Have you ever been in the mood for fried chicken only to realize that you ran out of breadcrumbs? Before you run to the store, we may have a solution for you. Since we’ve already learned that you can make crispy chicken cutlets without breadcrumbs, we wanted to get more intel on exactly what we can coat fried chicken in. After all, it’s important that it still maintains a beautiful crunch. When we spoke to Dennis Littley, chef and recipe expert at Ask Chef Dennis, we found out that there’s one classic snack that he recommends for this very purpose: saltine crackers.
According to Littley, crushed saltines are an easy way to fry chicken with a pantry staple you likely already have on hand. “They’re light, crisp, and already salted, which brings a deeper flavor without needing to add as much seasoning,” Littley said. Additionally, he mentioned that their irregular texture helps to give fried chicken a unique crunch that’s hard to achieve by using any other kind of coating. “Kind of like a hybrid between a flour dredge and a panko crust.”
Tips for coating chicken with saltines
According to chef Dennis Littley, thinner cuts of chicken — like pounded chicken cutlets — or boneless pieces work better than thicker pieces when dredged with nothing more than crushed saltine crackers. However, he said you’ll get a better outcome if you use them in conjunction with another pantry staple. “I find the best results come from mixing them with a bit of flour or cornstarch,” Littley explained. “It helps them stick better and prevents the coating from becoming too brittle.” When combining these, you can either combine the crushed saltines with some flour, or you can simply replace the breadcrumbs with saltines in your classic flour, egg, breadcrumb dredging stations (or do the Ina Garten method by skipping the egg wash altogether).
If you want to try something entirely different, Littley recommended making a wet dredge by combining the crushed saltines with a splash of buttermilk. When using this technique, he suggested coating the chicken with buttermilk before pressing the saltines into it. “It’s all about balancing texture and staying true to that classic, crispy fried chicken bite,” Littley said. If you want to elevate your fried chicken even further, take a note from the South and add a little bit of whiskey to your dredge for even more flavor.
