Oven-Baked Cornflake Chicken

When I lived and worked in Hawaii there was a local, family-owned lunch spot that had Cornflake Chicken as one of its weekly specials. That and their roast turkey lunch were some of my favorites. Unfortunately the restaurant is gone and my memories of exactly what that Cornflake Chicken tasted like has long since dissipated. When I moved to Boston I searched for a similar recipe. I never found one but I came across this recipe on a listserv (yes, it’s that old). It’s been part of my repertoire for more than 20 years and one that I get requests for all the time.

Cornflake chicken and garlic mashed potatoes is one of the most requested meals. And since I’m my mother’s daughter, there is always some kind of vegetable – green beans, broccoli, or spinach.

And since I’m also obsessed with chicken & waffles, I’ve also tried them with cornmeal waffles. I have to say, in this instance it doesn’t taste as good as real fried chicken. But it’s still tasty with a drizzle of maple syrup.

The recipe is for a single meal portion of crumbs but I find it easier to make a full box of cornflakes so I always have the crumbs on hand. I put the cornflakes in a Ziploc bag, use a rolling pin to crush them into crumbs, and then measure them out. Then I do a little math to figure out the correct proportion of seasonings I’ll need.

Everything is stored in an air-tight container, ready to go at a moments notice. With the crumbs already made, I can get home and get everything going in about 15 minutes, then have a glass of wine until dinner is ready. Since it tastes best hot out of the oven, I make small batches using bone-in, skinless chicken thighs. It also works well with boneless chicken tenders but you need to watch the time so they don’t overcook.

Note: this recipe is so old I don’t know if it had an attributed author. I did a Google search but haven’t found a recipe like it.

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