Almond Crusted Chicken

Today’s recipe isn’t anything exotic or earth-shattering, just a really simple way to jazz up plain ‘ole chicken. I have no idea where I originally found it, but I think it was in a health or fitness magazine several years ago. The short list of ingredients required to pull it together are all staples in my pantry, so this dish shows up fairly regularly on our table.

Extremely easy to throw together, it’s a quick, healthy dish for a weeknight when you don’t have much time to prepare dinner.

Almond Crusted Chicken

Serves 4*.

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Ingredients:

1/3 cup finely chopped almonds

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp garlic salt

Black pepper to taste

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 4 oz each)

2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle pepper all over the chicken. Combine almonds, brown sugar, and garlic salt in a bowl. Dredge chicken in the almond brown sugar mixture. Arrange chicken on a baking sheet. Firmly pat any remaining mixture on top of each chicken piece. Bake for 18 minutes, or until thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 180. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Calories 254, Fat 8g, Protein 29g, Carbs 15g, Fiber 1g

 Once you take the breasts out of the oven and transfer them to plates or a serving dish, you might find yourself licking the leftover almond and caramelized sauce scrapings from the pan. I’ll be honest, there’s no might about it with me. I do. Always.

Have kids? Never fear, this is a tried and tested kid favorite as well. But to make it a little more kid-friendly, I suggest cutting the chicken into strips and making Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers. I’ve done this several times in the past, and can say they’re just as good (if not better) than the breast halves. Enjoy!

*As you can see from the photos, when I last baked these, I only used 3 chicken breasts because they were about 6 ounces each. I still used the same amount of all the other ingredients.