Almond Crusted Chicken Strips

5 from 1 vote

Almond Crusted Chicken Strips

These Almond Crusted Chicken Strips have 34g protein per serving and are juicy and tender on the inside but crunchy and flavorful on the outside thanks to a breading of crushed up almonds.

Prep Time20

Cook Time12

Total Time32

Course: Main Dishes

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 378kcal

Author: Cassie Johnston

Ingredients

Cooking spray
¾ cup raw almonds
⅔ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
¼ cup water
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" strips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a baking sheet with Cooking spray, set aside.
Using either a food processor, or a zip-top bag and a mallet, mash ¾ cup raw almonds until crushed into fine crumbs. Mix with ⅔ cup panko breadcrumbs, and place in a shallow dish or plate. Set aside.
Whisk together 1 egg and ¼ cup water, place in another shallow dish or plate. Set aside.
Whisk together ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper, place in another shallow dish or plate. Set aside.
Dredge each chicken piece (strips cut from 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts) in the flour mixture, knocking off excess flour, followed by the egg mixture. Finally, press the chicken into the almond mixture, making sure to coat all sides. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces.
Spray the tops of the chicken lightly with cooking spray, and bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown, and reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.

Notes

Try flavored almonds: Feel free to swap in flavored almonds—boost the flavor by using flavored almonds such as smokehouse almonds or habanero bbq almonds
Make it gluten-free: swap in gluten-free panko and your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour—I like Cup4Cup
Make it in the air-fryer: air fry one layer of chicken strips at a time in a 375° air fryer for 10-12 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking time
Double and freeze: this almond breaded chicken freezes beautiful either before baking or after! I always double this recipe and put half in the oven and half in the freezer for an easy dinner later.
Don't skip the dredge: dredging the strips in the flour then the egg wash creates a "glue" that makes sure the almond pieces stick to the chicken.
Chop those almonds fine: you're looking for almond pieces that are a little bigger than almond flour, but not so big they fall off of the chicken pieces. You know that chopped nut topping that goes on sundaes? About that size!

Nutrition