This pretzel crusted chicken It is delicious and fast weeknight dinner! My recipe is kid-friendly, can be baked or pan-fried, and includes an irresistible honey mustard sauce. The recipe includes how to video!
Easy, Delicious Weeknight Dinner
With a crispy crispy exterior and a tender juicy center, my bagel crusted chicken is a delicious, EASY weeknight chicken that the whole family will love (at least mine will!)! Unlike many baked breaded chicken recipes, it stays nice and crispy and has a nice golden brown exterior.
This chicken is juicy, tender and full of flavor. We’ll dip it in a honey mustard egg batter before covering it with crispy and crunchy pretzel pieces. I also add a honey mustard drizzle/dipping sauce which takes things to a whole new level!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is fast, but so delicious weeknight dinner (like my cream cajun chicken!). Feeds the whole family in about 30 minutes! If you need more weeknight dinner ideas, check me out weeknight dinner email series!
- Easy and kid friendly. My kids will happily eat this dish, which makes it popular around here. It’s also easy to replace chicken breast with their favorite chicken tenders.
- Includes delicious honey mustard sauce it pairs perfectly and tops everything off.
- Crispy without any frying (although you can fry it if you like; I talk more about this below).
Composition
To get started you will need:
- chicken. We use either chicken breasts or chicken meat. If you’re planning to serve this dish to kids, chicken tenders are great because they’re easier to bite into.
- Pretzels. I like the small twisted type and recommend using the same one. I sometimes crush my pretzels in a food processor, but I usually just use a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin to keep things nice and easy.
- Honey. It’s needed for the honey mustard sauce, but we also add it to the egg sauce we use to help the crushed pretzels stick.
- Dijon mustard. Like honey, we’ll add it to our sauce and egg mixture (it adds so much flavor!). Do not use ordinary yellow mustard; you want the deeper and more complex flavor of Dijon for best results.
- spices. Including black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and smoked paprika (my chicken and rice soup). We will also add a small pinch of cayenne to the honey mustard sauce. You can skip this if you’re particularly sensitive to spice, but it’s such a small amount that even my kids can tolerate it.
SAM’S TIP: The finer you crush your pretzels, the easier they will stick to the chicken. I like to use my hands to cover the chicken with as many pretzel crumbs as I can and make sure there are no bald patches.
Keep in mind that this is just an overview of the ingredients I use and have used why. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe!
How to make pretzel crusted chicken
- Prepare the dipping sauce: whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, honey, vinegar and cayenne in a shallow bowl. You can do this either before you cook the chicken (which gives it more time to develop the flavor) or while the chicken is cooking in the oven.
- chicken in flour mixture first. Make sure to coat it evenly or your egg mixture won’t adhere properly.
- Dip the chicken in the egg mixture until completely coated. Make sure there are no dry spots of flour (re-dip if necessary!).
- Finally, coat the chicken in crushed pretzels. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Chisin chicken with melted butter. It tastes even better!
- To cook until cooked; If you use chicken instead of chicken breasts, it will take a little longer. To be safe, I recommend checking your meat with a thermometer.
- Serve with honey mustard sauce if desired. You can also use the sauce as a dip!
SAM’S TIP: I usually bake my chicken, but you can also pan fry it. Frying in a pan is more work and more messy, but yields juicier and tastier chicken. In the notes below, I’m adding instructions for pan-frying this recipe. Keep in mind that there is a bit of a learning curve when preparing chicken this way; if you’re not careful or don’t use enough oil, you can easily burn it and end up with a smoky, blackened mess.
Frequently asked questions
I suppose you could, but I’m not sure how long it would take to cook. If you try this recipe in the air fryer, let me know how it goes for you!
I don’t see why not! If you do, you may want to adjust the seasoning in the flour mixture (and you may or may not want to use honey mustard sauce, depending on the flavor you’re using). I’d love to hear what you experience!
Enjoy!
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Shelled Chicken Pretzels
Portions: 2 -4 servings (see note)
Calories: 1139kcal
Composition
For the honey mustard sauce
Prevent your screen from dimming
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400F (205C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (alternatively grease lightly with butter). Set aside.
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Prepare honey mustard sauce: In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, honey, Dijon mustard, white vinegar and cayenne pepper. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper
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Crush the pretzels: Place the pretzels in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (alternatively, place the pretzels in a plastic bag and pulse with a rolling pin until thoroughly crushed). Pour into a shallow bowl and set aside.
3 cups (130 g) pretzels
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Prepare the flour coating: In another shallow bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside.
¾ teaspoon of table salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ⅓ cup (42 g) all-purpose flour
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Prepare the egg base. In another shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, Dijon mustard, and honey.
1 large egg, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey
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Prepare the chicken: If using chicken breast, cut each breast into cutlets with a sharp knife (halve lengthwise and pound to even thickness as needed).
1 lb (453 g) chicken breast or chicken fillet
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Pat the chicken dry, then dredge in the flour mixture until completely coated, then dip in the egg, making sure the entire piece of chicken is completely coated in the egg, then finally coat with the bagel mixture, making sure the chicken is completely coated.
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To cook: Transfer the chicken cutlets to the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the chicken is coated, at least 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheet. Brush chicken with melted butter, then transfer to center rack of 400F (205C) preheated oven and cook until chicken reaches 165F (74C) when checked with a meat thermometer (about 15-16 minutes for tenders, 16-18 for tenders). chicken breast.)
2 tablespoons of salted butter
Notes
To fry:
Follow the instructions in step 6. Add 2-3 tablespoons of avocado (or other neutral cooking oil) to a 10″ skillet and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add chicken to skillet, leaving at least 1 inch of space between pieces (cooking in batches if necessary). About 2- on each side Cook for 3 minutes, using an instant-read thermometer to ensure chicken is cooked through (it should read 165F/74C).Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, remove from pan, add more oil, and repeat until all chicken is cooked through.
It is saved
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Chicken is best reheated in a 350F oven or in an air fryer until heated through.
Portions
This recipe easily feeds my family (2 adults and 2 kids), but you may want to double it if you are feeding 4 adults.
Nutrition
Service: 1serves | Calories: 1139kcal | Carbohydrates: 141g | Protein: 67g | Oil: 34g | Saturated fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated fats: 10g | Monounsaturated fats: 9g | Trans fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 263mg | Sodium: 3084mg | Potassium: 1247mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 861IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 8mg
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content depends on brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, serving sizes, etc. will vary depending.
