Pretzel Crusted Chicken

Pretzel Crusted Chicken! This chicken coating is SOOOOO much better than using bread crumbs! It has a fantastic crunch, doesn't burn easily and keeps the chicken super moist as you bake it. I came up with the idea one day when I was going through my cupboards and organizing. I found a partial bag of gluten free flavored pretzels that were getting close to expiration date (but they were still crunchy). So rather than waste them....I decided to crush them very fine and use them to coat chicken for dinner! The old commercial from "Shake & Bake" ran through my head. I haven't coated chicken and baked it for a long time! We absolutely loved the results. My mom was having dinner with us and commented on how moist the chicken turned out and the coating was extra crispy without frying!

The pretzel coating is not limited to just chicken! I have since done it to boneless pork chops and fish too! The results were the same....crispy coating with meat that was very moist! I used gluten free pretzels (honey mustard flavor this time) but you can use regular pretzels if you don't have a gluten allergy. This recipe is ridiculously simple but I thought I would post it because it offer new ideas to people with gluten allergies. Gluten free bread (and bread crumbs) can be really expensive and I want to keep you on your grocery budget. This way you can buy the pretzels to eat in your lunch or snack + use them for coating your meat. (I also use gluten free pretzels (the plain flavor) as a crust for cookie bars sometimes. It gives a great sweet & salty twist to cookie bars! (I will post a recipe soon!) You can also use other gluten free items like flavored potato chips or tortilla chips to coat your meat and bake it. I have recently started doing that too. I really like the Maui Onion flavored potato chips (I found a brand out here in Arizona that doesn't have gluten) and used them finely crushed as a coating for pork chops. DELICIOUS! However, my favorite is still the pretzel coating. It has extra crunch and the texture is just more dense than chips or bread crumbs.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Recipe:

• 4 bones chicken breasts or thighs (you can probably use wings and deep fry them but I have never tried it). You can substitute boneless pork chops or fish if you prefer.
• 1 egg, beaten  (if you don't have an egg on hand then you can use mayonnaise which does contain egg). If you are allergic to eggs then you can substitute sour cream or plain yogurt. It will help the crumbs to stick to the meat. Just spread a light coat on each side prior to dipping in crumbs.
• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed pretzel crumbs (depending on the size of your chicken pieces you may not use all the crumbs or you may need a little more)

Dip both sides of chicken (or other meat) pieces into the beaten egg then dip into the finely crushed pretzel crumbs. Place on cookie sheet (I line mine with parchment paper for easy removal and cleanup). Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear and center of chicken is no longer pink (but still moist) which will depend on the thickness of your meat. If your meat is really thick then you may want to consider slicing it into smaller pieces so it cooks faster and evenly. *Note: do not save any unused pretzel crumbs or beaten egg that has come into contact with the raw meat. I only use the minimal and add more as I need them so I don't waste any.

This is the brand of gluten free pretzels I used today. I liked the flavor it gave my chicken.

I used my handy dandy mini food processor but you can just smash in a ziplock bag

This is the chicken after I removed it from oven and put on a dinner plate

This is the same pretzel crumbs but on a boneless pork piece (the lighting gives it a different color)

Crunchy topping with moist meat & ready to eat!

I hope you enjoyed this super easy weeknight dinner recipe. Feel free to post any tips, substitutions or photos that you have tried. We all learn from each other and I enjoy the comments!

Enjoy your week!
Happy eating!

Tanja
Gluten Free Casually