Baked Coconut Chicken

Coconut on chicken? With a side of saucy stuff to eat with the coconuty chicken? That seems a little weird to me, but it's all about widening the boundaries and trying new things. Turns out, I'll be doing this one repeatedly because it's freakishly good.

Baked Coconut Chicken

from Cooking Club of America

click to print

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk
1 c panko
3/4 c sweetened flaked coconut
2 tbsp butter, melted
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c mango chutney
1/3 c mayonnaise

Heat oven to 375°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray.

Whisk eggs and milk in medium shallow bowl until blended.

Combine panko, coconut and butter in wide shallow bowl until mixed well.


Sprinkle chicken with salt.

Dip in egg mixture; roll in coconut mixture, pressing to coat completely.


Place on baking sheet, pressing any excess coconut mixture over chicken.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

Meanwhile, combine chutney and mayonnaise in small bowl; serve with chicken.

Going into it, I figured I'd either love this dish or hate it; it was love. Crunchy coating, tender chicken, just sweet sauce makes for a fantastic chicken dish. When I ate the first couple of bites, it was without sauce. Once I tried a piece of chicken dipped in the sauce, I didn't hesitate to spread the sauce over the rest of the breast before devouring.


The preparation was simple too. I'm usually skeptical about the quantity of the dry coating, but it worked out perfectly. There was quite a bit of egg wash left, which makes me wonder whether one egg and half the milk would be sufficient.

I cooked the breasts for 20 minutes and let them stand a few minutes while I roasted asparagus. The breasts were cooked through, very moist and tender. Overcooked chicken breasts suck so please don't do that to your meat.

Cost:

• eggs: $0.58
• milk: $0.06
• panko: $0.30, SWAG
• coconut: $0.69
• butter: $0.09
• chicken breast halves: $1.83
• mango chutney: $1.38
• mayo: $0.44

TOTAL: $5.37 or $1.34 for each of four servings.