Honey Roasted Pistachio-Crusted Chicken: Fantasy Football Chick Original Recipe
For those who asked me for my chicken recipe that I created and posted to social media, here you go! Enjoy!
Honey Roasted Pistachio-Crusted Chicken Breasts (Over Jasmine Rice Blend)
(Baked in a 360-degree oven in a glass baking dish)
The Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless, Chicken breasts 1-1.5 inch thickness max (however many needed for dinner)
Honey Roasted Pistachios, un-shelled ( I use this brand found in most stores or on Amazon)
Panko Bread Crumbs
Season Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Brown Sugar
Olive Oil
Pistachio Oil or butter/spread (not mandatory, but adds a little extra flavor) Here are some examples..from Amazon or likely in your store.
Favorite Mayo-Optional (I use Hellman’s Olive Oil Mayo)
For Mayo Haters: Use Olive Oil
The Preparation:
Marinating the chicken is optional depending on your time. I seasoned two (2) chicken breasts with a little season salt and pepper and then put inside a Ziplock bag and then squeezed in about 1 TBS of mayo per chicken breast. I let the chicken bag marinate in the fridge for a few hours ahead of the baking process.
If time is limited, the marination could be skipped. Just salt and pepper the chicken and coat with the mayo or an egg wash or olive oil (if mayo is not your thing) to prepare to apply the coating, then set chicken aside.
The Coating:
(I just made enough to coat two pieces of chicken, which came to about 1/3-1/2 cup of dry coating per piece)
Mix in a shallow dipping dish, 3-1 parts Pistachios to Panko crumbs, ground moderately fine in a processer, or just crushed by a spoon.
Once ground, I added the slightest amount of paprika, about a ½ TSP of brown sugar, a few sprinkles of season salt, and a few dashes of pepper. Basically, I eyeballed the ingredients and just made a coating that I liked the taste of before applying it.
After mixed, I coated the chicken trying to get as much as possible to stick to both sides. Set aside.
Prepare a glass baking dish filling it ¼ inch deep with Olive Oil to prevent pistachios on the bottom from burning and/or sticking. (Pro Tip: Pistachios burn easily).
Place the chicken in the dish, returning any loose coating that fell off in the transfer, back on top of the chicken. Then drizzle a little of the pistachio oil/spread or olive oil on top to moisten the top coating a bit.
Important: Cover the dish with foil, lightly placed, leaving a few air gaps.
The Baking:
Bake chicken (middle rack) approximately 23-27 minutes depending on the amount and size of pieces.
Remove dish from oven and flip chicken and then BAKE UNCOVERED another 4-5 minutes to crust over the pistachios just a little. Monitor so nothing burns.
Serve with your favorite side dish, veggies, or with or on top of a salad. Or with this rice….
EASY Jasmine Blend Rice Dish I made:
The Ingredients:
One package each of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice — Jasmine Rice and Rice Pilaf (the easy kind you make in the microwave in its own packaging — 90 seconds per package)
2-3 TBS Butter
Salt or Sea Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Green Onions
The Preparation:
Microwave the rice according to package directions. Once cooked, dump and mix both bags together in a microwavable bowl and add the butter and stir.
Once butter is melted, add a little ground sea salt and ground pepper to taste, along with a small amount of chopped green onion. (Omit onion if you dislike)
Then, microwave the rice blend for about 1.5 minutes (covered) to make sure the butter is all good and melted.
Note: If made from scratch, long-boil, take-forever-to-cook dry rice is your specialty, go for it. I’ve been using this easy Uncle Ben’s stuff for years, just doctored up with my special touches to accompany my main dishes.
The Plating:
I served the chicken breast atop of the rice (pic above) and drizzled the slightest bit of pistachio oil/butter/spread over the top and boom! Yum!
