Oven baked chicken goujons with parmesan & lemon recipe

These healthier oven-baked chicken goujons with Parmesan cheese make a delicious meal served with a salad or two.

I live on my own and for the most part, I find cooking for one really uninspiring. I will spend my days dreaming up and preparing delicious meals for my blog, but when it comes to supper time and feeding myself, I often could not be bothered.

Supper for me is often just a functional meal. One where I know I need to give my body some quality nutrition, and I generally try and eat fairly simply. I sometimes feel like I’ve cooked a skinless chicken breast in every conceivable way and it regularly makes an appearance on my plate. Maybe because it’s fairly easy to cook a chicken breast, it can be flattened and quickly pan-fried with peri peri and lemon and served with a green salad, it is one of my favourite quick meals. Or maybe it’s because lean white meat is generally healthier, either way, you need to add a few things to make it more interesting.

I love crunchy pieces of chicken with loads of flavour but really hate the mess and grease associated with deep frying. I wanted to make a crispy oven version of fried chicken. I also love Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs added to crumbs like with a classic chicken Parmesan, so these goujons are the result. You could leave it out, it’s totally optional.

When it comes to bread crumbs I keep a permanent stash in a Ziploc bag in my freezer. Whenever I have any leftover half loaves of good artisan bread, I whizz them in my food processor to make crumbs. I particularly like sourdough bread crumbs, but often it’s a mixed bag.

Any kind of crumbed chicken, whether fried or oven-baked requires a good spritz of fresh lemon juice and some sauce to take the dry edge off. I made an easy dipping sauce with my leftover salsa verde mixed into some store-bought low-fat mayonnaise. Obviously, it is awesome to make your own mayo, especially since it’s so easy, but I was in a hurry and I live on my own.

Prep Time:10

Cook Time:30

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 cups of breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
small bunch of parsley or oregano or 1T thyme
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 200 C / 180C fan
Line a large baking sheet with baking or silicone paper.
Beat the eggs and then add the buttermilk. Whisk to thoroughly mix.
Whizz the herbs in a food processor until fairly finely chopped. Add the breadcrumbs salt and pepper and process briefly until well combined. Spread out on a flattish dish.
Dip the chicken goujons into the buttermilk mixture, shake off any excess, and then quickly coat in the crumbs and place on the lined baking sheet.
Bake for 25 - 35 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with salsa verde sauce mixed with mayonnaise, or any other dipping sauce of your choose.