Cornflake Chicken

Baked instead of fried, this cornflake chicken is crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and so incredibly flavorful! The oven-fried chicken is a perfect family-friendly, easy dinner recipe when you’re ready for a comfort food classic.

This healthy oven baked cornflake chicken is an easy way to prepare fried chicken at home. It gives you all of the crisp texture and juicy flavor that you crave — without an oily mess on the stovetop and without too much prep time. The secret? Using Kellogg’s Cornflakes as a substitute for breadcrumbs or flour!

Is Cornflake Chicken healthy?

This recipe is healthier than traditional fried chicken because you’re removing the skin from the chicken, you’re not frying the meat in oil, and you can use light mayonnaise if you’re trying to cut calories and fat. Each 2-piece serving includes about 328 calories, almost 30 grams of protein, and less than 10 grams of fat.

How to Use Leftover Cornflakes

Corn Flakes are the secret ingredient in so many of our favorite recipes, because they give a dish that unique flavor and crunch that you can’t get from regular breadcrumbs. If you have some leftover cereal in your pantry after making this chicken, put the Cornflakes to good use in one of these recipes:

• Baked Eggplant Parmesan
• Cornflake Cookies
• Aunt Bee’s Southern Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
• Dump-and-Bake Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
• Baked Chicken Tenders
• Chicken Divan (a cornflake chicken casserole that is an old-fashioned favorite!)
• Parmesan Ranch Cornflake Chicken Tenders

Serving Suggestions

This oven fried chicken pairs perfectly with just about any of the classic Southern sides. Here are some of our favorites:

• Hush Puppies
• Coleslaw or Vinegar Coleslaw
• Hoe Cakes
• Baked Potato Wedges
• Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits, 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits, 4-Ingredient Butter Swim Biscuits, 7UP Biscuits, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Cheese Biscuits, Pumpkin Spice Biscuits, Cheddar Biscuits with Chives and Bacon, or Drop Biscuits
• Cast Iron Cornbread, Fluffy Bakery-Style Corn Muffins, Broccoli Cornbread, Southern Cornbread, Jiffy Cornbread with Creamed Corn, Sweet Cornbread, Pumpkin Cornbread, Cake Mix Cornbread, Skillet Cornbread, Corn Sticks, or Honey Cornbread
• Duke’s Homemade Mac and Cheese, Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese, Crock Pot Mac and Cheese, Stovetop Shells and Cheese, or No-Boil Easy Mac and Cheese
• Pumpkin Bread or Pumpkin Muffins
• 3-Ingredient Sour Cream Muffins
• Honey Beer Bread
• Wedge Salad, Classic Caesar Salad, House Salad with Candied Pecans, or a Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
• Easy Potato Salad
• Arkansas Green Beans with Bacon or Southern-Style Green Beans
• Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
• Fried Apples or Baked Apple Slices
• Southern Succotash
• Southern Collard Greens or Sweet and Spicy Collard Greens with Bacon
• Fried Okra
• Broccoli and Cheese
• Easy Pasta Salad
• Homemade Baked Beans with Bacon
• Charleston Red Rice
• Okra and Tomatoes
• Southern Squash Casserole
• Cheese Grits
• Fried Cabbage with Apples and Onion, Braised Red Cabbage, or Roasted Cabbage

Recipe Variations

• Use the same process and cornflake mixture to prepare cornflake chicken strips (using boneless chicken tenderloins). Boneless chicken tenderloins will cook much faster than the bone-in thighs, so you will need to decrease the baking time by about half.
• What can I substitute for Cornflake crumbs? I don’t recommend substituting with alternative breading (such as Panko breadcrumbs). The Corn Flakes give this chicken a unique crispy texture that’s hard to replicate with flour or breadcrumbs, and they add more flavor than these other options.
• Make it spicy by adding hot sauce or cayenne pepper to the mayo mixture.
• Give the mayo coating even more flavor by adding paprika and onion powder.
• Serve the chicken with honey mustard, chick-fil-a sauce, or ketchup for dipping.

Tips for the Best Cornflake Chicken Recipe

• I prefer the chicken thighs and drumsticks because they cook faster than larger chicken breasts, so the coating doesn’t burn and the meat stays nice and juicy.
• Make the crushed cornflakes with help from a food processor, or place them in a large Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin (or wine bottle) to gently pound them.
• Removing the skin before coating in Cornflakes helps the crumbs adhere to the meat, and also yields crispier chicken.
• Larger pieces of chicken (like bone-in chicken breasts) will require a longer baking time. Tent the chicken loosely with foil if the crumb coating starts to get too dark before the meat is done.
• Since the total cooking time will vary depending on a number of different factors, a meat thermometer is the best way to know when your chicken is done. The meat should reach an internal temperature of 165°F.

More Oven Fried Chicken Recipes to Try

Oven-Fried Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe

30 minutes mins

Oven Baked Ranch Chicken {Extra Crispy!}

1 hour hr

Oven Fried Chicken Breast

30 minutes mins

Cornflake Chicken

4.50 from 2 votes

Prep: 15 minutes minutes

Cook: 27 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Total: 42 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 328.1 kcal

Baked instead of fried, this cornflake chicken is crispy on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside!

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3-4 lbs. bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed (I use a combination of 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs or 8 thighs)
• ⅓ cup mayonnaise (I prefer Duke's brand)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon seasoned salt (such as Lawry's brand)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups crushed Corn Flakes cereal (about 5 cups measured before crushing)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Place a rack on top of a large rimmed baking sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil. Spray rack with cooking spray and set aside.
  
• In a bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, salt, seasoned salt and garlic powder. Remove skin from chicken, pat dry, and season the meat liberally with salt and pepper.
  
• Brush chicken pieces with the mayonnaise mixture. Coat chicken with crushed Corn Flakes, pressing gently to help adhere.
  
• Arrange chicken on prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. If you're using bone-in chicken breasts, you will need to bake them for longer since those are larger pieces of meat. If the crumb coating starts to get too dark while the chicken is roasting, just tent loosely with foil.
  

Notes

• I prefer the chicken thighs and drumsticks because they cook faster than larger chicken breasts, so the coating doesn’t burn and the meat stays nice and juicy.
• Removing the skin before coating in Cornflakes helps the crumbs adhere to the meat, and also yields crispier chicken.
• Larger pieces of chicken (like bone-in chicken breasts) will require a longer baking time. Tent the chicken loosely with foil if the crumb coating starts to get too dark before the meat is done.
• Since total baking times will vary depending on a number of different factors, a meat thermometer is the best way to know when your chicken is done. The meat should reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
• The nutrition information provided is just an estimate. The specific nutrition facts for your meal may vary, depending on the size and type of your chicken pieces, as well as the amount of breading that you use on each piece.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the recipeCalories: 328.1kcalCarbohydrates: 31.5gProtein: 28.9gFat: 9.5gSaturated Fat: 1.9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2.8gCholesterol: 111mgSodium: 960.5mgPotassium: 357.7mgFiber: 1.3gSugar: 3.3g

Keyword: Cornflake Chicken, Cornflake Chicken Thighs, cornflakes chicken, Oven Fried Chicken

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Southern

Author: Blair Lonergan

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This recipe was originally published in February, 2020. The photos were updated in June, 2023.