder
- ¼ t pepper
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 c all purpose flour
- 2 c panko (about 3 oz)
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce, 16 oz
- 3 slices pepper jack cheese
Procedures:
- Marinate chicken thighs overnight with salt, garlic powder and pepper.
- Lay out your work station with a bowl of flour, a bowl of beaten egg, and a plate of panko. (See photo)
- Dredge chicken in flour first, then egg, and then lastly panko. Place on a greased foil lined baking tray. Repeat until all chicken pieces are coated.
- Mist the top of panko chicken pieces with an oil mister.
- Bake at 400 F for 25-30 min. If pieces are not browned, broil on low for 1-2 min until panko is brown, watching very carefully to not burn any of the pieces.
- While the chicken is baking, warm up your marinara sauce of choice.
- When chicken is done, remove from the oven. Turn off the oven.
- Transfer the chicken pieces to an oven safe serving platter large enough to hold the baked chicken in a single layer. (See photo) Top each piece of chicken with 1/3 to 1/2 slice of pepper jack cheese. (See photo) And then spoon about 1 to 2 T of warmed marinara sauce on top of each piece of chicken. The cheese and marinara should occupy just the middle section of each piece of chicken such that the panko remains crispy on the edges. (See photo)
- Place platter in the warm oven for about 5 min until the cheese has melted. (The residual heat from the oven is enough to melt the cheese). Serve immediately with extra marinara sauce on the side.