Pretzel Crusted Chicken Breasts

Submitted by Sydney Mike

"Although I've tweaked the original of this recipe, I first found it in the Dec/Jan 2010 issue of Taste of Home Healthy Cooking."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 4 cups miniature pretzels
• 1⁄3 cup hormel real bacon bits
• 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes, dried
• 1 large egg
• 1⁄2 cup apple cider (or sparkling cider)
• 1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, & then coat the inside of a 13"x9" glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, place pretzels, bacon, cheese & parsley, then cover & process until coarsely chopped, before transferring to a shallow bowl.
3. In another shallow bowl, whisk together the egg, cider, flour & spices.
4. Dip chicken breasts in the cider mixture, then in the pretzel mixture before placing the breasts in the prepared baking dish.
5. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.
6. Great served with a mix of honey Dijon mustard & apricot preserves.

Reviews

[Arturo62]

Despite high hopes for the interesting combination of ingredients, this recipe fell flat. I have made other, more simple recipes of pretzel crusted chicken that were much better received. The breading's flavor was bland, the sauce was the only bright spot. I used tenderloins instead of breasts, cutting the cooking time almost in half (you can also cut breasts in half horizontally to greatly reduce total cooking time)<br/><br/>KateL's suggestion for the sauce ratios was very helpful, but my guests thought it was a bit sweet so I modified it slightly to change the balance (2 Tbsp preserves, 1-1/2 tsp honey, 2 Tbsp mustard)

 

[Sugarpiehoneybunch]

I personally found this recipe to be bland in taste. Except for the sauce which was yummy. I eyeballed the sauce recipe and it had just the right amount of sweetness. The breasts however were a big disappointment. Sorry, but if eaten without the sauce they just lacked any real savory flavor. I guess if you're on a strict diet and need to cut calories this is a great recipe for that. I won't make this again nor try to tweak it. Only the sauce.

 

[breezermom]

The sauce is the bomb! I mixed the ingredients to my taste, and just loved it. The breading on the chicken.....just loved that hint of bacon. My breasts were huge, and could only eat half of one. Look forward to having the other half tomorrow at lunch as a sandwich with the sauce on the bun. Thanks so much for sharing your yummy recipe!

 

[Shelby Jo]

Very tasty chicken! I love chicken but get tired of the same old breading recipes. Every ingredient seemed to work perfectly together. I had a big jug of apple cider in my fridge that needed using up, so that's what initially drew me to this recipe...so glad it did! Thanks for posting!

 

[KateL]

Can't wait to have these again! I normally don't bread chicken, but this pretzel-bacon-paprika-Parmesan coating was a welcome change. My chicken breasts took longer (and varied in size); I relied on an instant-read thermometer. As suggested, I made a sauce using 1 1/2 tablespoons apricot preserves, 1 tablespoon honey and 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard. It was an excellent accent. The lightly-buttered green beans on the side also complemented the dish and tasted great with the sauce as well. Made for Please Review My Recipe.