If you’ve been looking for a simple, easy, and delicious dinner, you’ve found it with this panko chicken. This juicy, tender chicken with a crispy crumb crust has a lovely crunch on the outside and is wonderfully juicy on the inside — it’s super easy to throw together too, making it perfect for a weeknight family dinner.
Now, just because it’s crumbed doesn’t mean it’s heavy. These crumbed chicken breasts are oven baked and, using panko breadcrumbs, they stay light and so delicious. And once baked they stay truly crunchy, just like these crunchy chicken tenders.
Perfectly seasoned with a few basic spices and flavoured and optional Parmesan cheese, my panko crumbed chicken recipe is essentially like a healthier version of schnitzel. It’s so versatile, too. Serve with a salad, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, coleslaw or potato salad, wraps, inside tacos, and more. They even taste great simply sliced and paired with a yummy dipping sauce. Like I said, so versatile.
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Ingredients
This easy panko chicken recipe is full of flavour yet so simple to make. Baked in the oven, you’ll have juicy crusted chicken ready in under 30 minutes.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Chicken breast: I like chicken breast here, but this recipe does also work for boneless skinless chicken thighs. Note that they may take a few more minutes to cook than the chicken breasts. Get the best quality chicken breasts you can afford. The cheaper ones, aside from coming from caged birds, are often pumped full of water which won’t help to keep them crispy.
- Panko bread crumbs: Super light and crunchy when baked, panko are the classic Japanese bread crumbs. For this crispy panko chicken, I toast the crumbs first to get them super crispy and golden before I even add them to the chicken giving a more crunchy result.
- Eggs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and ground black pepper: These ingredients are combined to make a “glue” for the panko to stick to. If you love a spicy kick add a little cayenne pepper. For a herbal note, add some dried oregano or dried thyme.
- Parmesan cheese: You can add an optional 1/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese to the panko crumbs to add even more flaovur. Make sure to use a block and grate it yourself as the shelf stable variety has a totally different flavour and pre-shredded varieties often have coatings to stop the shreds sticking together.
I previously used mayonnaise in the marinade but since have found an even better way of coating the chicken so that it really does stay crunchy after baking, even underneath. As a result the ingredients image above has been photoshopped to accurately reflect the new ingredients (and poorly – just 2 of my own images mashed together). The process is otherwise unchanged.
How to make panko chicken
Not your classic breading technique, my way is easier and results in super crunchy chicken that stays crunchy on the plate.
The trick, or tricks since there are two really key steps, are to toast your panko crumbs until really golden and to use a seasoned flour and egg “glue” (as opposed to dunking in flour and then in egg). It really works and it saves on more bowls and messy fingers!
If you have one, panko crumbed chicken can also be cooked in an air fryer at 200C/395F for about 10-12 minutes. Of course, you can also fry these just like you would my chicken schnitzel recipe for an extra crunchy crumb. If you do, don’t toast the breadcrumbs first.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Toast the panko
Preheat your oven to 220C/430F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Add the panko to the sheet and drizzle over the oil. Mix to coat evenly and bake for about 4-6 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool.
2. Prepare the chicken
Cut the chicken breasts to create two thinner cutlets for each. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.
3. Marinate the chicken
Combine the flour, eggs yolk, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and mix to coat evenly. This can sit for 1-2 hours or even overnight to marinate but you can also use it right away.
If you do leave it to marinate, know that it is best crumbed right before you pop it in the oven, so hold off on the panko breading until you’re ready to bake.
4. Crumb the chicken
If using the optional parmesan, add it to the cooled panko and mix. Now give each chicken breast a single layer of panko mixture but make sure to use your hands to press the crumbs in firmly. This step is easy to do using tongs if you don’t want to get your fingers sticky.
5. Bake
Place the chicken with panko crumbs on a wire rack over a baking sheet and bake for 15-16 minutes until golden. When the internal temperature is at least 74 degrees C, they’re ready to pull out of the oven.
Sprinkle with sea salt, serve immediately, and enjoy!
Tips and tricks
- Crispy texture. When toasting the panko, make sure to toast the crumbs until they reach a really nice golden brown. For the crunchiest finish, bake the coated chicken on a wire rack (or something like a pizza pan with holes) to make sure they get crispy on all sides. Worst case scenario, use a metal baking sheet, not a ceramic dish.
- Keep an eye on the panko chicken as it cooks, especially in the last 5 minutes or so. Baking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken. Remember to use a meat thermometer to check that they reach an internal temperature of 74C/165F.
- Seasoning 101. Parmesan cheese can be salty, so I season the crispy baked panko chicken just before serving it with a little flaky sea salt, once I’ve had a chance to taste a sneaky bite.
- Serve with your favourite dipping sauces. You have tons of sauces to choose from here on the blog — in our house, we love chimichurri, jalapeno mayo, and homemade ranch. Or give it a Japanese twist with this Japanese sesame sauce.
- Make them gluten-free by swapping for some gluten free bread crumbs and check your mayo for gluten too.
Storage
Let any leftover panko crusted chicken cool completely before placing in an airtight container. These will keep for around 3-4 days in the refrigerator, though I find they taste best within the first few days.
Panko chicken reheats quite well in an air fryer for 8 minutes, or in the oven for 12 minutes until heated through.
FAQs
The classic flour, then egg, then crumbs method works but for my oven baked panko chicken I love using a glue which combined the egg and flour in one step. It saves on bowls to wash up plus it actually gives a better crunchy coating. It’s a great vehicle for holding spices too.
I add two eggs to the glue mixture to help the crumb stick but also for richness of flavour. Or, if you’re looking for a vegan option, try adding some water and some nutritional yeast for flavour.
If your panko chicken recipe came out dry, you likely overcooked it. These bake hot and fast so that they stay juicy — but if you overcook them, your chicken with panko crumbs will naturally come out dry.
If you want the ultimate in crunchy crumbed chicken breast, you need to shallow-fry it in oil in a skillet. This results in crumbs that get crunchier. The difference between oven baked panko chicken and fried is that the hot oil creates a seal that locks the moisture inside the meat.
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Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups panko breadcrumbs (85g/3oz)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 600 g skinless boneless chicken breast (1 ⅓ lb)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup not packed finely shredded parmesan , optional (17g / ~½oz)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Shallow plate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan forced) / 425F.
- Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and add the panko crumbs in the middle. Drizzle over the oil, then use your hands to mix well so all the crumbs get coated. Bake in the preheated oven for about 8-10 minutes until golden brown tossing them around after 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer the crumbs, using the paper to lift and pour them, into a wide shallow dish to cool and place a wire rack over the baking sheet and place it back into the oven to stay hot.
- Cut the chicken breasts horizontally, through the thickness, to create two thinner chicken breasts (chicken cutlets) for each. Dry them thoroughly with paper towel.
- In a wide shallow bowl or baking pan, whisk together the flour, eggs, salt, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, pepper and 2 tablespoons of water.
- Add the chicken and mix well to fully coat it all over. At this point, the chicken can be used immediately or refrigerated for 1-2 hours or even overnight.
- If using, add the parmesan to the cooled breadcrumbs and mix.
- Place one piece of chicken into the crumb mixture and coat all over, pressing the crumbs in firmly. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts then transfer them to the hot baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-16 minutes until golden and cooked through. Baking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts and they’re done when they reach 74C/165F on a meat thermometer poked into the thickest part.
- Serve immediately.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Make sure to get the panko crumbs a nice rich golden brown colour for the crunchiest coating.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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