You will not believe how delicious and flavorful this Graham Cracker Chicken is. The chicken comes out so tender, so juicy, and so very tasty. There’s something about it that reminds me of my Grandmother’s cooking, and something else about it that is so above and beyond. The graham crackers create a soft crust that is the epitome of comfort food. You don’t taste any graham flavor, and the crust isn’t sweet. Instead, the result is simply really satisfying chicken, rich with seasoning, and with a backdrop of tantalizing heat.
This recipe started with an August thunderstorm and s’mores that were apparently never meant to be. I would, of course, have no problem finding something to do with the chocolate, but two boxes of grahams? There are only so many graham-cracker crusts you can eat, and besides, I think I told you a while back that I’ve developed this disorder that seems to be causing me to want to forego sweet dishes in favor of savory ones. I’m still working on a cure. But I digress. This is the only savory thing I could think of doing with graham crackers, and I couldn’t be happier that I did. This dish is a serious keeper.
HELP! I did stock some of this dredge mix away for more chicken, but I still have tons of unopened packages of grahams. If you can think of something savory to do with them, please leave me a comment! I would love to try out your ideas!
Ingredients for 4-5 servings:
1 package of honey grahams (1/3 of a 14.4-oz. box, about 9 crackers)
3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1.7 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (substitute breasts)
2¼ tsp coarse salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
Open graham package and break each cracker into quarters. Place into a food processor along with spices. Pulse to fine crumbs. Set aside.
Pre-heat oven to 375˚F. Get out everything you’ll need: chicken; a large cutting board that can withstand a trip through the dishwasher; kitchen shears or a small, sharp knife; salt and pepper, a spoon for the dredge, olive oil, tongs; a temperature probe, set to whatever temperature your religion prescribes; butter, and maybe a spatter guard.
Preheat a 12-inch, cast-iron skillet over a hot flame for 2 minutes, then turn the heat to low. Meanwhile, prep chicken.
Trim fat. Salt and pepper generously. Dredge. Thoroughly wash your hands. Turn the heat under your pan back up to high. Open a window.
Add oil to skillet. Nestle all the chicken (using tongs, not fingers) into the pan, and leave it undisturbed for at least 4½ minutes. Check for browning. Once sufficiently browned, add butter, flip chicken, insert probe, and bake. Baking won’t take long; you won’t even have enough time to thoroughly clean your countertop, probably.
Let rest a few minutes before serving – yes, both you and the chicken.
Notes:
- You’re only going to need about 1/3 of the dredge mixture. You could make a half-batch of it. But it keeps extraordinarily well, so I guess it just depends on whether you’d rather have read-to-go dredge on hand, or an opened, half-package of leftover crackers.
- Use all the salt and pepper. You can use less – especially if your ginger powder or cayenne are especially hot – but not more.
- This doesn’t spatter as much as many other sautéed chicken dishes do, if at all.
Graham Cracker Chicken
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Like so many other times, after spinning my mental wheels for hours, I thought of dredging chicken in graham crackers. Then I did an internet search for it, and bam, a bazillion other people have done this. Where were all of you when I was using “savory” and “graham crackers” in a keyword search?
Keep up with us on Bloglovin’
I love this idea and will try and take up the challenge:
How about as a savory Graham cracker crumble topping for some sort of Mac and Cheese? Maybe a meaty version or maybe (even better?) a butternut squash version. Make the crumble topping by adding 3 or 4 slices bacon to a medium-large size skillet. Fry the bacon until quite crisp, remove and drain on paper towels. To the hot bacon grease, add 6 or 8 (I’m guessing here…) roughly crumbled crackers and toss to coat. Toast the cracker crumbs for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the crumbs are lightly toasted remove from the heat and set aside. Once cool crumble the cooked bacon into the cool toasted cracker crumbs. Use as you would for most any Mac and Cheese breadcrumb topping. GREG
sippitysup recently posted…Caprese Stacks with Candied Pancetta
I’m definitely trying that.
I would definitely use chicken thighs here..so much more flavourful and juicier..a great contrast with that crunchy crust. Happy to see that you have paired this with the broccoli and cauliflower, which my husband absolutely hates!
Angie@Angie’s Recipes recently posted…Peanut Butter Einkorn Cookie Cups with Erythritol
So many people hate broccoli and cauliflower!
Ha ha, I love your use of Graham crackers here to produce a unique savoury dish! We call Graham crackers here in the UK “Digestive Biscuits” and they are more used for the base of cheesecakes. So I’m not going to be any good at recommending anything else savory I’m afraid, sorry. But cheesecakes……I’ve plenty of them. 😉
I know, we use them that way too, as well as a pie crust substitute (especially for cream pies). But I have several boxes! And I’m afraid if I eat that many pies I may have to buy a whole new wardrobe in a larger size.
Never take those flat rectangular crackers for granted. They’re not available in some parts of the world and Sweden is one of those places.
However, not all is lost, we have the Digestive Biscuit. I find them very similar and have used them for lining a buttered cake pan, savory toppings as well as cheese cake. But, I never though of making them into shake and bake. Perfect!
We make a scalloped potato dish here that uses a mixture of Digestive crumbs, Parmesan with a touch of dried thyme as a topping. Just top off the scalloped potato dish and drizzle loads of melted butter on. Pop in the ugn (oven) and bake until crisp and bubbly.
Thanks! I’ll try this, too!
I admit that you caught me off guard with the chicken and graham cracker combo, but I can totally see where you’re coming from here! It works! This one reminds me of a pretzel crust that I used on chicken one time. (Side note: If you end up with an obscene amount of pretzels, use them to coat chicken.) I was gonna suggest a topping for mac and cheese, too, but I see that Greg beat me to it! Your other option is to ship them to Robbie and he’ll make ’em disappear like a graham cracker champ. 🙂
David @ Spiced recently posted…Tortellini with Steak and Blue Cheese
Robbie! I’ll bet he runs on graham crackers!
Jeff, your chicken sounds terrific. I’m going to have to buy graham crackers now so that I can make your recipe as well as using them in Greg and Ron suggestions. That is what I love about blogging…simply inspiring.
Karen (Back Road Journal) recently posted…Hip And Trendy Berlin
Agreed!
Used to love graham crackers and milk when I was a kid. It’s been decades since I’ve had milk (in a glass), although we recently bought some graham crackers for a snack. They’re pretty good — better than I had remembered. Have never had them in something savory, though — like the idea, a lot. Thanks!
John/Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Moroccan-Spiced Beet Salad
Yeah, me too – haven’t had them in years. One bos is chocolate grahams, and I’ve been chowing those out of hand.
What a clever idea, love the unique use of graham crackers! How about toing Mac & cheese or a bsked cauliflower gratin? My Mom used to put copious amounts of sour cream on top of cauliflower or broccoli florets (or even green beans) and top it with bread crumbs (try graham crackers instead) and bake until tender, so good!
This sounds like a fantastic idea.
I’m always looking for new chicken recipes to switch things up. Cool idea!
Kevin | economicalchef.com recently posted…Quick and Easy Quinoa with Avocado Dressing
Thanks!
Nice those graham will give this a nice sweet flavour! what a great idea
Raymund recently posted…28 Filipino Soup Recipes
Thanks, Raymund!