Crunchy, gluten-free Chex chicken

*not my image, but my chicken looked exactly like this! I got the image here. 

So last week, I made very yummy coconut chicken strips on a night when my step-daughter was visiting. She doesn't eat gluten, so we couldn't share our chicken strips with her, and she was disappointed, so I decided to see if there was a way to adapt the recipe to be gluten-free. 

As it turns out, neither my hubby nor I wanted to eat coconut chicken again so soon. It's good, but it's definitely not a weekly dish at our house. So I decided to do just plain old panko-style chicken strips instead... seemed easy, right!?

First was figuring out how to get gluten-free panko. Turns out, Chex cereal is a great substitute! I bought a box and crushed up enough for the chicken and it worked perfectly. In fact, I liked it better than Panko because it wasn't as sweet. Next, I had to find a flour to use to coat the chicken. This, I think, will be an ongoing challenge. I looked first for coconut flour but nobody in my area had any, so I  chose an all-purpose baking flour that was gluten free instead. It smelled a little weird, but it was actually not bad at all. I might even use it for baking someday lol. 

Overall, the were good but bland. My step-daughter liked them, but she likes any meat she can get her hands on so this is not a surprise. My hubby and I found them good but a little bland to eat. The coating was super crunchy and delicious, but the flour was a little gooey, and since I didn't really season them, they didn't have any real flavor. Next time, I will add seasoning to the flour before dragging the chicken through. 

What you need:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips. You could use pre-cut tenderloin strips if you don't want to trim the chicken yourself. 

2 eggs, beaten

2C crushed Chex cereal. You could probably crush your cereal in a food processor, but I just did it in a bag and that was fine. 

2C gluten-free flour

salt and pepper (and other seasonings!)

What you do:

Set up your prep station as follows: chicken strips, then a bowl with your flour, then a bowl with the eggs, and then a bowl with your crushed Chex cereal. 

Turn on the oven to 400, and lightly spray a cookie sheet with Pam (Original Pam = gluten-free).

Take a piece of chicken and coat it in flour. 

Next, drag it through your egg wash, ensuring the entire strip is wet and eggy. 

Next, press the strip into your Chex cereal, coating both sides with Chex bits. I press my chicken in pretty hard so the Chex sticks well. 

Repeat with each piece of chicken, lining the finished pieces up on the cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip. Bake for another 10 to 12 minutes. Check your chicken for done-ness, but it should be ready to go. 

Take it out and eat it. I paired it with rice... I don't recommend this. Pair it with salad instead! I also dipped my strips in President's Choice Memories of Thailand spicy sauce... yum, yum, YUM! 

If you have any suggestions to make this recipe better, please post them in comments! 

Coconut Chicken Strips

*Yes, this is my (gloriously blurry) image

Baked Coconut Chicken Strips

This was a Pinterest find, and I'm glad I found it! So easy, so yummy... a great upgrade to classic chicken fingers. It was originally posted on Back To Her Roots' recipe blog. Here is what you need:

What you need:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Or one package of pre-trimmed chicken breast tenderloins, 1 to 1.5 lbs)
3 C white flour
2 eggs
Splash of milk
Salt and Pepper
2 C each unsweetened shredded coconut and panko bread crumbs (I used coconut flakes, but I would recommend shredded if it's available.)
Oil spray (I used Pam).

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 400°.

If you're using whole chicken breasts, place them in a large zip-top bag and pound down to about 1/2″ thickness. Slice into 3/4″ strips.

Next grab three bowls, each larger than your chicken breast strips. 

Bowl 1: Just the flour, baby. 

Bowl 2: Whisk together eggs and splash of milk. 

Bowl 3: Mix panko and coconut in one bowl, season with salt and pepper.

Here comes the fun part! You can use any technique you like. I prefer a wet-hand / dry-hand system. 

You'll want to run your chicken through the bowls in order... first in the flour, then in the egg, and then press it into the coconut-panko mix. If you're using coconut flakes, like I did, you'll really want to press the chicken into the coconut-panko mix to get the larger flakes to stick. 

Place each strip onto a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 400 for 20ish minutes, flipping after 10. Let your strips rest for a few minutes before serving. 

I paired mine with President's Choice "Memories of Thailand" spicy chili dipping sauce. Unfortunately, it's only available in Canada, but if you can get it, it's worth it! If not, I think any sweet and spicy sauce would add a little zing to these yummy strips.