Recipe At-A-Glance
Sweet and savory, these Baked Coconut Chicken Strips have a great flavor, and make for a speedy weeknight dinner.
This post was updated May 2016.
My husband has a “thing” for sweet foods. He rarely dislikes food I make, but on those rare occasions, his complaint is almost always, “it isn’t sweet enough.” I don’t care if we are talking about cookies or chicken, it all needs to have an element of sweetness to satisfy his tastebuds.
Now contrast that with me. Almost every recipe that crosses my countertop gets it’s sugar content cut dramatically. I definitely have a sweet tooth, but I’d rather my sweet tooth be satisfied in controlled and well-balanced doses. And I also have one heck of a “spicy tooth” that loves foods that are sharp, spicy and savory, without much sugar content at all.
Needless to say, it took quite a few years to perfect dishes that happily satisfied both of us. As with anything in a good marriage, we’ve met in the middle. I’ve toned down my use of hot peppers. And he no longer requests that I add more sugar to the pizza dough recipe.
Of all of our culinary compromises, this coconut chicken may be the pièce de résistance. For my husband, it is breaded in naturally sweet coconut flakes. For me, it is seasoned with pepper and dipped in a slighty-spicy sweet chili sauce.
These chicken strips are kinda like us a couple—contrasting, yet totally complementary.
Also, to satisfy both of us, they are baked, not fried. Finishing off the strips with a spray of olive oil helps them crisp up in the oven just like they would in the frying pan.
You might be tempted to skip the sweet chili sauce, but I promise you, it is worth it! You can find sweet chili sauce at most major grocery stores in the international food section.
Baked Coconut Chicken Strips
Prep Time: 15 mins- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 27 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
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Sweet and savory, these Baked Coconut Chicken Strips have a great flavor, and make for a speedy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (whole wheat if you can find them)
- Sweet chili sauce, for serving (recommended: Mae Ploy)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Place baking racks in a baking sheet, and spray liberally with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Place chicken breasts in a large zip-top bag, then pound until about 1/2″ thick. Then slice breasts into 3/4″ strips.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt, and black pepper. In another bowl, add the egg. In a third bowl, combine the coconut and breadcrumbs.
- Dredge one chicken strip in the flour mixture, then knock off excess. Dredge in egg, and let excess drip off. Then finally, press the strip into the coconut mixture, making sure all sides are well-coated. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat with remaining strips. Spray tops liberally with cooking spray.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the strips are golden brown and cooked through.
Notes
If the egg is a bit too thick to dredge in, thin it with a tablespoon or two of water.
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I’m drooling over this. I’ll have to try it this week. P.S. you and your husband are too cute!
Awww, thanks! Definitely try these, they are super easy, too!
OMGGGGGGGGG. MUST. CONSUME.
These look amazing.
They are pretty damn good. 🙂 YUM.
Matt would love this recipe. He goes crazy for my Nonna’s breaded chicken breasts so I bet the addition of coconut would make him happy.
…I literally can’t remember the last time I cooked meat for the poor boy.
I love chicken strips because it seems like you can get a lot more for a small amount of meat. We used just two chicken breasts and we had enough for dinner and the next day’s lunch for both of us. It’s a great way to have meat without eating a ton.
Mmmm I love Mae Ploy sauce. My sister came back from Thailand with some of this about 10 years ago and after searching for the closest thing, it was excellent. It’s also great with homemade spring rolls. I never would have thought about mixing coconut in with the panko crumbs. Yum!
This was my first time having it and it is SO YUM!
I’m definitely with you — savory all the way. If I don’t watch myself, I could easily down a whole bag of chips!
Meeee too! I love sweet stuff, too, but I like it distinctly separate from my savory food. 🙂
This combination intrigues me… I love both savory and sweet, and I especially love coconut anything! I might have to try this one out.
And I have to say, you have incredible photog skills! I love these pics.
Aww, thanks! I was actually pretty unhappy with the photos for this post, so it is nice to hear that I am being too hard on myself. 🙂
You can also make your own sweet chili sauce. It’s super easy. The recipe i use goes a little like this:
Add some organic apricot jelly to a small dish. Add enough Bragg’s Liquid aminos to make it whiskable. Dice some scallions and throw them in the dish. Add one (or more) Adobo roasted chipotle peppers, diced. Or you can throw them in in food processor to give you a chili paste. Mix everything together and adjust ingredients to your flavor likings!
Oh YAY! Perfect! Thank you! I always have chipotle peppers in adobo in my freezer.
These look and sound delicious and healthy too! I may even be able to convince my fried food loving hubs to give them a shot. I bet the baked coconut gives them a ton of crunch.
It does! They taste super crunchy and so flavorful that he won’t even miss the frying part.
Wow! What a fantastic meal!! Well done on this recipe!
Absolutely delicious. Forgive me, but I can not linger here right now have to shoot off into my kitchen to make these.(all for myself, since JO hates chicken!)
Love your website! Stumbled upon it after a search for “the skinny rules” (wanted to share the rules with someone) but I got caught up with all your delicious and inspiring ideas and recipes!! Thanks
Have made these twice now. Easy to make and great flavor. My husband loves them even more than i do!
Made these last night and they were delicious! This recipe is a keeper for sure.
Looks great – can you substitute alaskan cod for the chicken?
I’ve never tried it, but I don’t see why not!
Would this recipe work with chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts?? I have everything to make this, so to save me a trip to the store, I thought maybe I could use chicken tenders. This looks so so yummy!!!!!