Italian Style Baked Chicken

This is a Quick Recipe for Chicken Thighs or Chicken Breasts. There are a few things I like about this recipe. This is an easy recipe as there are only four steps to completion, Mix, Coat, Sprinkle and Cook. This recipe is low cost because a package of 5 or 6 boneless chicken thighs is usually under $5.00. The chicken tastes great, at least according to my family. Once you have cooked the chicken thighs you can freeze them for future use. Finally, and for me this is a key, you can use these chicken thighs as a starter for other recipes. In the next week I will post two additional recipes that use the cooked chicken thighs from this recipe as a base.

Italian Style Baked Chicken

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1.5 pound boneless chicken thighs (this is about 5 or 6 thighs)
1/2 cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs

pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a jelly roll pan for baking these chicken thighs. (What is a Jelly Roll Pan ... it is a cookie sheet with sides. Usually 12 inches x 9 inches x 1 inch high.) I suggest a light spray of PAM or some non-stick spray.

Mix the Mayonnaise, Parmesan Cheese, Salt and Pepper in a small bowl. Lay the chicken thighs out on a piece of aluminum foil. Take the mayonnaise mixture and brush half of the mixture on one side of the chicken thighs. Take half of the Italian breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the mayonnaise coated chicken thighs. Turn the chicken thighs, one at a time, on to the lightly greased Jelly Roll Pan with the breadcrumb side down. Spread the rest of the mayonnaise on the second side of the chicken thighs. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs on the chicken thighs. Place in the oven and let bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes until the chicken is done.

When is it DONE? It is done when you poke the chicken thigh with a fork and the juices run "clear". You can go further and use an instant read thermometer. When the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 170 to 180 degrees F the USDA says your chicken is done. (If you are inviting the USDA to eat with you let me know.) Remember that the meat (any meat for that matter) will continue to cook when you pull it out of the oven so make sure you pull it out of the oven a about 5 degrees early. What do I do? I cook the chicken thighs for 20 minutes and then poke one of them and watch the juice run out ... if it is clear I pull them out of the oven.

This is a great recipe that should go from start to finish in about 30 to 40 minutes. I usually serve this with rice and a salad. So, once I put the chicken in the oven I put some rice on the stove. Then I start my salad. This will put the completion of all three items at about the same time.

If you are freezing the chicken after you bake it. Then place the chicken thighs on a cookie sheet in the freezer for at least 8 hours. Remove the chicken thighs and put them in a Zip-Lock Freezer Bag and return them to the freezer. When you need to serve them you only need to heat them up in the oven at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes.

Ciao Mark