This healthy fried chicken is oven-baked and gives you all the comfort of crispy fried chicken, but with none of the deep-frying guilt. By baking it in the oven you get a crispy skin and juicy bite. It’s way less work and perfect for a weeknight dinner!
I admit that I have a soft spot for most things fried. Who can resist the crispy, crunchy texture? Of course, the healthy-mom-and-wife in me is shouting, “NO WAY!”
But, it doesn’t stop the kids and I from craving some KFC to get our fix of fried chicken. What to do?
Over the years I have been preparing this recipe for a healthy fried chicken for my family, tweaking it every time I do. It has become a staple in our dinner menu for years.
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Recipe highlights
- Economical: This is a great meal to serve up a big crowd or just your big family! Bone in chicken is used along with some very basic pantry staples to create finger-licking chicken!
- Simple: I have been making this recipe for over 15-years for my family. It is so easy that I my 8-year students at my cooking camp could make it. And my college son would make a large batch so he could enjoy chicken all week!
- Flavor: With just a bit of flour and a little melted butter, the skin on the chicken gets nice and crispy. The meat is so juicy and delicious, it’s no wonder that my family asks me to make this all the time!
Ingredients you need
- Bone In Chicken Drumsticks and Thighs: Do not use boneless chicken for this recipe. They will dry out. You can use all drumsticks or all thighs.
- Seasonings: paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper
- All Purpose Flour: The chicken is coated in flour which allows the chicken skin to crisp up while baking in the oven.
- Butter: A little melted butter is drizzled over the flour coated chicken pieces. The butter provides moisture and flavor, as well as crisps up the chicken.
Step by step directions
- Season chicken. In a small bowl whisk together paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Season the chicken generously with this spice mix.
- Coat chicken. In a resealable bag combine flour and remaining seasoning mix. Place one piece of chicken at a time into the flour mixture and coat evenly.
- Drizzle with butter. Put chicken skin side up on a baking sheet or broiler pan and drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake. Bake chicken in a 425ºF oven for 45-50 minutes until skin is crispy, and juices run clear.
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Expert Tips and Recipe FAQS
There’s nothing Earth-shattering with the recipe, just a touch of melted butter, some flour and an assortment of spices. You are basically roasting the chicken pieces of your choice (my personal favorite way to cook).
- Be sure to use bone in chicken thighs or legs, not boneless. You could also use bone in chicken breasts, just add a bit more melted butter over the breasts as they dry out faster as they have less fat.
- You can make these dairy free by using vegan butter. Olive oil could also be used, but it wouldn’t taste the same.
This makes great picnic and potluck food, whether you serve it hot or cold. And the chicken reheats beautifully.
If you like how the oven is your new best friend with this family friendly recipe, you should try my oven baked meatballs, crispy pulled pork in the oven and my oven chicken kabobs.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Chicken is safe to eat and done cooking when it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF. You can also visually see if chicken is done when the juices run clear, not pink.
If you want the skin crispy when you reheat it, I suggest using a toaster oven. You can microwave it first for a minute then pop it in the toaster over for a couple of minutes until the skin is crackling and crispy!
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Healthy Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 bone in chicken drumsticks
- 6 bone in chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepepr
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- In a small bowl whisk together paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.
- In a large bowl toss chicken drumsticks and thighs together with half the seasoning mix (approx 2 ½ tsp)
- In a resealable bag or a shallow bowl combine flour with remaining seasoning mix.
- Place one piece of seasoned chicken at a time in the flour mixture and press to coat evenly.
- Put chicken, skin side up, on a baking sheet or broiler pan.
- Drizzle melted butter all over the chicken.
- Bake chicken for 45-50 minutes until skin is crispy, and juices run clear.
- Remove chicken from the broiler pan and let it rest 5 minutes on a plate lined with 2-3 layers of paper towels.
- Place chicken on serving platter and serve hot or room temperature. Also tastes great cold, right from the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
this recipe looks great and sounds yummy really want to try it will let you know how it turns out
I’m taking this recipe on the road. We have two family vacations this summer where I will be cooking. I can put the spices together at home and packaged them ready for the chicken when we arrive at our vacation destination. I’ll be the hero on the road in the kitchen not at home. Awesome!
Oh yum! The ingredients look delicious. I love the idea of crispy without frying (and without the mess of all that oil). It’s just hard to imagine crispy in the oven. So many times I’ve seen recipes call for frying, then baking which still leaves the need for lots of oil (and lots of cleanup from splatter).