A Secret Recipe:

Low-Fat “KFC” Oven Fried Chicken

Who doesn’t like Southern style fried chicken? Of all the fast food outlets, I have to admit to being a bit of a “KFC” fan, when it is cooked correctly, it’s hard to beat the spiced coating over tender, succulent chicken, served with coleslaw or creamed corn and some chips (fries) for a special treat. I cook with chicken a lot at home – it’s wonderful for diet days, as well as being the champion of meats for casseroles, curries, stews and for the summer barbecue. However, my favourite way to cook chicken is to roast a whole bird, OR to have fried chicken, which is a bit naughty and very calorific. Enter a virtuous recipe for “Low-Fat “KFC” Oven Fried Chicken”.……

…….courtesy of my assigned Secret Recipe Club blog this month, Burnt Apple, this is a fabulous way to enjoy oven fried chicken, (KFC style) without the excess fat and calories. Burnt Apple is all about……“Delicious, budget friendly, natural meals to feed yourself or your growing family. Take any meal and give it a healthy makeover, do it on a tight budget and on a busy schedule. Feeding a family of three kids, two dogs and a husband with Type 1 diabetes is no easy task, but Burnt Apple makes it work”…….and work it does, as I perused my way through lots of tasty recipe ideas, such as Barbeque Chicken Quesadillas, Baked Churros, Pumpkin Chocolate Spice Cake and Quinoa Breakfast Rainbow in a Jar (Gluten Free).

But, with my love of fried chicken uppermost in my thoughts, I decided to make Burnt Apple’s KFC Fried Chicken Recipe, which fitted the low-fat and low-calorie bill for a healthy summer luncheon dish. The recipe uses skinless chicken breasts, which cuts back on calories, and the spiced coating is pretty damn close to the real thing, although I did tweak it a bit, as I cannot source “Mortons season all”, so, I looked up the ingredients and added them separately. The chicken emerges from the oven with a spicy, crisp coating that is crunchy and golden brown, and the chicken is wonderfully moist and tender.

If you are craving a “fried chicken dinner” as I was, then this is the recipe for you; but, with only 250 calories in each serving of chicken per person. (400 including the salad and creamed corn)  If you aren’t bothered by the excess fat (or calories) then by all means use chicken pieces or even better, chicken thighs. The recipe below is based on the Burnt Apple’s adapted recipes from Our Life Uncommon, and I have added my tweaks in red, so you can either follow the original recipe, or my adapted version. With thanks to Burnt Apple for her delicious recipe, and why not pop over to see her and tell her I sent you! Karen 

About the Secret Recipe Club:

Secret Recipe Club is a way to not only find but share new blogs. Each month, one member is assigned to another member from their group secretly (hence the name). That person selects a recipe (or more) to make, photograph, and then will draft up a blog post. Everyone in the group posts on the same Monday together and gets to see who had their blog and what recipe(s) they chose. It’s such a fun experience and it’s a great way to get new followers too.

Low-Fat “KFC” Oven Fried Chicken

(Adapted from Burnt Apple)

Prep Time: 10 minutes/ Cook Time: 40 minutes/ Total Time: 50 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 whole chicken breasts, boned and skinless
150ml skimmed milk
200g plain white flour
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp Mortons season all (I used a mixture of garlic granules, celery seed, onion powder, chilli & black pepper)
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter (I used Fry Light olive oil spray)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350 degrees. In a 9″ x 13″ (21cm x 32cm) pan (baking tray), cut up the butter into tiny pieces. (I used Fry Light spray in place of butter) Place the pan (baking tray) in the oven to melt the butter, then remove once butter has melted. (NOTE – NO need to do this if using the spray)
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix together the flour, paprika, season all (my mixture of seasoning), pepper and salt. Stir to combine.
3. In another small bowl place the milk. Dip each piece of chicken in the milk, then dip each side of chicken in the flour mixture until the chicken is evenly coated.
4. Place the chicken in the baking dish and continue until all chicken has been dipped. Bake at 180C/350 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake on the other side for an additional 20 minutes before removing from oven. 5. Serve with corn, coleslaw, biscuits and honey butter, or mashed potatoes and gravy. (I served mine with creamed corn and salad leaves for a low-calorie meal)