This Holiday Almond and Herb Crusted Chicken is packed with flavor and bakes golden brown and crispy. Serve with a light side dish, and you have a beautiful lunch or dinner, indulgent enough for a special holiday meal.
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Easy Baked Chicken Special Enough for the Holidays!
This recipe has been around for a while, and was in need of updating!
It’s such a special and easy dish to make. It doesn’t require very many ingredients, and comes together quickly, and then bakes to golden brown perfection. I like to refer to this as “Holiday Chicken,” because it’s perfect to serve when you’re having guests over for a special dinner, but don’t require a whole bird. It plates beautiful, and tastes really special, but you can bake lots of it at once freeing yourself up for visiting with guests or preparing other parts of dinner.
I love to use fresh herbs (with everything!), but have made this plenty of times using the dried herbs in my spice cabinet, and it turns out great that way.
The chicken comes out crispy and flavorful, like fried chicken, only better in my opinion — and it’s made with all healthy ingredients, and baked, no need for frying!
Serve with a light side dish, and you have a beautiful lunch or dinner, indulgent enough for a special holiday meal.
Arugula Pomegranate and Pecan Salad
I typically serve this chicken with a really simple salad of arugula (or spinach) and pomegranate. Throwing pecans on there makes it even more special. The pomegranate is so beautiful, and adds a nice texture and pop of sweetness when eaten with the chicken.
Again, super simple to prepare, even though it looks and tastes really special — and isn’t that what the holidays are all about? We want meals that appear to be extraordinary, but they need to be simple enough to prepare amidst all the other activities.
I don’t even make a dressing for this salad. Simply drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice to boost the flavor, and it’s the perfect bright and fresh side to this delicious crunchy chicken.
How to Make Almond Crusted Chicken
This baked chicken really is easier to make than even just panfrying it!
- Marinate chicken: Use a simple marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, and some fresh chopped rosemary, thyme, and sage, and set aside for about 20 minutes to marinate and soak in the herb flavors.
- Prepare an Almond Coating: The coating is just almond flour with some sea salt and I love to use poultry seasoning here, but you could also add in some super finely chopped herbs.
- Coat: Dip the marinated chicken in an egg wash, and then dredge in the almond flour coating.
- Bake:Â Put the chicken in the oven for 15 minutes, flip, and then bake another 10-12 minutes until it’s golden brown.
Everything can be prepared ahead of time so this dinner comes together in minutes before your special meal!
Almond and Herb Crusted Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts 4 pieces
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon rosemary fresh, finely chopped*
- 1 tablespoon thyme fresh, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sage fresh, finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- black pepper to taste
Almond Coating
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the marinade ingredients to the chicken, and mix well to evenly coat. Allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Add the egg to one bowl, and beat it.
- Add the almond coating ingredients to another bowl, and mix to combine.
- Take each piece of chicken, and dip it in the egg wash, and then dredge it in the almond flour mixture. Place on a baking tray. Using parchment paper makes it easier to remove from the pan, but it will brown more if you place it directly on a baking sheet greased with olive oil.
- Bake for 15 minutes, and then gently flip over. The coating will be soft and fragile at this point, but will brown as it continues to bake.
- Bake another 10-13 minutes, until well browned.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Other Holiday Dinner Recipes:
- Mini Shrimp Tostadas with Pomegranate Salsa, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Holiday Spiced Mixed Nuts, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Warm Winter Rice, Brussels Sprouts, and Arugula Salad, by Sunkissed Kitchen
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This is such a lovely easy dish!!
I miss you’re recipes, but family and real life is so much more important!! xoxo
Happy holidays dear!!!
I miss life in general, but baby has certainly taken precedence! I am hoping I will find out how to balance things a bit better in the months to come.
I don’t think that there’s anything that can adequately prepare you for the adjustment of motherhood! It’s such a blessing, but it’s absolutely LIFE CHANGING! Enjoy these moments and know that it all gets easier!
Beautiful kid you have got. Very adorable. Happy New Year
Happy New Year to you, Breeze! He is a pretty beautiful little guy. The light of my world 🙂
Oh, your little man and Santa!! His expression is just too cute!! Poor thing 🙂 Y’all will all get a laugh when you look at it later when he’s all grown! And your recipe looks so delicious…I wish it was Christmas again so I could make this, LOL!
Thank you Michelle! Yes, he was pretty hilarious. We have a similar photo of him after meeting a loud sheep at his first zoo trip over break. He isn’t a fan of animal noises yet!
No need to wait for Christmas to make this– it’s easy enough to make anytime 🙂
Used fresh herbs and got compliments at Christmas dinner. However, my chicken never got crispy. My chicken were close together on the baking sheet, so I thought that was it. I had a few more breasts left so I tried again w plenty of space between. The result was only slightly better. I have the oil on the baking sheet, oven is up to temp. Are there different types of almond flour that might be my problem? Or did you use the convection/airfry mide?
It’s not going to get as crispy as a wheat coating would, but the flavor should be spot on! I am glad you enjoyed this — I love it!